 When
a premature failure occurs, many possible contributory factors
can be investigated to determine the cause or causes. These
include errors in the areas of:
- Material Selection
- Material Manufacture
- Specification
- Handling and Storage
- Surface Cleanliness
- Ambient Conditions
- Timing
- Application Techniques
- Non-Compliance with the Specification
The actual failure may be due to one factor or the interaction
of several factors.
When a premature failure occurs, an investigation is often
required. Since the coating was selected, specified, and
applied at a prior time by other parties, the Failure
Analysis process by the investigator becomes a matter of collecting
documentary evidence, determining application and service
conditions, identifying material handling and storage conditions,
conducting interviews and discussions, carrying out field
investigations to examine the existing condition of the
coating system, and field and possibly laboratory testing
to certify the observed conditions. Each of these steps
is required to reach accurate conclusions and to provide
economical corrective action recommendations.
With the appropriate instrumentation, much information can
be determined that is not readily observable, such as thickness
or existence of each coat, surface conditions, adhesion
and cohesion of the system and much more.
Recommendations for corrective action are
documented and based on common sense and judgement developed
from direct
field experience.
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