Failure Analysis of Welded Components: Cracking & Corrosion

Paul Atzemis is the Director of Technical Service at Carboline and the co-founder and co-host of the Carboline Tech Service Podcast and Red Bucket Podcast. A North coast Ohio native, he received his chemistry degree in 1995 from John Carroll University. Since then, he has spent most of his career in the paint and coatings industry. He has traveled many paths through many different cities around the country: formulator, inside and outside paint sales, and plant chemist. Through it all, Paul always knew that Tech Service was where he wanted to be and eventually found Carboline. Since 2011, Paul has been in Carboline’s Technical Service Department and Director since 2014 and holds AMPP Senior Certified Coatings Inspector. When not talking about paint, Paul enjoys spending time with his wife and kids or on the water sailing, but usually still telling them about paint.

Mr. Sprengard is the Managing Director of Strategy and Innovation for Enerfab Process Solutions and Brighton Tru-Edge Heads. He previously worked as a Welding Engineer, Metallurgist, and Director of Quality Assurance for the Enerfab division before leading the operations of our Gulf Coast and Midwest fabrication facilities. Throughout his career, he has conducted several failure analyses and onsite investigations in power generation boilers, clean air systems, breweries, ASME pressure vessels, and API storage tanks. His responsibilities have also included providing metallurgical support for the development of welding procedures for a wide range of materials, including high temperature boiler tube steels, super duplex, precipitation hardened materials, quench and tempered steels, and Ni-based superalloys.

Mr. Sprengard holds a BSc in Welding Engineering from The Ohio State University, where he specialized in welding metallurgy and nondestructive evaluation. Upon joining Enerfab and Brighton, he completed his MSc in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. His post graduate research was devoted to the analysis of mechanical properties and phase transformations in lean duplex stainless steels. Mr. Sprengard is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Ohio. He is an ASNT NDT Level III professional and an AWS Certified Welding Inspector. Mr. Sprengard is a former Chairman of the ASM Cincinnati Chapter, a member of the Materials Technology Institute (MTI), and is involved with local organizations.

Jon Ferreira, a seasoned quality and inspection professional with The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company (HSB), has been active in the welding and inspection industry since the late 1990s. He began his inspection career in 2008 as an AWS Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) and has been a National Board Commissioned Authorized Inspector (AI) and Inservice Inspector (IS) since 2010, holding "B" and "R" endorsements. As Technical Service Manager at HSB, Jon ensures compliance with quality procedures, provides technical support, oversees third-party work, and ensures staff are appropriately qualified and trained. He is also a member of the National Board Inspection Code (NBIC) Part 3 Repairs and Alterations Subgroup, Interpretations Task Group, Historical Boiler Task Group, and the ASME Qualifications for Authorized Inspection Conference Committee, actively contributing to the advancement of industry standards and practices.

John Lilley is a Chartered Engineer with the British Institute of NDT and has over 35 years of experience as an ASNT Level 3 certified professional in four disciplines. He has significantly contributed to BSI, EN, ASME, and API codes, standards, and recommended practices and has actively participated in HOIS, SPRINT Robotics, and PRCI, including serving on PRCI’s board and Executive Assembly. Beginning his career as a radiographer in Sheffield, UK, John gained extensive experience in inspections across the power generation and oil & gas industries throughout Western Europe. He founded an NDT training school in the 1980s before joining Sonomatic in 1988, where he established the Field Services division. As General Manager of Sonomatic from 2005 to 2021, he specialized in leveraging inspection technology to help clients achieve their objectives. Currently, he serves as Senior Technical Consultant for the CWL Group of Companies, continuing to bring his expertise to the forefront of the industry.

Matthew Taylor serves as the chief technology officer of Deepwater Corrosion Services, Inc. where he has focused on corrosion prevention, life extension and cathodic protection for offshore assets since 2012. He has recently been working on techniques to improve the predictive accuracy of next-generation offshore CP-FEA models. Matthew holds a Ph.D. in Material Science from Penn State, a masters in metallurgy from University of Nevada, Reno, and a Bachelor of Science in Materials engineering from Georgia Tech.

Paul Atzemis is the Director of Technical Service at Carboline and the co-founder and co-host of the Carboline Tech Service Podcast and Red Bucket Podcast. A North coast Ohio native, he received his chemistry degree in 1995 from John Carroll University. Since then, he has spent most of his career in the paint and coatings industry. He has traveled many paths through many different cities around the country: formulator, inside and outside paint sales, and plant chemist. Through it all, Paul always knew that Tech Service was where he wanted to be and eventually found Carboline. Since 2011, Paul has been in Carboline’s Technical Service Department and Director since 2014 and holds AMPP Senior Certified Coatings Inspector. When not talking about paint, Paul enjoys spending time with his wife and kids or on the water sailing, but usually still telling them about paint.