Forensic

We investigate failures of insulating components and conductive hardware. Previous failure studies covered the following:

  • Line hardware
  • String insulators
  • PIPE
  • IPE
  • Non-ceramic insulators
Chemical Analysis Use of chemical analysis to determine the chemical composition within a product or what chemical elements may be covering the surface of a product based on its location in a certain geographical area or climate.
Dissection Cut into and destroy a product to understand its failure. Assess the quality of the manufacturing or the materials used to manufacture a product. Usually occurs at the end of an evaluation.
Dye Penetration Use of dye penetration to identify where voids exist in insulation materials such as stranded polymer insulator rods or composite cores used in transmission line conductors.
Microscopes Our visual microscopes magnify areas that may look abnormal to the naked eye. Our Scanning Electron Microscope gets more in-depth information about a material’s problem areas, including cut or broken surfaces. It can also detect some of a material’s chemical elements.
X-ray In contrast to dissection, X-Ray technology assesses the interior of certain components without destroying them.