Duncan Esterbrook

Background

About Duncan Esterbrook

I have worked as a metallurgist for 34 years, with experience in production (Steelmaking and Coal mining), quality control (Steelmaking), Maintenance NDT (Power, Rail, Mining, Chemical Production), Maintenance CM (Mining), Maintenance planning (Steelmaking, Mining), Reliability Engineering (Mining) and Failure investigation. Having had the opportunity to work as a plant owner (in both production and maintenance roles) has given me a better understanding of what plant owners require from consultants. I have returned to working as a failure investigation metallurgist with Noble Engineering Services and am enjoying the opportunity to use my experience to identify the root causes of failure and make practical recommendations to assist clients minimize the life cycle cost for key assets. The process of conducting a Metallurgical Failure Investigation looks at the the function of the failed item, materials of construction, the design of critical components, the manufacturing process, the operational environment, operational practices and maintenance practices to determine what can be changed to minimize, or eliminate, similar failures without adversely affecting production.