Services
What we test. How we bill. What we won't do.
Straight answers. If your job doesn't fit in this list, it probably isn't a job for us, and we'll tell you on the first call.
Failure analysis
Cracked welds, broken components, fractures that somebody has to account for in writing. We receive the sample, photograph it as-received before anyone touches it with a saw, section it along pre-planned cut lines, mount and polish as needed, run hardness traverses and metallography, and write the report. If the matter is likely to go to dispute, say so on day one — we document the chain of custody differently, and we store the retains separately.
Weld procedure qualification
PQR support for structural, pressure, and pipe welders. We run tensile coupons to ASTM E8, guided-bend tests per the relevant code section, macro-etches, and hardness surveys. We produce the paperwork in the format your AI wants to see, stamped and signed by Renata. We don't write WPSs for you — your engineer does that — but we'll test what they wrote honestly, and if a procedure doesn't qualify we say why in enough detail that the next attempt has a chance.
Metallography & microstructure
Mount, polish to 1µm, etch (2% nital, Kalling's, Murakami's, or per request), photograph, interpret. ASTM grain size to E112, phase identification, carbide distribution, HAZ characterization. We keep the mounted pucks for two years in case anyone wants to re-cut or re-examine them.
Hardness mapping
Rockwell B and C scales, Vickers HV0.5 through HV10. Traverses across HAZ at 0.25mm step, surface-to-core maps on case-hardened parts, spot checks on receiving inspection. Simple, fast, often conclusive. Most of our failure cases are solved on the hardness rig before the microscope gets turned on.
Expert reports & depositions
When a matter goes further than a technical write-up, Renata sits for deposition and, where required, testifies. Rate sheet provided at engagement. We don't shade findings and we don't take contingency work — if that's what the matter needs, go elsewhere, and do it early. We've declined engagements on the stand before and we'll do it again.
What we won't do
- Field NDE — UT, RT, MT, PT on-site. Not our scope. We can refer to two shops in the region.
- Finite element or computational modeling. Not our scope, and we're honest about that.
- Work we can't stand behind. If the sample's chain of custody is broken, if the paperwork doesn't match the part, if the referring party wants a conclusion pre-written — we decline.
- Opinion-for-hire. The findings are the findings. If they hurt your case, they hurt your case. We've been fired for this. We'll be fired for it again.
- Rush work that compromises the method. A polish takes the time it takes. We will not skip grit stages to hit a Friday.
How a job moves through the bench
Introduction
A fabricator, inspector, or engineer we've worked with makes a referral. We review the matter in broad strokes and say yes or no within a week.
Scope & quote
Written scope, written quote, written chain-of-custody form. No work starts until all three are signed.
Sample intake
Sample arrives, gets a case number and as-received photos before anything else. Documentation check against the paperwork.
Bench work
Cut plan. Section. Mount. Polish. Etch. Hardness. Photograph. Whoever runs the test writes the notes as they go.
Report
Draft report circulated internally, reviewed by a second bench hand, signed, and sent. Retains filed. Case closed, or, if it goes to dispute, case held open.
How a job gets on the intake shelf.
Somebody we've stamped paperwork for calls or writes. They describe the matter in two or three sentences. If the work fits the bench, we send a chain-of-custody form and a written scope. The sample arrives in whatever bucket, crate, or evidence bag is appropriate to its chain of custody. No sample is opened until the paperwork is on the shelf next to it. Cold inquiries from parties we can't trace to a shop, an inspector, or a lab we know get a courteous reply pointing toward the two NDE outfits we trust within a half-day drive. The Upper Midwest structural trades are smaller than they look; three or four phone calls usually finds a name in common.
Currently
Bench queue runs six weeks deep right now. Expedited jobs get quoted when the referring inspector makes the call — we don't queue-jump for strangers. December and January run the heaviest; plan PQR coupons around the freeze.