Forensic Metallurgy, Inc.

Dr. Kalmanovitch is the president of Forensic Metallurgy, Inc. : a  consulting company providing metallurgical experience and expertise in the power, gas/oil transmission, chemical, refining, and manufacturing industries to insurance and legal professionals.

Dr. Kalmanovitch has extensive expertise in the fabrication, construction, and failure analysis/condition assessment of materials and components in the energy, gas/oil transmission, chemical, refining, processing, and manufacturing industries. He has gained his skills and expertise at Failure Analysis & Prevention, Inc. (FAP), Babcock Power, Inc., Altran Solutions, Wyman Gordon, Inc., and Thielsch Engineering Associates.   His work experience includes:

• Forensic investigations - both on-site and laboratory
• Cause of Loss
• Scope of Loss
• Litigation - subrogation, property loss claims and personal injury claims
• Design, material selection, supplier audit, condition assessment of pressure parts, milling equipment and auxiliary equipment for the power industry
• Trouble shooting issues associated with fabrication of components and equipment for the power and aeronautic industries

Dr. Kalmanovitch has provided his skills and expertise to a wide range of industrial systems including:

• Refineries - assessment of damage (fire/explosion), condition assessment
• Chemical processing (plastics, fertilizers, acid, alkali, etc.) - catastrophic failures, cause/scope of loss, damage assessment, subrogation support
• Piping/transport  (gas, oil, NGL, water, etc.) - catastrophic failures, leak path identification, cause/scope of loss, damage assessment, and litigation support
• Pulverized coal power  (large-scale boilers) - catastrophic failures,  condition assessments, material upgrades, design, fabrication, erection, litigation support (personal injury)
• Gas/Oil fired boilers (utility and industrial scale) - catastrophic failures,  condition assessments, material upgrades, design, fabrication, erection, and litigation support (personal injury)
• Recovery boilers - catastrophic failures,  root cause investigations, and litigation support (personal injury)
• Heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) - catastrophic failures, condition assessments, and fabrication
• Fluidized bed combustion (large and small scale) including bubbling and circulating - personal injury, material selection/degradation,  process improvement, and litigation support (personal injury)
• Coal gasification - catastrophic failure, cause and scope of loss, condition assessment, process improvement, material selection/degradation
• Biomass and refuse boilers - condition assessment, material selection/degradation, and litigation support (design dispute)
• Heat exchangers (waste heat boilers, solar boiler systems, air heaters) - condition assessments and cause/scope of loss, and subrogation support
• Mechanical equipment (mills, fans, compressors, forge presses, forge dies, pumps, and lifting systems) - catastrophic failure, cause/scope of loss, and condition assessment
• Turbines (steam and combustion) - catastrophic failure, cause/scope of loss, and condition assessment
• Electric generators (utility and industrial) - catastrophic failure, cause/scope of loss, and condition assessment
• Tanks (storage) - catastrophic failures, condition assessment, cause of loss, and subrogation support
• Structural (coffer dams, bridges, piers, cells) - catastrophic failures and cause/scope of loss

Dr. Kalmanovitch has extensive skills and expertise in the analysis and characterization of materials including metals, plastics, minerals, fuels, deposits, and corrosion products.  He has successfully applied the following skills and expertise to failure analyses, root cause investigations, degradation mechanisms, and condition assessments:

• Visual examination-including fiberscope and optical microscopy
• Metrology
• Data analysis
• Chemical analysis
• Mechanical testing (tensile, hardness, Charpy impact, etc.)
• Non-destructive testing (eddy current, ultrasonic, magnetic particle, dye penetrant, field metallography, portable hardness)
• Fractography
• Metallography
• Scanning electron microscopy
• Energy and wavelength dispersive spectroscopy
• Atomic force microscopy
• Surface science (photoelectron spectroscopy, Auger, and secondary ion mass spectrometry)

Dr. Kalmanovitch received his Ph.D. in Metallurgy and Materials Science from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, England. His research dissertation involved the analysis and modeling of behavior of material at high temperature.  Dr. Kalmanovitch graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry from University College, London, England. Dr. Kalmanovitch has worked the UK, Canada, USA, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Haiti, the Bahamas, United Arab Emirates, Libya, Mongolia, and Guam.