IIC Technical Document　ZS-01

Material Testing

Service Life Assessment and Soundness Evaluation for Industrial Facilities and Machines

1. Plants, equipment, machines and tools all have a service life, which can be extended through proper maintenance. Service life assessments are important in determining what maintenance activities are best.

2. Microstructure observation of component parts is necessary to evaluate the expended life, damage level and degree of degradation. Two types of methods are used to make microstructure observations. One is a non-destructive method on site and the other involves cutting and polishing small specimen samples for detailed observation under a microscope.

3. IIC provides service life assessment technology developed by IHI Corpolation, IIC's parent company. IIC can propose the best service life assessment method to meet your needs and undertake the inspection service.

Typical plant and component service lifetimes

• Iron and steel:	2,000 years
• Bridges, cranes, structural components:	100~150 years, one million hours
• Hydraulic power plants:	50 or more years, half million hours
• Nuclear power plants:	30~40 years, 400,000 hours
• Thermal power plants:	30~40 years, 200,000 hours
• Petrochemical plants:	10~20 years, 100,000 hours
• Ships:	20 or more years, 100,000 hours
• Airplanes:	20 or more years, 50,000 hours
• Automobiles:	2,000~4,000 hours
• Home electronics equipment:	1,000 hours~
• Watches and clocks:	10 years
• Toys:	100 hours
• Rocket engines:	5 minutes

Is the life of a rocket engine only five minutes?

Service life assessment methods

Material degrade evaluation by mechanical testing
Microscopic observation of microcracks and creep cavities
Hardness test
Measurement of corrosion depth on components
Creep damage and fatigue damage evaluations
Residual life assessment based on crack propagation properties

Fatigue damage evaluation based on crack propagation