Academy

The reliability of an industrial plant is largely determined by the technical awareness and knowledge of failure mechanisms of the employees involved. After all, true reliability does not begin only with recognizing visible damage, but with understanding the underlying causes that can lead to wear, breakage, corrosion, leakage, downtime and thus loss of integrity.

Within MCI – Materials & Corrosion Investigations – it is therefore not about symptom control or solely performing measurements, but about understanding material behavior, construction details, weld joints and failure mechanisms. It is precisely this insight that makes it possible to recognize potential problems at an early stage, assess them in a targeted manner and control them in a timely manner.

During the standard 3-day MCI Awareness training , inspectors, engineers, maintenance, reliability and improvement engineers, as well as experienced welders and workshop employees with potential, are trained to a higher level of technical understanding. Upon completion, participants will have the necessary awareness to better assess plant operation, maintenance, inspection and repair to help prevent unplanned downtime.

In practice, many industrial damages do not originate exclusively from the base material itself, but rather at critical details such as construction transitions, welded joints, material transitions, stress concentrations and repairs. These details are not always sufficiently recognized by engineers, manufacturers (OEMs) or maintenance parties, even though they are often decisive for the occurrence of damage during operation.

Through knowledge of material behavior, corrosion, wear and tear, fracture mechanisms, docking techniques, inspections and repair methods, among other things, participants learn where potential problems may occur and which signals need early attention. As a result, risks can be identified earlier, better discussed and structurally controlled.

Upon completion of the training, participants are able to better assess material damage, such as wear, fatigue, fracture and various corrosion problems, for severity, urgency and need for action. They learn to distinguish sensible actions from less effective measures, ask sharper technical questions of colleagues, contractors and manufacturers (OEMs), and contribute to better decision making within maintenance, inspection and engineering.

Better understanding what is really going on results in more effective problem management, less recurrence of damage and, ultimately, higher reliability of industrial plants. Do the math on what just 1% more reliability of your plant can bring.

Optional in-depth module: “Welding problems”

Included within this program is an optional in-depth module focused on weld integrity and weld-related failure mechanisms. In practice, welded joints in particular often form the critical weak link within installations. By delving deeper into this, participants gain additional insight into welding failures, structural details, stress concentrations and damage that can initiate from or near welded joints. When the causes are better understood, problems can also be better prevented.