Putting a test case for integrity management

Widely-publicised catastrophic failures of forged materials in deepwater applications have called into question the structural integrity of such products and focused industry attention on the need for carefullymanaged ‘integrity management’ of key components. Errors in material selection at the design stage, the use of incorrect heat treatment techniques and inconsistent mechanical testing regimes, often involving test pieces not taken from the actual components, can lead to product failures during operation, typically resulting in significant environmental, safety and financial costs.