ENGINEERING/DESIGN
Touchstone has earned numerous awards as an industrial problem-solver,
new product developer, and applied research laboratory for hundreds
of manufacturers in a wide range of business sectors. Our unique
capability as an industrial problem-solver is based on the diversity
of our highly experienced technical staff, supported by over $10
million worth of in-house laboratory equipment and testing facilities.
The following examples illustrate some of our contributions to this
business sector:
- Prior to installation in a large housing development, fixtures
for doors and lighting fixtures were evaluated to determine the
most durable product from among several suppliers. Testing included
UV/humidity exposure, resistance to residue from fingerprints,
mechanical strength, and salt fog exposure.
- An engineering firm requested that Touchstone perform an examination
of the failure of brazed fire hydrant pipe samples. Four samples,
cut at 90 degree angle intervals, around a circular section of
a cast iron water pipe which supplies water to a fire hydrant
were examined. Although mechanical damage could have shortened
the life of the brass/cast iron interfaces the differences in
appearance between the brass surface of the fresh fracture and
the as-received fractures indicates a variation in brazing quality
around the pipe.
- Touchstone was contacted regarding a problem that involved the
failure of a cast iron steam boiler assembly. TRL concluded that
the failure seen in this boiler was most probably the result of
an initial failure of at least six of the internal stay bolts
and a portion of the corner of the casting. The final failure
would have occurred when the remaining section thickness could
no longer sustain the loading on the internal surface. The presence
of stay bolts indicated some understanding of the forces present
during use but the overall design did not appear to allow for
the rather unique properties of gray cast iron. The final report
stated that the use of internally cast-in-place staybolts was
inadvisable because of the mechanical properties of gray cast
iron, particularly, low elongation. There was no evidence that
this design had been approved by the ASME section VIII committee.
- The purpose of this investigation was to determine the cause
of cracks which were seen to develop at the flame cut radius of
a wide flange steel I-beams during hot-dip galvanizing. TRL was
asked to examine one of the specimens to determine the cause of
the cracking problem and to recommend a procedural change, which
would eliminate the problem. The evaluation found the cracking
problem was due to a combination of factors: residual stresses
in steel beam which remained from manufacture, a brittle zone
at the flame cut surface, and the effect of thermal shock which
occurs as the I-beam is lowered into the 850 degree F zinc bath.
It is also possible that liquid metal embrittlement may have had
some effect here.
The above examples are only a sample of our work in this area.
We would be pleased to provide any additional information you may
require. We also invite you to review examples on our website of
work that we have performed in support of other business sectors.
Please contact one of our Project
Managers to discuss your manufacturing problem. We would welcome
an opportunity to add you to our rapidly growing list of satisfied
customers.
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