Materials Engineering

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With the recent spate of material failures in the oil and gas industry around the world, the role of a material and corrosion engineer in selecting suitable material has become more complex, controversial and difficult. Further, the task had become more diverse, since now modern engineering materials offer a wide spectrum of attractive properties and viable benefits.

Material selection during the concept stage basically means the investigative approach for the various available material options for the intended function and application. In this stage, a key factor for the material selection is an up-front activity taking into consideration operational flexibility, cost, availability or sourcing and, finally, the performance of the material for the intended service and application.

Materials selection during the detailed design stage becomes more focused and specific. The material selection process narrows down to a small group or family of materials, say: carbon steels, stainless steels, duplex stainless steels, Inconels or Incoloys, etc. In the detail design stage, it narrows down to a single material and other conditions of supply like Austenitic stainless steels, Martensitic stainless steels, cast materials, forged materials, etc

Material selection and the sustainability of material to prevent any failure during the life of the component is the final selection criterion in the process.

Failure is defined as an event where the material or the component did not accomplish the intended function or application. In most cases, the material failure is attributed to the selection of the wrong material for the particular application. Hence, the review and analysis of the failure is a very important aspect in the material selection process to avert any similar failures of the material in future.

Notes: CA: Corrosion Allowance, CS: Carbon Steel, CRA: Corrosion Resistant Alloy and GRP: Glass Reinforced Plastics. The recommendations in the table above are for guidance only. Each pipeline is to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis based on operating conditions and fluid compositions.

To maintain the integrity of the asset and provide a safe, healthful working environment it is always a welcome event to have the material selection process be executed as a holistic team approach rather than an individual metallurgist’s or corrosion specialist’s choice.