Automotive & Transportation

Where the practice works in this sector

• Metal-to-polymer and metal-to-composite substitution and its failure modes.
• Under-bonnet and battery-system polymers — thermal, chemical and electrical service conditions.
• Aircraft and aerospace structures and components.
• Durability, creep and fatigue over a design life measured in years, not test cycles.

Questions that typically call for an outside view

• What failure modes does replacing a metal part with a polymer or composite introduce?
• Will this polymer survive under-bonnet or battery-system temperatures, fluids and electrical demands?
• How will the part creep, fatigue and age over a design life measured in years?
• Why is a component failing in the field when it passed validation testing?
• Is a supplier’s material change behind a new pattern of warranty claims?

How the practice is engaged

• Materials Selection & Qualification — choosing and validating a material.
• Failure & Root-Cause Analysis — why it failed, and what is defensible.
• Product Development & Materials Innovation — concept through production.

Every engagement starts with a short conversation with the principal and a written scope before any work begins. If the problem belongs with your own team or your supplier’s technical service group, you will be told so.

For attorneys

Where a failure in this sector has become a claim, see Composites expert witness, or go straight to the confidential conflict check.