EXPERT WITNESS AND FORENSIC FAILURE ANALYSIS SERVICES OF PLASTICS INCLUDING TOYS, EXERCISE EQUIPMENT, HOSES, VALVES, PULLEYS, BOTTLES, AUTOMOTIVE PARTS, CHAIRS, MEDICAL DEVICES, ETC. INCLUDES DETAILED PHOTOS AND CASE STUDIES.
Get help from industry leading experts in plastic part failure
Our plastic failure consulting services provide decades of cross-field engineering expertise in nearly every type of plastic technology including injection molding, blow molding, thermoforming, part design, stress analysis, extrusion, compounding, formulation, reverse engineering, prototyping, polymer processing, quality control system development, QC lab set-up, plastic manufacturing help, and molding process optimization.
Why us? Our team of plastic failure consultants are world-renowned scientists and authors as evidenced by more than 500 scientific papers, 100+ US Patents, many books and encyclopedia articles on plastics.
Dr. Duane Priddy, our lead failure expert, is widely acknowledged as an industry leader for his scientific contributions to plastic material science. Two of Dr. Priddy’s papers—“Why Plastic Parts Occasionally Fail” and “Why PVC/CPVC Pipes Occasionally Fail”—are available to request, and he was recently featured in a CBS 60 Minutes interview about gynecological polypropylene mesh failure.
OUR AREAS OF EXPERTISE:
- Gasket failure
- Toy failure
- Exercise ball failure
- Hose failure
- Valve failure
- Pulley failure
- Bottle failure
- Package failure
- Automotive plastic part failure
- Chair failure
- Medical device failure
- Plastic pipe failure
- Filter failure
WHAT PLASTIC FAILURE CONSULTING SERVICES ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
Contact us find out more about our services or get a quote.
Some of our clients include:
EXPERT WITNESS & LITIGATION SUPPORT
Highly experienced scientists and engineers for plaintiffs and defendants
The power of a good expert witness cannot be understated. In some cases, it can be the key piece of testimony, helping sway the opinions of the judge or jury in the plaintiff’s or defendant’s favor. If you or your client were injured by a defective plastic part, or if you’re the manufacturer being sued in a product liability or personal injury case, we can help.
Our experienced plastic failure experts have served as expert witnesses in many high profile cases for both plaintiffs and defendants. The most common types of cases we’ve been involved in include:
- Patent infringement
- Product liability
- Personal injury
- Property damage
Dr. Priddy has served as an expert witness in over 100 cases, providing instrumental insight and litigation support in the form of failure analysis, expert opinions, depositions, courtroom testimony, and consultation.
Previous Examples of Our Legal Support Services:
Service Key:
FA = Failure Analysis
EO = Expert Opinion Written
DP = Deposition Taken
CT = Courtroom Testimony
C = Consultation
Matter Description |
Plaintiff |
Defense |
Service Provided |
| CPVC fire sprinkler failure | x | C/EO | |
| Fire sprinkler System Failure | x | C/EO/D | |
| CPVC fire sprinkler failure | x | EO/DP | |
| Office Chair Failure | x | C/EO/D | |
| Latch failure | x | EO/DP | |
| CPVC fire sprinkler failure | x | C/EO | |
| Chair failure | x | C/EO/DP | |
| Patent Infringement / Shoe design | x | C/EO/DP | |
| Plastic pipe failure | x | EO/DP | |
| Plastic pipe failure | x | C/EO/DP/CT |
PLASTIC PART DESIGN & ENGINEERING
Poor design is a common cause of plastic part failure
If there’s a defect, we’ll find it. Plastic parts often fail because they were not designed properly. Mechanical stresses placed upon a part can cause a part to fail if the part is not designed appropriately to distribute the stresses evenly across the part. If a part contains areas where stresses can concentrate, the part will likely fail. When failure occurs, our experts can analyze the situation and provide expert witness services regarding improper part design. Our computerized part design capabilities allow us to vividly explain why a particular part failed due to improper part design.
Material Selection
Occasionally, the material selected for manufacturing the part doesn’t have sufficient mechanical strength or chemical resistance properties needed for the part to stand up to the demands of an application for which it’s being used. When failure of a plastic part occurs because the wrong material was used, our experts can explain why the material was wrong and what material should have been used.
Material Contamination
In today’s world, because of global competition, many plastic parts are manufactured in Third World countries. These countries often lack Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) including poor quality control (QC) practices. As a result, poor plastic part quality including material contamination, are the leading causes of failure.
Our experts utilize the latest forensic analysis technology including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), digital imaging technology, gas chromatography – mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and electron dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to identify root causes of failure of materials and the role material contamination and poor manufacturing practices may have played in causing a plastic part to fail.
“WHETHER YOU NEED TO PROVE THAT A DEFECTIVE PART CONTRIBUTED TO AN INJURY, DESIGN A SAFE PLASTIC PRODUCT OR PREVENT A COSTLY PLASTIC FAILURE FROM DERAILING YOUR PRODUCTION GOALS, OUR EXPERTS CAN GET TO ROOT OF THE PROBLEM EVERY TIME.”
Poor design is a common cause of plastic part failure. Mechanical stress, material selection and contamination are just a few of the many possible contributing factors to a defect. Whether you need to prove that a defective part contributed to an injury, design a safe plastic product or prevent a costly plastic failure from derailing your production goals, our experts can get to root of the problem every time.
FAILURE ANALYSIS & TESTING
What went wrong with a plastic part or products?
Not all labs are equal when it comes to plastic failure analysis. Our state-of-the-art computerized part design capabilities allow us to accurately determine how and why a particular part failed. From our network of accredited and certified laboratories we perform most ASTM test methods on plastics including:
- CPVC fire sprinkler pipe (ASTM F442)
- PVC and CPVC potable water piping (ASTM F1785)
- PEX pipe (ASTM F876)
- PE-AL-PE pipe (ASTM F1281)
- Chemical compatibility of plastics (ASTM D543)
- Tensile testing (ASTM D638)
- Composition analysis using FTIR (ASTM E1252)
- Thermal analysis using DSC/TGA/DMTA (ASTM D3417)
- Molecular weight analysis using GPC (ASTM D5296)
- Shore Durometer Hardness (ASTM D2240)
- Weatherability testing (ASTM D 2565)
- Impact strength (ASTM D1709)
- Filler content (ASTM D5630)
- Additives analysis using LC-MS/GC-MS
- Fracture surface analysis using SEM
Our leading experts specialize in ALL aspects of plastic part failure including including PVC, CPVC, Nylon, PP, PE, PS, PC, PET, rubber, coatings, adhesives, and composite materials. Utilizing the latest forensic analysis technology—such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), digital imaging technology, gas chromatography – mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and electron dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS)—our consultants can identify the root cause and contributing factors of plastic failure.