Suncam Continuing Education Author: Gerald O. Davis, PE

056-Forensic Engineering Part A - Conducting Failure Analyses of Metallic Materials

(4.3) 62 Reviews

2 $45.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

This is a three-part course sequence that describes the methods commonly used to evaluate the cause(s) of metallurgical and mechanical failures, i.e., completing root-cause failure analyses (RCFA), and recommending actions to prevent recurrences. The process is often known as forensic engineering. The procedures may be applied in legal cases in which the professional engineer doing the RCFA acts as an expert witness. However, here the primary emphasis is on finding the physical cause of metallic material failures and related engineering tasks.

The three courses may be taken separately or as a group. In general, the information in the cases histories in Part C. is built on knowledge given in Parts A. and B. plus facts provided in Course 110, Corrosion Control and Tactics. Alternatively, some P.E.s may have previous knowledge and work experience with RCFA's of metallic materials and choose less than all three courses.

Part A. describes typical steps and procedures used in a thorough RCFA, some common classes of generic issues that can cause metallic failures, and some of the typical analytical and test techniques that are used to characterize the properties of metals that have failed. Brief comparisons are described between the usual responsibilities of the failure analyst in a legal case versus his or her actions in conducting a RCFA that does not involve legal action.

Part B. describes four common classes of specific failure mechanisms that often occur in metallic part or mechanical component failures, i.e., static stress overload, mechanical fatigue, corrosion and wear. Most of these classes of failures have multiple subclasses and each is reviewed in some detail with emphasis on how these characteristics point to effective corrective actions that may be useful. The many forms of aqueous corrosion are given special attention because of the widespread occurrence and effects of this class of failures.

Part C. provides descriptions of (6) case histories of metallurgical and mechanical failures that were completed. The objective is to provide practical examples of how the RCFA procedures and knowledge of different failure mechanisms presented in Parts A. and B. plus general engineering experience might be used. Several illustrations (sketches and photomicrographs) of the details of the cases are included. Also, a short list is provided of other RCFA examples a failure analyst working with metallurgical or mechanical failures might encounter.

057-Forensic Engineering Part B - Four Classes of Metallurgical and Mechanical Failures

(4.2) 49 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

This is a three-part course sequence that describes the methods commonly used to evaluate the cause(s) of metallurgical and mechanical failures, i.e., completing root-cause failure analyses (RCFA), and recommending actions to prevent recurrences. The process is often known as forensic engineering. The procedures may be applied in legal cases in which the professional engineer doing the RCFA acts as an expert witness. However, here the primary emphasis is on finding the physical cause of metallic material failures and related engineering tasks.

The three courses may be taken separately or as a group. In general, the information in the cases histories in Part C. is built on knowledge given in Parts A. and B. plus facts provided in Course 110, Corrosion Control and Tactics. Alternatively, some P.E.'s may have previous knowledge and work experience with RCFA's of metallic materials and choose less than all three courses.

Part A. describes typical steps and procedures used in a thorough RCFA, some common classes of generic issues that can cause metallic failures, and some of the typical analytical and test techniques that are used to characterize the properties of metals that have failed. Brief comparisons are described between the usual responsibilities of the failure analyst in a legal case versus his or her actions in conducting a RCFA that does not involve legal action.

Part B. describes four common classes of specific failure mechanisms that often occur in metallic part or mechanical component failures, i.e., static stress overload, mechanical fatigue, corrosion and wear. Most of these classes of failures have multiple subclasses and each is reviewed in some detail with emphasis on how these characteristics point to effective corrective actions that may be useful. The many forms of aqueous corrosion are given special attention because of the widespread occurrence and effects of this class of failures.

Part C. provides descriptions of (6) case histories of metallurgical and mechanical failures that were completed. The objective is to provide practical examples of how the RCFA procedures and knowledge of different failure mechanisms presented in Parts A. and B. plus general engineering experience might be used. Several illustrations (sketches and photomicrographs) of the details of the cases are included. Also, a short list is provided of other RCFA examples a failure analyst working with metallurgical or mechanical failures might encounter.

110-Corrosion Control and Tactics

(4.4) 87 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

This course provides an overview of the nature of aqueous corrosion and the variety of standard methods and well-known, but often overlooked tactics, used to control it at least cost. Topics reviewed include some fundamental aspects of electrochemistry related to control methods, brief descriptions of the various forms of attack, effects on corrosion rates of various operating variables, the four classic control methods and some suggested control tactics that the engineer can investigate further for applicability to his or her specific corrosion problem. Several references are cited.

242-What Every Engineer Should Know About Reinforcement Corrosion in Concrete Highway Bridges

(4.5) 27 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

This course provides a summary of a topic that is much in the news — the incidence and causes of the deteriorating condition of an important segment of the physical infrastructure in the United States - concrete highway bridges. In these structures the primary cause of damage is corrosion of the embedded steel reinforcement. The course condenses selected information from (20) cited engineering standards, articles and government reports to supply an overview of the topic.

