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United StatesThe Challenge roots reach a family engineering business founded in 1953. Back then, materials testing, inspection and field sampling provided a critical need for our engineering and construction clients…with a very different look. Our crews could be found in the rivers and bayous of South Alabama on custom-improvised floating platforms and drill rigs. Technology and capabilities have changed, but commitment to quality remains the same. We’re proud to have been part of the growth of the Gulf Coast for more than 60 years, supporting a wide variety of signature private and public projects and development.
Today, we’ve grown to a portfolio of projects and partners worldwide. Field testing, sediment sampling and non-destructive testing have taken us from Taiwan to Tallahassee, FL and Guam to Gulfport, MS. We work in a variety of heavy industry groups including energy generation, shipbuilding, aerospace, marine, refining, and infrastructure. Governmental and private concerns represent commercial port and Corps of Engineers projects including Haiti to Puerto Rico; Dutch Harbor, Alaska; Miami; Taiwan; Guam, Gibraltar, Spain; Port of Trinidad; Freeport, Grand Bahama and more.
Radiographic Examination is one of the most popular NDT methods to detect defects in a wide range of products and assets.
Our highly credentialed technicians use X-ray or Gamma-Ray sources to identify flaws in weld quality, castings, structures and composites. Vital to quality control, radiographic examination reveals faults such as porosity inclusions and cracks that can lead to dangerous structural failure.
Radiographic Testing RT is sensitive to corrosion, changes in thickness, voids, cracks, and material density changes, and can detect both surface and sub-surface defects with minimum surface preparation required. RT is particularly useful in providing a permanent record of the inspection, documenting an asset before and after treatment and through various stages of its operational life.
RT is an option for both in-lab and on-site examination and is useful in quality control for a wide variety of applications including aircraft structures, boilers, castings, forging, machined parts, pressure vessels, structural steel, valves and components welds and weld overlays.
Ultrasonic Testing (UT) inspection is one of our most-used non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques.
UT measures the propagation of mechanical vibrations (ultrasonic waves) through a material to examine properties, measure thickness, determine elasticity, and detect a range of discontinuities, including corrosion/erosion, flaws, cracks, and more.
Whether the defect is on the surface or below, conventional ultrasonic testing (UT) provides accurate readings to spot inconsistencies in shape or size. Challenge uses these types of surveys as a primary inspection service for a manufacturing plant’s erosion/corrosion prevention and maintenance programs. UT is a vital component of our container crane inspection services at ports around the world.
Magnetic Particle Testing is an efficient NDT inspection technique that detects surface and near-surface inconsistencies available on-site or in our lab.
The Challenge technician will magnetize a ferromagnetic material and apply finely milled iron particles coated with dye pigment. The particles indicate a discontinuity in the material by hovering in a cluster directly over it, visually detectable under proper lighting conditions.
Dry Powder and Wet Fluorescent Magnetic Particle Testing are used for finding surface/near-surface defects in ferromagnetic material. MT requires a skilled technician to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant indicators. Metal cracking, weld verification, and stress corrosion cracking typically require this NDT approach. Together with UT, Magnetic Particle Testing (MT) is a vital technique in our manufacturing plant and container crane inspection services.
Penetrant Testing (PT) is used for finding surface-breaking inconsistencies on otherwise smooth, nonporous surfaces.
This traditional, relatively simple field or lab—based NDT method relies on capillary action, or the phenomenon of a liquid rising or climbing when confined to a small opening. When the excess penetrant is removed and a developer is applied, our trained inspector can then identify any remaining penetrant that would signal a flaw.
This technique is sometimes referred to as Liquid Penetrant Inspection (LPT), or Penetrant Testing (PT) and is used on a variety of non-ferrous materials including metals, ceramics, and composites. Penetrant Testing is the optimal NDT method for identifying surface anomalies including cracks, seams, laminations, blow holes, laps, external bursts and welding defects.
