Mechanical, Power Systems, Codes & Failure Analysis

Mechanical Stress and Finite Element Analysis

• ANSYS Mechanical

  Mechanical stress, thermal and structural finite element analysis of pressure parts, rotating components, supports and structures during failure analysis and design verification.

• Abaqus

  Nonlinear contact, plasticity and large deformation analysis where a component has cracked, buckled or collapsed rather than simply been overstressed.

Computational Fluid Dynamics

• ANSYS Fluent

  Flow, heat transfer and thermal fluid behavior inside equipment, used to reconstruct erosion, maldistribution, overheating and flow induced failure.

Piping and Pressure Systems

• CAESAR II

  Piping flexibility, thermal expansion, support loading and ASME B31.1 and B31.3 compliance where piping, nozzles or supports have failed or moved.

• Codeware COMPRESS

  ASME Section VIII Division 1 and Division 2 vessel calculation used to verify original design basis, repairs and alterations.

• Codeware INSPECT

  API 579 fitness for service and remaining life assessment of damaged or degraded pressure equipment.

• Vent, silencer and discharge design with acoustic and flow sizing

  Site specific mechanical design of vent routing, silencing, condensate capture and freeze protection where venting duty has to be preserved without creating an exterior hazard.

• ASME Section I and PCC-2 repair route evaluation

  Selection and documentation of the boiler repair or alteration route, weld procedure, test scope and return to service requirements.

Process, Thermodynamic and Hydraulic Analysis

• Aspen HYSYS

  Thermodynamic reconstruction of the operating condition at the time of the event, including phase behavior and equipment duty.

• PIPESIM

  Multiphase flow modeling where the fluid regime, not the metal, governs how the equipment behaved.

• PIPE-FLO

  Hydraulic network analysis of pumps, system curves, pressure drop and flow distribution.

Root Cause and Analytical Method

• Apollo Root Cause Analysis and TapRooT

  Structured cause and effect charting that separates physical, human and latent system causes and shows the evidence behind each link.

• Fault tree analysis and event and causal factor charting

  Deductive testing of every credible failure path so eliminated hypotheses are documented, not assumed away.

• 5 Why, Ishikawa, barrier and change analysis

  Fast structured screening at the front of an investigation before the analytical work is committed.

3D Capture and Dimensional Evidence

• FARO and Leica laser scanning, structured light scanning and photogrammetry

  As found capture of distortion, displacement and damage geometry, held as a permanent record and used directly in analysis and exhibits.

• Portable CMM and precision micrometry

  Component level dimensional evidence where tolerance, fit and clearance are contested.

Remote, Robotic and Visual Access

• Videoscope and borescope inspection

  Internal condition evidence captured before anything is disassembled or disturbed.

• Drone and UAV inspection

  Stack, flare, roof, structure and elevated equipment examination without scaffold or shutdown.

Materials and Condition Measurement

• Ultrasonic thickness and portable hardness testing

  Wall loss and in situ material condition measured with UT and UCI or Leeb instruments.

• PMI alloy verification and replication metallography

  Confirmation of the installed material and its microstructure without cutting the asset.

• Torque, bolt load and clearance verification

  Preload and joint integrity measurement where assembly practice is in question.

Asset, Schedule and Analytics Systems

• SAP S/4HANA Asset Management

  Maintenance history, notification and work order evidence.

• Oracle Primavera P6 and Microsoft Project

  Turnaround, outage and capital project schedule evidence in loss of production and CAPEX assignments.

• Python, SQL and Power BI

  Operating data extraction, engineering analytics and evidence visualization.

Evidence Handling and Dispute Support

• Chain of custody and evidence preservation protocol

  Logged, photographed and sealed handling of recovered components so the physical record stands up under cross examination.

• Joint inspection and spoliation protocols

  Coordinated examination with other parties where destructive testing or disassembly is required.

BlackOut Power / TerraTolga Proprietary Capability

• Engineering Records Intelligence ↗

  Interrogation of drawings, specifications, inspection histories and OEM documents to establish the design and maintenance basis of the failed equipment.

• FMECA Engine ↗

  Structuring of failure hypotheses across the system so the investigation covers every credible mode, not only the obvious one.

• TerraTolga PDF / Vault Compare ↗

  Revision by revision comparison of drawings and specifications to establish what changed, when and on whose authority.