In 2018, after a fractured fan blade led to the failure of a CFM56-7B engine on a Southwest Airlines 737, resulting in the death of a passenger, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration directed a one-time ultrasonic inspection of all 24 fan blades on engines with more than 30,000 flight cycles.

Nucor Steel has an extensive special bar quality (SBQ) steel program that dates back to the conversion of its plants in South Carolina, Tennessee and Nebraska to handle the product decades ago. In 2002, the company purchased an idled plant in Tennessee that was dedicated to SBQ production.

Metal testing is a common step in the production process when providing forged metal parts to original equipment manufacturers (OEM).

Gerdau, a leading supplier of SBQ steel, has prepared to better serve the forging industry through modernizing its processes and equipment, finding ways to improve steel cleanliness and remaining intensely focused on forgers.

Commercial testing laboratories perform a variety of tests that help a forge verify the quality of its output and certify test results to the forge’s customers.