While engineers push the boundaries of material capacities to their limits in the design, traceability of proper material becomes ever more important. In addition to compatibility issues, several other reasons can exist for material specification including design, corrosion resistance, and compliance to codes and standards such as ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code.
Quality procedures are put in place to document materials as they are received and as they move through the production process, but what happened to those raw materials before they arrived at the receiving dock? Each time raw material changes hands - from the mill to service centers, from processing plants (e.g. pipe, tube and fittings) to subcontractors – the opportunity for error increases, resulting in questionable material quality.
With Positive Material Identification (PMI) the alloy composition, and thus, the identity of materials can be determined. If a material certificate is missing or not clears and you need to be certain about the type of material used, PMI is the solution. PMI is particularly used for high quality metals like stainless steel and high alloy metals.
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