Materials Failure Investigations

How does Exponent's Materials & Corrosion Engineering team provide an objective understanding of materials challenges?

Failure analysis is the process of collecting data, developing hypotheses, testing hypotheses, and analyzing everything to determine the cause of a failure. We apply lessons from past failures across industries to help make the future safer and more sustainable. From energy to electronics to medical devices to systems and controls — understanding of materials failures is critical to ensuring product and process safety.

At our global labs, Exponent's multidisciplinary teams combine rigorous testing applications and methods — from Computed Tomography (CT) scanning to X-ray imaging and microscopy. However, the differentiated value that we deliver is unparalleled evaluation and analysis capabilities, resulting in evidence-based insights for better business decisions at every point in your product or process lifecycle.

Our methodology

• Problem Definition:
  • Systematic definition of inputs to reduce total troubleshooting time
  • Identification of inputs via production experience and engineering judgment
• Identification of Correlations:
  • Searching for values or a combination of values associated with the failure or defect
  • Applying troubleshooting experience to achieve efficient, cost-effective searching
• Validation:
  • Recreation of the failure to confirm causation
  • Augmenting organizational knowledge through sharing success and documenting lessons learned