Equipment Troubleshooting - Thermal, Corrosion, Vibration, and Fatigue

Engineering Troubleshooting - O'Donnell Consulting Providing engineering troubleshooting on equipment with issues including thermal, mechanical, corrosion, materials/ weld, vibration, and fatigue.

We have solved problems on applications including prototypes, production lines, and field failures – enabling our clients save time and reputation – as well as minimize total cost of equipment ownership.

We were asked to investigate the failure of a splined clutch power transmission shaft. This macrophotograph at 7x shows a broken tooth with simultaneous fatigue initiation at the root radius of each side of the tooth. Reverse loading ultimately lead to fatigue fracture.

To see more of the projects we have worked on, see Portfolio.

We have resolved many unique challenges in the energy, oil/gas, rail/transportation and petrochemical industries on components including:

Heat Exchangers
Pressure Vessels
Condensors
Compressors

Steam Generators
Superheaters
Evaporators
Tanks

HRSGs
Cyclones
Conveyors
Industrial Furnaces

To see more components that we have worked on see Industries Served.

Materials & Weld Engineering

To ensure continued reliable service, we provide materials/ weld testing and analysis. Mechanical testing provides ductility, strength, toughness, corrosion resistance, and fatigue properties of the as-fabricated materials. Such testing assists in the prediction of when and how materials and assemblies will fail under various loading conditions. Our weld engineering services include joint analysis, procedure development and qualification, process and filler-metal selection, as well as investigating non-conformance and Code compliance. We provide assistance to keep you in accordance with AWS, ASME and other Codes.

Metallurgical Evaluations

We offer a full spectrum of metallurgical testing performing corrosion investigations, surface condition studies, mechanical and fracture mechanics testing.

Chemical and Mechanical Analyses
Metallographic Examination
Fractography (SEM and TEM)
Accelerated Testing of Failure Modes
Corrosion Testing

Fatigue/ Failure Analysis

Fatigue is one of the key contributing factors to the degradation of aging components. Fatigue failures occur when these structures are subjected to cyclic stresses and strains over time. This leads to the development of micro-cracks in the most highly strained locations, which subsequently propagate until the component fails. We investigate the factors that contribute to structural failure - and provide practical solutions.

Forensic Analysis

Often, various technical issues may reach litigation. We provide forensic engineering services to predict how components have failed - providing results that are easily understood by Judges and Juries. We have testified in State, Federal, and International Courts, in both defendant and plaintiff cases. Some of our projects have included:

Materials/weld and construction issues on a coke oven battery
Investigation on a failed pressure vessel used to make crystals for cell phones
Investigation of an oil/gas tank exhibiting holes
Condensor weld crack investigation and repair of the tube-to-tubesheet welds

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We evaluate structures that suffer degradation as a result of fabrication or service-induced defects. Our services include metallurgical evaluations, weld engineering support, materials selection, and root cause failure analysis.

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MURALS

See stories on a few of our engineering challenges!

Learn from the experience of others. Especially when one such “other” is Dr. William O’Donnell, PhD, PE, Founder and President of O’Donnell Consulting Engineers, Inc., and ASME “Engineer of the Year” - his 50 years of experience in analysis of components including fatigue and fracture safety evaluations and failure analyses are now comprised in this volume.

If you are interested learning more in Engineering Design, Manufacturing and Construction, as well as Failure Analysis, then this book is a must have!