Laboratory Testing

Some questions cannot be answered on site. Where a specification calls for measured values rather than inspection findings — tensile strength, alloy composition, microstructure, coating thickness — the sample has to go to a laboratory under controlled conditions.

How this service works

ITMAD coordinates laboratory testing through ISO/IEC 17025 accredited partner laboratories. The test certificate is issued by the laboratory under its own accreditation, which is what your client or auditor will want to see. What ITMAD provides is everything around it: selecting the correct test method for the question being asked, specifying sampling so the result represents the item rather than one convenient corner of it, managing the chain of custody, and interpreting what the numbers mean against your specification.

That division matters more than it sounds. Most testing disputes are not caused by measurement error — laboratories are good at measuring. They are caused by the wrong method being specified, a sample that was not representative, or a result compared against the wrong acceptance criterion. Those are the failures this service exists to prevent.

Test categories

• Mechanical testingTensile, yield and elongation; Charpy and Izod impact including low-temperature testing; bend and flattening; hardness on prepared specimens; fracture toughness where the code requires it.
• Chemical analysisFull alloy composition against the material specification, positive material identification, corrosion testing including intergranular and pitting resistance, and analysis of process fluids or deposits.
• Metallurgical examinationMicrostructure, grain size, phase balance, case depth, weld macro examination, and fractography to establish how and why a component failed.
• Coating, contamination and cleanlinessCoating thickness and adhesion, surface contamination analysis, cleanliness assessment against specified limits, and identification of unknown residues or deposits.

When laboratory testing is commissioned

• Verification of incoming material where the mill certificate is questioned or absent
• Weld procedure qualification and welder qualification testing
• Failure investigation, where the mechanism cannot be established from site examination
• Product conformity assessment against a standard or client specification
• Investigation of corrosion, cracking or premature degradation in service
• Confirmation of heat treatment condition
• Resolution of a dispute between supplier and purchaser over material properties

Sampling

Where a sample is taken determines what the result means. A tensile specimen cut from an unrepresentative location, or a chemical sample taken from a surface that has been ground, produces a valid measurement of the wrong thing. Sampling is planned against the governing standard and documented, including location, orientation and preparation, so that a result can be defended if it is challenged. Where the item cannot be sacrificially sampled, we will say so and identify what non-destructive alternative answers the question instead.

What you receive

• The accredited laboratory's test certificate, issued under its own accreditation
• Sampling record identifying location, method and chain of custody
• The test method and standard applied, and the conditions under which it was carried out
• Assessment of the results against the acceptance criteria in your specification
• Technical interpretation, including what the result indicates about cause where relevant
• Recommendation on further testing where the result does not settle the question

Related work

Laboratory testing is commonly commissioned alongside damage assessment and expert reports, where the failure mechanism has to be established, and alongside factory and incoming material inspection, where a certificate needs verifying. Where the answer can be obtained on site — by portable hardness testing, in-situ material identification or ferrite measurement — we will say so rather than send a sample away.