Proton Technology explains damage investigation and materials analysis

A damage investigation is performed when a fault has occurred and it’s difficult to identify the cause with the naked eye. It’s a big area, with experts often being over the age of 50 with many years of experience. Despite his specialist training and experience, Proton Technology’s Erik Waltersson is a relative newcomer in this context.

After completing his education in materials science and engineering at the prestigious Swedish School of Mining and Metallurgy and at Dalarna University, he worked in Technology together with Göran Holmbom to develop the Surface Engineering materials analysis division.

"Materials analysis covers a huge area," explains Erik Waltersson. "Proton Technology is not the biggest player in this market, but we have chosen to develop our talents in a number of verification methods, mostly in corrosion testing, which we have streamlined. Because we have a constant flow of standard tests that are always running in our laboratory, we can free up time for more advanced materials analysis. If there is a test that we can't perform ourselves, we partner with a network of other laboratories."

When Erik started at Proton Technology in 2013, the idea was to start developing the Surface Engineering division along with Göran. But time flew by, and Technology grew quickly. Until last autumn, the main focus was on everyday operations and building the new lab, which was opened in 2016.

Thinking big is important

"Imagine you're a detective arriving at the scene of a crime," explains Erik. Even though you've seen hundreds of crime scenes before, every crime is still unique. And the more crimes you solve, the better you get at reading the context, weighing up the possibilities and solving the mystery!

"The same thing applies to materials analysis. We receive a product, or perhaps just part of a product, where a fault has occurred. In such a case, it's important for us to look at the bigger picture: does the material look strange? What could have happened? Here, communication with the customer is extremely important. All information is in some way important to us for helping us understand what the product has been through. Then we go deeper into the analysis. We use various instruments to help us, such as electron microscopes. Finally, we arrive at an answer, and not always what the customer was thinking all along!"

"It's not always a matter of detective work though," continues Erik, "a lot of the time we know exactly what to do. We perform a lot of tests, which involve things like demonstrating the thickness of the surface treatment or how many different types of surface treatment coatings there are. For us, it's important to start from the right place. For us to be really good at advanced analysis, we need to be specialists in simple analysis!"

What might future challenges be?

"Right now, the main focus is on getting everyday operations running smoothly. The Technology division has grown extremely quickly, and this has required a lot of work from us to get everything working well. Once everyday operations were running smoothly, we were able to plan and sort out our new materials analysis lab."

"The challenge for us now is to accumulate a wealth of experience," laughs Erik. "But with Göran as a mentor, I have every expectation that I'll be part of building up Surface Engineering in the future!"