FATIGUE & FRACTURE MECHANICS ASSESSMENT

Fatigue is a major cause of failure in structures and Dwan Forensic Engineering has the capability to fully assess these challenges. We evaluate challenging structures ranging from ships, offshore structures, pressure vessels or pipelines, and this enables us to carry out a full risk assessment where fatigue or catastrophic failure has occurred. Both fatigue and fracture mechanics along with finite element analysis (FEA) techniques are used to achieve this goal.

The Dwan Forensic Engineering team have the capability to carry out this analysis work especially in welded structures where a wide expertise is required. This work is carried out to the various standards as used in the industry specific to the application. Structural Integrity and Fitness-For-Service (FFS) & FFP to the various standards for example BS 7910, API 579-1 and DNV-GL-RP-101. Weld Fatigue Life Assessment using BS 7608, AWS AD 1.1 and DNV-GL-RP-C203 are also used.

In large industries, failure analysis & investigation is an integral part of structural management. The root cause of failure should yield more than just the cause, but also corrective action to prevent future failures and loss of availability of equipment and potential loss of life. Often the root cause of failure can require fracture & fatigue life assessment so that remaining life can be determined. This fracture assessment often extends the life of a vital piece of equipment which is a major concern to industry where design life has already been reached.

Full project management is very important where a multidisciplinary team is required so as to provide a satisfactory result for the client which is a core value.

Case Study

Analysing weld design and fatigue life assessment

Weld design and fatigue life assessment were required for a major pharmaceutical company’s new autoclave design ensuring a satisfactory operational life.

Pharmaceutical Multinational