Engineering and Materials Services

Engineering and materials services include complete and integrated services associated with metallurgy, materials, welding, structural and mechanical engineering areas. By drawing on expertise in understanding materials behaviour clients are provided with services to assess plant condition, identify and determine the impact of corrosion, determine plant fitness-for-service and remaining life, to develop and implement inspection programs, identify the root cause of failure and to carry out full weld repairs. Services also include providing training to support a client's technical and compliance requirements. High-quality services to optimise the reliability, life and safety of plant, products, equipment and structures.

Key tests include:

• Tensile testing
• Creep testing
• Fatigue testing
• Failure analysis

hrl: has the skills, expertise and resources to assist clients with:

• CrackSizer®
• hrl: has developed CrackSizer® - an electromagnetic inspection method - to detect and size surface breaking defects in components in the power station environment.
• Defect tolerance assessment
• hrl: offers Defect Tolerance Assessment (DTA) services to help plant operators ensure the continued safe operation of any tolerably-flawed components they keep in service.
• Experimental stress analysis - undertaking strain-gauge surveys
• Plant and assest managers face costly down-time when their plant suffers an unpredicted failure. In every failure one of the factors is stress. hrl: stress-analysis strategy is to base recommendations for repairs on data gained while plant and components are in service. Strain gauges can be installed in any plant to gain quantified strain data to allow stresses to be calculated.
• Gas turbine services

hrl: provides a wide range of services from licence and agreement compliance to trouble-shooting investigations, plant-life assessment and material inspections for operators of gas and steam turbines, heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG) and combined-cycle power plant.

Phased array advanced flaw detection services

Operators of power stations and other major plant can face expensive consequences if a critical component fails leading to an unplanned plant outage. In addition to lost production, such failure can damage other components resulting in further costs and delays. Understanding the extent and progress of flaws in a critical component is vital in determining the extent and timing of repairs or replacement. hrl: offers state-of-the-art ultrasonic flaw detection services using phased array technology that provide clients with significant advantages when compared with traditional ultrasonic technologies.

Plant integrity assessment services

Plant failure can result from one or a combination of factors including overloading, fatigue, crack propagation or creep deformation, factors that are often complicated by a degree of corrosion. hrl: engineers draw on extensive knowledge of likely deterioration mechanisms and a range of techniques to ensure plant is fit for service.

Plant life management system

hrl: Plant Life Management System is a database for information relating to boiler and turbine plant, balance of plant, pressure vessels and piping.

Pressure equipment inspection services

hrl: has assisted clients in the safe and reliable use of pressure equipment for many years with cost-effective inspection programs that help clients to meet their statutory responsibilities and minimise unplanned outages. hrl: inspection services are provided in accordance with Australian and international standards, and applicable statutory requirements.

Risk Based Inspection services to achieve asset optimisation

Risk Based Inspection (RBI) assists in understanding the likelihood and consequence of component failure and the resultant risk to plant safety and integrity, and enables the user to establish an inspection regime that reduces the risk to as low as reasonably practicable.

Stress, strain, temperature, load, displacement and vibration measurement services.

hrl: uses the best available technology to determine residual and operating stress from mechanical loading, thermal gradients, thermal cycling and vibration. Such analysis provides early warning of machine defects and is used by hrl: to develop preventative strategies.

Structural integrity assessment services

hrl: services include determining the structural integrity of concrete and steel structures; assessing coatings on steelwork, assessing the stability of large structures, such as dredgers, draglines and coal loaders, and the 'weighing' of power station boilers.

Technical and compliance training services

hrl: offers a range of technically based training courses that draw on its in-house expertise and areas of specialisation. The courses emphasise practical approaches. The trainers are practitioners with many years experience that is directly related to the subjects covered. The courses are designed to provide attendees with real skills that can be applied within their workplaces.