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Aggressive Environment Testing

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Aggressive environment testing (AET) assesses how materials and components withstand extreme conditions such as high pressures and temperatures, corrosive substances, or combinations thereof, measuring their effects on mechanical properties, flaw tolerance, and overall durability. This testing is often a form of destructive testing, involving tests such as corrosion, fatigue, and fracture tests (including tensile testing) to identify failure points and ensure reliability for demanding applications in sectors like oil and gas and aerospace. These tests can inform asset owners of the long term effects of aggressive environment exposure as well as identifying internal stresses and causes of residual stress.

Designed to evaluate the performance of both materials and finished products under harsh operating conditions, AET involves subjecting components or materials to these environments to understand their limits before being put into service.

Common Aggressive Environments and Tests

Common aggressive environments that warrant tests include:

  • Corrosive Environments: These are acidic conditions such as those found in ‘sour’ (H2S) or ‘sweet’ (CO2) environments
  • High Pressure and Temperature (HPHT): High pressure and temperature environments are often encountered in deep sea applications, such as those encountered in the geothermal or oil and gas industries
  • Fatigue Crack Growth: This specifically assesses how cracks grow under constant or variable loading in an aggressing environment
  • Fracture Testing: This measures a material’s resistance to fracture under extreme conditions
  • Exposure to Hazardous Substances: This is the testing of a material when subjected to a hazardous substance such as chlorine

Benefits of Aggressive Environment Testing

Aggressive environment testing offers several benefits, including:

  • Assessing Durability: Providing information to understand a material’s resistance to failure and flaw tolerance under severe conditions
  • Identifying Weak Points: AET allows you to locate design weaknesses and potential performance limitations before a part is put into use in the real world
  • Providing Reliability: Understanding the limitations of a material of component allows you to gauge the operational and storage requirements in different sectors

Aggressive Environment Testing at TWI

If your business operates in environments in which very high or low temperatures or pressures are a factor, or involves working with hazardous substances, our dedicated environmental testing facility can give you confidence in your components.

We test the performance of materials and joints in aggressive environments, measuring the effect of the conditions on a part's mechanical properties or flaw tolerance.

Insights

Find out more about aggressive environment testing at TWI:

Core Research Programme (CRP) and Joint Industry Projects (JIP)

Core Research

Each year the TWI Core Research Programme (CRP) addresses challenges on behalf of our Industrial Members as well as developing specific technologies and processes. Each of the projects under the CRP is focussed on engineering, materials or manufacturing technologies.

Find out more here

Joint Industry Projects

TWI also conducts Joint Industry Projects (JIPs) that bring together groups of Industrial Members to share the cost of research activities in areas of mutual industrial interest, gaining exclusive access to the outcomes. These projects cover a broad range of topics.

Find out more here

Bespoke Testing in Extreme Environments

Forming a significant part of our 6000m2 of workshop and laboratory space, our high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) testing facility enables mechanical tests to be carried out on components in environments that replicate the service conditions of applications in sectors including oil and gas, aerospace and nuclear.

Typical examples of test types carried out at TWI include the following:

  • Fatigue crack growth, tensile strength and fracture tests in environments with pressures up to 450 bar, at temperatures between -50°C and +80°C
  • Exposure to temperatures up to 300°C, at pressures up to 1400 bar
  • Corrosion testing in oxygen and chlorine at up to 80°C
  • Permeation testing at temperatures up to 250°C and pressures up to 650 bar
  • Full-scale sour service fatigue testing
  • Hydrogen testing

Visit our environmental testing of polymers and non-metallic materials page for information on our aggressive environment testing services for non-metallics.

Large, Specialised Testing Rigs

To meet the needs of our Industrial Members, TWI has constructed several bespoke testing facilities that mean we are uniquely placed to carry out highly specialised tests that can be precisely tailored to your requirements:

Underpinned by 70 Years of Industrial Experience

Many companies offer testing services, but our technical excellence goes far beyond simply carrying out tests. We work closely with our Members to interpret results and deliver genuine insights that can be easily translated to operational decisions, providing actionable remedial advice that directly impacts the bottom line.

Contact us to discuss your needs and see how our unique aggressive environment testing facilities can be used to create bespoke solutions to your challenges or improve your processes, save costs, and increase asset or component lifecycles and safety.

For more information please email:


contactus@twi.co.uk