Chemical Testing

Chemical analysis of engineering materials is performed to determine the type and quantity of various elements such as Fe - Iron, C - Carbon, Mn - Manganese, S - Sulphur, P - Phosphorus, Si - Silicon, Cr -Chromium, Mo - Molybdenum, Ni - Nickel, Ti - Titanium, V - Vanadium, Nb - Niobium, W - Tungsten, Co - Cobalt, Al - Aluminium, Mg - Magnesium, Zn - Zinc, Cu - Copper, Sn - Tin, N - Nitrogen, B - Boron, O - Oxygen, As - Arsenic, Se - Selenium, Pb - Lead, Zr - Zirconium, etc.

The type and quantity of each element ( chemical composition) in a material decides the material grades and it applications.

The chemical composition is also used to calculate carbon equivalent ( CE ) in welding engineering, to calculate Pitting Resistance Equivalent ( PRE) in corrosion resistance industry, Hardenability in heat treatment industry and strength related properties in the engineering applications.

Chemical composition test (chemical analysis) is performed for material identification purpose.

The correct chemical analysis is very important for certain materials such as Nitrogen content in duplex stainless steel and Oxygen in electrical grades Copper and Boron content in weldable stell.

There are several methods to determine chemical composition of a material ranging from extremely high accuracy to general purpose accuracy.

In today's world the fastest method to determine chemical composition is Optical Emission Spectrometry (O.E.S) followed by X-Ray fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) and Inductive Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES). Laboratory based OES, XRF, ICP-AES are used for precision measurement of chemical composition and portable OES and XRF equipments are used for field material identification also called as Positive Material Identification ( PMI).

LMATS performs laboratory based chemical analysis using AMETEK SpectromaxX (NATA Accredited). LMATS Melbourne (Victoria) , Albury, Sydney (NSW) and Brisbane (Queensland) laboratories have adequate procedures to collect on-site sample by filing & drilling without reducing the integrity of the structure or components.
( Chemical Analysis of filings and drillings).

LMATS  Melbourne, Albury, Sydney and Brisbane also performs field Positive Material Identification (PMI) using Thermofisher Niton XLI818, Olympus Innov-X Systems Delta and Oxford XMET instruments. NATA Accredited is testing is performed as per in-house validated procedures and International reference Standards.

Ask LMATS to measure Boron content to the level of 0.001% in Weldable steel to comply with Australian Standards.