Our Failure Analysis Experts
Providing critical insights needed to ensure product safety, functionality, and compliance with industry standards.
There are numerous ways in which a product or component may fail in service. A failure analysis investigation starts by gathering background information, including material, manufacturing process, circumstances surrounding the incident, review of engineering drawings, material specifications, previous problems, as well as maintenance and inspection reports.
In addition to understanding the product engineering, materials and failure mechanisms, our analysis also includes the environment, the end use, the installation, and life history of the product. We are also aware that plastics parts can fail prematurely because of the intentional or unintentional abuse by the end users. All the facts and evidence are incorporated to help complete the picture before drafting an expert opinion, our knowledge and technical expertise are tailored to provide you with the solutions you need.
The experts at OCI Group apply a rigorous scientific approach to determine the failure mode and cause of a component and whether the failure was due to a manufacturing deficiency/defect, installation, maintenance (or lack of thereof), usage, or wear and tear. We discuss the cases with our clients at the onset of the investigation and advise on the best course of action.
OCI Group specializes in product testing services with a focus on forensic engineering and fire investigation. Our expertise includes comprehensive compliance testing to ensure that products meet stringent fire and electrical safety standards. Whether you’re looking to validate the integrity of a new design or assess the performance of an existing product, our team of skilled engineers conduct thorough evaluations to identify potential hazards and ensure adherence to industry regulations. By leveraging our experience and deep understanding of fire dynamics and electrical systems, OCI Group delivers reliable insights that help safeguard your products and protect consumers.
Our forensic engineering team conducts rigorous testing to assess how products function within their intended applications, identifying any potential failures or inefficiencies. Whether verifying the durability of a new design or ensuring compliance with industry standards, OCI Group provides comprehensive evaluations that help manufacturers understand product behaviour, enhance safety, and improve overall quality. Our insights support informed decision-making and ensure that your products meet the highest standards of performance and reliability.
OCI Group combines extensive forensic engineering and fire investigation experience to identify potential hazards, prevent malfunctions, and reduce the risk of fire or electrical failure in electric devices and components. We assess compliance with industry regulations, test for functionality under various conditions, and provide detailed reports with actionable insights.
Our fleet of drones and certified drone operators inspect areas that are difficult or unsafe to access, confined spaces like attics and crawlspaces, elevated surfaces such as roofs, high ceiling of commercial and industrial buildings, barns and silos, and locations impacted by an extreme weather event or a catastrophe.
We can provide mapping of the damaged areas, which enables quick development of any required repair drawings for the damaged properties.
Our drone-assisted inspections are fast, often less than an hour, and provide our clients with many high-definition photos and videos, which enables fast and accurate structural assessment of failed connections and members. We live broadcast our drone-assisted inspections to our clients to observe the damaged property in real-time from the comfort of their offices.
Drone Inspection Services
We deploy a wide array of compact drone systems to restricted scenes and confined spaces to accurately collect data, photographs, and videos crucial to an investigation.
Our team of structural engineers direct our certified advanced drone pilots to fly inside areas which otherwise would be hazardous or unsafe. Our ability to fly the interior and exterior of a site, when access would be otherwise prohibited or dangerous, provides our clients with all the information required for a structural evaluation of compromised facilities without costly shoring measures and delays. The capability of our drones to live broadcast means our structural engineer and pilot can perform an aerial inspection without attending the site at the same time, and our clients can view the scene in real time from their office.
Applications
– Damaged structures which are prohibited or dangerous to enter
– Interior and exterior drone inspections of trusses and roof lines
– High resolution photographic documentation
– Flights in confined spaces, including attics, crawlspaces, and collapsed structures
Key Features
Damage to soil-supported and soil-retaining structures such as foundations, swimming pools, above and below ground tanks, and retaining walls can be caused by a variety of factors including settlement, vibrations, flooding, water intrusion or a combination thereof. Many of these losses require full understanding of the interaction between the structure and the soil around it. Most of our forensic structural engineers received graduate level training in soil-structure interaction, slope stability, and geo-structural engineering. They have utilized their high-level academic training and the most advanced software tools in this field to help demystify complex losses involving foundation walls, retaining walls and road embankment failures. Our geo-structural experts expeditiously examine and document the loss, conduct the necessary geo-structural analyses, identify the most likely cause of the damage, and devise effective loss mitigation strategies.
Our investigators have decades of experience in the design and assessment of building envelopes and have been called upon to assist with numerous litigation cases involving large building envelope losses. Our building envelope professionals completed over 500 investigations that covered all aspects of building envelope losses including: roofing failures, curtain wall leaks, ice dams, wet basements, and faulty insulation. Our engineers and building scientists are equipped with the best technology in the field including infrared thermal cameras used to identify the locations of thermal and moisture leakage in walls, floors, roofs and ceilings. We are one of the very few in the industry to be equipped with thermal drones which we utilize to investigate large commercial or industrial buildings.
