Scope of Service

Scope of Service

• Accelerated Corrosion Test
• Composition Measurement
• Contamination Study
• Corrosion Study
• Cross-Section Analysis
• Crystal Analysis
• Imaging Microscopy Analysis
• Major Elements and Dopants Depth Profiling
• Materials Reverse Engineering
• Mechanical Test
• Metallurgy Analysis
• Morphology and Topography
• Nano Materials Characterization
• Optical Properties Measurement
• Polymer Analysis
• Powder Characterization
• Standard Materials and Properties Testing
• Surface Chemistry
• Thermal Analysis
• Thin Film Tribology

Corrosion Study

Corrosion is the gradual removal of materials (usually metals) from a surface as a result of chemical reaction such as oxidation.  It can occur on huge aero engine parts, watch surfaces or even at tiny gold pads of a Printed Circuit Board.

Corrosion can degrade the useful properties of materials and their structures, including their mechanical strength, appearance and electrical properties, affecting the quality of a product. ASMAC helps our clients tackle corrosion problems by figuring out the exact situation and identifying impurities present which may be related to the root cause of the corrosion mechanism.

Corrosion can be concentrated locally to form a pit or crack, or it can extend across a wide area, more or less uniformly corroding the surface. Sometimes the situation would be a bit more complicated because many different kinds of surface coatings and passivation layers are applied on the original surface material as a form of protection.  Analyzing the exposed surface may not be enough to completely unveil the situation.  In such cases, a careful treatment of sample surface and sometimes cross-sectioning techniques have to be employed to look at the materials inside.

Analyzing techniques to be used may vary according to the size of the corrosion site, depth of interest and expectation of oxidizing agents.  Typically, surface detection devices such as

• SEM (scanning electron microscope)/ EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy)
• XPS (X-ray Photo-electron Spectroscopy
• AES (Auger Electron Spectroscopy)

are used to observe morphology of metal surface, electric contact interface and analyze compound formation of corrosion products. Metallographic examination is also made to analyze corrosion products and metallurgical structure.

Common Applications

• Plating and Metal Finishing
• Electronics
• Brazing and Soldering
• Castings