Included are the ways corrosion damage occurs, control methods by which corrosion can be minimized for new construction and during remediation along with several techniques used to assess the extent of existing corrosion damage. The types of construction discussed are traditional rebar in concrete and prestressed bridge members — both pre and post-tensioned. The causes of problems with coated structural steel in bridges that are fully exposed to the atmosphere are briefly reviewed. Much of the information is applicable beyond bridges to other reinforced concrete structures that may experience corrosion of embedded reinforcement.

The learning objectives are to allow professional engineers to gain a basic understanding of how corrosion in reinforced structures occurs and how it may be assessed and controlled.

The course is most suitable for civil, structural and transportation engineers plus persons in other engineering disciples that plan and supervise construction and remediation of concrete structures in which corrosion may be an issue.

284-Forensic Engineering Part C - Case Histories: Metallurgical & Mechanical Failure Analyses

(4.8) 28 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

This is a three-part course sequence that describes the methods commonly used to evaluate the cause(s) of metallurgical and mechanical failures, i.e., completing root-cause failure analyses (RCFA), and recommending actions to prevent recurrences. The process is often known as forensic engineering. The procedures may be applied in legal cases in which the professional engineer doing the RCFA acts as an expert witness. However, here the primary emphasis is on finding the physical cause of metallic material failures and related engineering tasks.

The three courses may be taken separately or as a group. In general, the information in the cases histories in Part C. is built on knowledge given in Parts A. and B. plus facts provided in Course 110, Corrosion Control and Tactics. Alternatively, some P.E.'s may have previous knowledge and work experience with RCFA's of metallic materials and choose less than all three courses.

Part A. describes typical steps and procedures used in a thorough RCFA, some common classes of generic issues that can cause metallic failures, and some of the typical analytical and test techniques that are used to characterize the properties of metals that have failed. Brief comparisons are described between the usual responsibilities of the failure analyst in a legal case versus his or her actions in conducting a RCFA that does not involve legal action.

Part B. describes four common classes of specific failure mechanisms that often occur in metallic part or mechanical component failures, i.e., static stress overload, mechanical fatigue, corrosion and wear. Most of these classes of failures have multiple subclasses and each is reviewed in some detail with emphasis on how these characteristics point to effective corrective actions that may be useful. The many forms of aqueous corrosion are given special attention because of the widespread occurrence and effects of this class of failures.

Part C. provides descriptions of (6) case histories of metallurgical and mechanical failures that were completed. The objective is to provide practical examples of how the RCFA procedures and knowledge of different failure mechanisms presented in Parts A. and B. plus general engineering experience might be used. Several illustrations (sketches and photomicrographs) of the details of the cases are included. Also, a short list is provided of other RCFA examples a failure analyst working with metallurgical or mechanical failures might encounter.

354-Mechanical Fatigue of Metals

(4.4) 25 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Metal fatigue is the most common form of failure among the many applications of dynamic mechanical equipment. This course provides characteristics of fatigue and guidelines for use of the traditional (S-N) method for designing against failure. Mechanical design factors are the primary emphasis but relevant metallurgical factors are also discussed. For overall context, brief descriptions of the three methods generally used for fatigue design and analysis of metal failures are given. These are cyclic stress values versus number of cycles to failure (S-N), cyclic strain values versus number of cycles to failure and linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM).

The major portion of the information is devoted to the use of the traditional S-N design method for ferrous, i.e., iron-based, alloys in the high-cycle (H-C) form of fatigue. Many ferrous alloys develop a fatigue limit at higher number of stress cycles. Designing relative to clearly defined fatigue limits is the key to design for those types of alloys. A major emphasis here is that fatigue data developed in most laboratory tests cannot be used directly in design. This is because conditions most often used in lab fatigue testing typically differ from conditions found in actual service applications.

Methods to adjust laboratory fatigue data for practical use in design and analysis is a primary learning objective of the course. Another objective is to show some of the many topics in fatigue and the potential complexity of the subject. Reference sources used here and for investigating fatigue topics not included in this course are listed.

The course is intended primarily for mechanical engineers that do design, alloy selection and failure analysis of equipment that may be subject to fatigue.

466-Forensic Engineering Part D - Case Histories: Corrosion Failure Analyses

(4.9) 17 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

This is the fourth part of a series of courses on forensic engineering in the area of metallurgical and mechanical root-cause failure analyses. The course, like Part C, provides different case histories of failure analyses of metallic materials and mechanical engineering as segments of the large field of forensic engineering. The emphasis in each case presented is on failures due to corrosion of metals. Five somewhat unique case histories are provided.

To get the most benefit from the course, it is assumed that the reader has a general interest in and knowledge of corrosion from previous education or work experience. That knowledge might include some basic principles as provided in the author’s prior Course 110, Corrosion Control and Tactics, or other information sources on corrosion and related technology. However, brief statements of most principles needed in a given case history are provided.

The course seeks to show that analyses of metallic aqueous corrosion failures can be a very diverse and often challenging area of engineering. This is because of the many interacting factors. Included are the many possible practical situations where failures may occur, the variety of metals potentially affected, the different methods sometimes needed to access the evidence, the several corrosion mechanisms that may be found and the role of an engineering expert witness in associated legal actions.