Try as we might, we cannot control the weather — or the impact it may have on the safety, performance, and lifespan of critical industrial equipment.
Beyond everyday wear and tear, weather and environmental conditions can take an added toll on heavy equipment and lift equipment used outdoors. Routine inspections help to ensure potential issues are identified in the early stages to enhance safety and minimize downtime.
As a leader in inspection and certification, Industrial Inspection & Analysis (IIA) can help keep your equipment safe in every season.
How Environmental Factors Harm Equipment
Here are some common ways environmental factors can impact the structural integrity — and thus, the safety and reliability — of heavy machinery and industrial lift equipment:
- Extreme Heat: Extremely hot temperatures can cause motors, electronics, and hydraulic systems to overheat and lubricants and hydraulic fluid to break down more quickly, hindering performance or causing a complete shutdown. In addition, sweltering temperatures can lead to thermal expansion that can affect component alignment.
- Extreme Cold: Sub-zero temperatures can lead to sluggish or unresponsive hydraulic systems, reduce battery efficiency, and make metal components more brittle and susceptible to cracking or failure. In addition, the oils, fuels, and fluids that are the lifeblood of your machinery can thicken when subject to extreme cold, leading to increased wear and startup failures.
- Moisture & Humidity: From condensation and rain to humidity and flooding, wet conditions of any kind promote rust and corrosion of metal parts, both internally and externally. Moisture can also cause sensitive electrical systems to short circuit or fail outright and contaminate fuel, oil, and hydraulic systems.
- Dust & Dirt: Whether stirred up by severe wind or activities like digging or grading, airborne particulates such as dust and dirt can make their way into electrical and control systems and clog air filters, leading to overheating and reduced engine efficiency. Even miniscule contaminants can wear down hydraulic seals, cylinders and pistons over time and contaminate hydraulic oil, which is a major cause of failure.
- Sun & Salt Exposure: Over time, ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sun exposure breaks down plastic and rubber components and coatings. This leads to cracking, fading, and weakness in hoses, wiring insulation and rubber seals. When protective coatings are compromised, the material underneath is more at risk of corrosion. In addition, road salts and coastal environments can accelerate corrosion and degradation, leading to long-term durability issues.
These environmental factors lead to increased maintenance costs and greater risk of unexpected failures and downtime. In the long run, weather and environmental factors can reduce the lifespan of your equipment and create potentially serious safety hazards for workers.
How Routine Inspections Mitigate Environmental Damage
By identifying structural integrity issues in the early stages, non-destructive testing (NDT) acts as an early warning system for weather- and environment-related damage. Below are ways that NDT can help prevent sudden structural failures during operations.
1. Detects Hidden Cracks from Stress & Temperature
Non-destructive methods such as ultrasonic testing (UT) and magnetic particle testing (MT) identify microscopic cracks caused by extreme temperatures or high winds.
2. Identifies Corrosion from Moisture & Chemicals
Non-destructive methods such as eddy current testing and radiographic (x-ray) testing (RT) are valuable tools to detect wall thinning in metal components, hidden rust under coatings, and internal degradation in pins, bolts and joints.
3. Finds Moisture in Critical Systems
NDT helps identify damage caused by water exposure, such as contaminated hydraulic systems and internal corrosion in cylinders, aiding in the prevention of system failures and malfunctions.
4. Monitors Fatigue from Wind & Dynamic Loads
Prolonged exposure to wind subjects lift equipment to cumulative stress that can increase the risk of catastrophic failure. Periodic non-destructive inspection identifies high-stress zones, such as crane booms, outriggers, and welded joints, and allows owners to track fatigue progression over time.
5. Verifies Material Integrity After Extreme Conditions
As a proactive measure, equipment owners/operators can employ NDT after machinery has been exposed to extreme heat, cold, or wind to ensure that materials have not developed internal defects or become weak, brittle, or damaged.
Routine non-destructive inspection of critical equipment is a proactive, long-term strategy to minimize maintenance costs and the risk of potentially catastrophic failures or downtime, while enhancing safety and compliance.
Why Choose IIA?
Across North America, Industrial Inspection & Analysis (IIA) has decades of experience providing a full range of on-site lift equipment inspections and industrial inspections. Our trained and certified professionals perform hundreds of inspections every year and have the know-how to test and certify all types of heavy machinery and industrial equipment. As a full-service provider, we also offer fluid testing to help you monitor the condition of your fleet and identify contamination issues that could later prove costly.
While you can’t control the weather, you can take steps to mitigate its impact on equipment — and IIA is here to help.
