Fitness For Service procedures are complex, require state-of-the-art analytical, metallurgical, mechanical tests and involve multidisciplinary engineering analyses.
They evaluate the remaining strength of equipment in its current condition, which may have degraded with respect to its original conditions.
The component of interest may contain flaws or other damage, or it may be subject to more severe operating conditions than the original design anticipated.
The typical outcome of a Fitness For Service assessment is a “go/no-go” decision on continued operation or mitigation recommendations, which may be used for the theoretical calculation of components’ fitness for certain design specifications.
Fitness For Service technical services range from on-site field support and defect assessments to complex finite element simulations to support any condition assessment programme.
RINA laboratories are able to reproduce severe operating conditions in terms of pressure, temperature, mechanical loads and aggressive environment as in the real application.
Our team use both state of the art software (for instance, CrackWISE® for defect tolerance assessment in welded structures) and in house developed software that can be customized according to the specific problem under analysis.
When necessary, we use Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to evaluate the state of stress and strain in complex loading scenarios, by means of state of the art software such as ANSYS®, Abaqus™ and Marc®, both in linear and non-linear conditions.
At the end, through a proper combination of physical inspection testing and the interpretation of the test results, we identify the main damage mechanism under current operating conditions and the associated remedial actions.
We have been working for decades worldwide for Oil & Gas companies, both in the upstream and downstream sectors. We’ve done jobs from concept design to the operation phase, addressing items like material compatibility, change of use, life extension.
What are the most common degradation mechanisms?
Are you able to specify if the material selected is appropriate for the application?
Yes, we have decades of experience in metals’ (carbon steels and alloys) fabrication processes and the associated in field component performances, so we can address this issue on the basis of both standard prescriptions and our deep know how, and recommend alternatives if necessary
Can you test my component by reproducing the operating conditions?
A: Yes, our full scale testing laboratories allow us to test components even of significant size under complex state of loads, including pressure, temperature and aggressive environments (H2S, CO2)
