The Case of the Fatal Refinery Fumes. Written by Dr Jesse A Grantham. An explosion occurred in an oil refinery while mechanical contractors were arc welding and installing small air-line pipes inside a pipe rack. The explosion caused the death of three workers. Forensic investigations initially considered an explosive atmosphere at the welding ground attachment as the source of ignition. Welding safety management procedures were disregarded at the time of the explosion.

Weld Failures - Part I. Grantham, PE, Forensic Welding Engineer. The perspectives presented in the following parts address different points of view of the Owner, Welds and the Forensic Welding Engineer. Educating Welders about Quality Welds. Grantham, PE, Forensic Welding Expert.

We have an in-house testing facility with capabilities to analyze alloy compositions, mechanically test materials and nondestructively examine welds. We utilize standardized procedures for reproducible results. Download A Work Request to get started . Failure analysis of welds is the collection, study and analysis of service conditions to assess possible causes of a break-down and the fault of the failure incident.