Exova’s global team of engineers, scientists and industry experts have developed a reputation worldwide for their expertise in developing criteria for defining flaws in terms of structural integrity. These parameters are used to quantify the defect tolerances of components that are subjected to both static and cyclic loads.

For many determinations, a comprehensive suite of software has been developed which enables rapid and cost effective testing and analysis.

Now the Exova Singapore Lab features Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA) as a value added service which can guide in selection of defect tolerances of components leading to increases in efficiency, decreases in component reject rate, and decreases in failure rates.

A Fitness-For-Purpose (FFP) Approach

The service is a fracture mechanics based, fitness-for-purpose (FFP) approach, enabling the significance of flaws to be assessed in a structure with regards to structural integrity.

ECA is often used to evaluate defect acceptance criteria for Automated Ultrasonic Testing (AUT) which requires defect height as a part of the acceptance criteria. Engineering Critical Assessment replaces arbitrary workmanship standards with scientifically determined criteria, which reduces the reject rate of welds considerably.

The philosophy of the ECA uses conservative input data without the input of global safety factors. All ECA input parameters are selected on a statistical basis to provide realistic but lower bound data — producing conservative values for the defect sizes that can be tolerated.