Case Studies
Aerospace Fastener Fracture Investigation
Industry: Aerospace
Services Used: Failure Analysis · Metallurgical Analysis
The Challenge
A aerospace component manufacturer experienced unexpected fractures in titanium fasteners during pre-flight assembly inspections. The failures were occurring well below the rated load capacity, creating a safety concern and a production hold. The client needed root cause identification quickly to determine whether the issue was a material defect, a manufacturing fault, or an installation problem.
Contaminant Identification in a Pharmaceutical Packaging Film
Industry: Medical / Pharmaceutical
Services Used: Chemical Analysis · Contaminant Identification
The Challenge
A pharmaceutical packaging manufacturer identified an unexpected discolouration and odour in a multilayer polymer film used for blister packs. The issue was intermittent and only appeared in certain production batches, making it difficult to trace. The client needed to identify the source of contamination before their product reached a regulatory submission deadline.
Surface Coating Wear Evaluation for Automotive Brake Components
Industry: Automotive
Services Used: Tribology & Friction Testing · Surface Analysis
The Challenge
An automotive Tier 1 supplier was developing a new friction-modified surface coating for brake caliper components. Before committing to full-scale production tooling, they needed wear performance data to compare four candidate coatings under simulated operating conditions — and to validate that the chosen coating would outperform their existing solution.
Electrode Material Consistency Testing for EV Battery Cell Production
Industry: Electric Vehicles / Energy Storage
Services Used: Battery Materials Analysis · Trace Elemental Analysis
The Challenge
A battery cell manufacturer was experiencing inconsistent capacity performance between production batches of lithium-ion cells. Internal QC checks were passing, but cell performance varied by up to 12% between batches — unacceptable for their EV customer's specification. They needed independent analysis to determine whether the variability was originating in the electrode materials.
Premature Degradation of Medical Device Housing Component
Industry: Medical Devices
Services Used: Plastics and Polymers Testing · Extractables & Leachables
The Challenge
A medical device manufacturer identified unexpected brittleness and surface cracking in the polycarbonate housing of a handheld diagnostic device during accelerated aging validation testing. The failure was occurring at 6 months of simulated aging rather than the required 24 months, threatening the product's regulatory timeline.
