Louis Raymond, Ph.D., P.E. (CA), FASTM, FIAE
Dr. Louis Raymond has spent 40 years on research of hydrogen embrittlement failure mechanisms and accelerated testing protocols in support of government and industry.
Since Dr. Raymond started his high-tech materials and corrosion laboratory, he has dedicated it to providing Southern California with engineering excellence. With over 25 years of experience and consulting for more than 500 clients, Dr. Raymond has accumulated diversified knowledge in providing engineering support and high-tech laboratory services to businesses, industry, government and the legal profession. He is dedicated to continue providing the highest standard of technical and laboratory support for materials science to solve manufacturing, design, service and maintenance problems.
Dr. Raymond's work has been propated through his research, publications, teaching, and consulting practice. His work has been taught through extensive short courses and seminars to government agencies, academic institutions and the private sector. Key industries dependant upon Dr. Raymond's expertise include Aerospace, Automotive, Forensics, and Transportation.
Through his short courses and seminars, Dr. Raymond answered several questions in the areas of:
Society Affiliations
During this time, he served as Chairman of ASTM F07 on Aerospace & Aircraft for about six years, and Chairman of ASTM F07.04 on Hydrogen Embrittlement for about 30 years. Dr. Raymond is very active working with various other coating and fastener standard organizations, including ISO, Federal, Military, NAS, SAE / AMS and IFI.
Advisory Board
Dr. Raymond served as a Special Consultant to the Scientific Advisory Board on the F-111 Failure Analysis Program. He first became involved with hydrogen embrittlement for the Aerospace Corporation working on the failure of stainless steel bolts for the Titan Launch Vehicle Systems. Since then, he has served on the National Academy of Sciences and the National Materials Advisory Board, helping to develop accelerated test methods for Hydrogen Embrittlement, Fatigue, and Fracture Toughness within the frame work of Fracture Mechanics.
Teaching
Concurrent to his consulting and advisory work, Dr. Raymond served as an Adjunct Professor at California State University Long Beach. In directing graduate research programs in these areas, he developed a very active industry-university student co-op graduate study program. While at the university, he received research funding from the David Taylor Naval Ship Research Development Center for developing accelerated test methods for hydrogen embrittlement of welded structures.
Fracture Mechanics
Over the past 20 years, Dr. Raymond has been president and director of technical operations for his own company, LRA Consulting and R&D Laboratories. Here he continues work on the fields of fracture mechanics. He received a research grant form the Army (AMMRC) to verify the use of an imposed potential to simulate galvanic coupling. And, in a cooperative study with Aerojet and Standard Pressed Steel, he received a grant from NASA for evaluating the use of Multiphase MP 159 alloy for fastener applications on the ASRM. Dr. Raymond served as a consultant for the Aerospace Corporation and worked on a study with Boeing Space Division Seattle, on Custom 455 for use as a torsion beam in the Interim Upper Stage of the Shuttle.
Patents
Dr. Raymond has developed and patented a computer-controlled digital displacement hydrogen embrittlement accelerated testing system under contract from a Navy Small Business Innovative Research Grant (SBIR). This research led to the development and commercialization of the Rising Step Load™ (RSL™). RSL™ testing system is currently manufactured by Fracture Diagnostics International (FDI).
NASA
Dr. Raymond continues his consulting work in failure analysis, working on such manufactures products as gears for Apache, Blackhawk helicopters, hydraulic actuators and pistons for aircraft, and MP35N locknuts for NASA space launch vehicle systems. All of these analyses are under taken using accelerated RSL™ testing techniques. Dr. Raymond has also worked on behalf of NASA in failure analysis of the space shuttle Challenger, and is the recipient of the NASA Inventor's Award for Space Processing (1978).
Non-Aerospace Applications
At LRA, Dr. Raymond is very active in applying his testing methodology to non-aerospace and aircraft applications, such as with propeller blades for supertankers, windmills for the DOE, trains for the DOT, offshore platforms for the DOI, icebreakers for the Coast Guard. More recently, under another SBIR contract, Dr. Raymond had been applying these accelerated test methods in support of the Navy's Fracture Toughness Review Program (FTRP) and Material Selection Process (MSP) being applied to all new structurally critical marine designs.
Fastener Technology Center
Dr. Raymond is active in failure and life analysis of fasteners taking into account the effects of fatigue and exposure to the environment both during and after service. He has established LRA Laboratories as a "Technology Center for the Fastener System and Design Analysis". In 2006 Dr. Raymond received the Industrial Fastener Institute (IFI) Science Award. Recently, he has initiated a series of articles on The Structural Integrity of Aerospace Fasteners in www.fastenerjournal.com.
Publications
Dr. Raymond actively lectures and writes articles on the effects of processing, including the effects of heat treatment and coatings on the service performance of fasteners. The studies incorporate the most recent and advanced concepts of fatigue and fracture mechanics, as well as the newest technological advances, for use in the aerospace and aircraft industries. His articles commonly appear in The American Fastener Journal, ASTM Standardization News, and Corrosion (a publication of NACE.)
Consulting
Dr. Raymond works as a consultant with various fastener manufacturers, distributors and users. He has trained fastener-testing labs for certification by major corporations. He organizes and teaches a variety of Short Courses, such as on "Hydrogen Embrittlement: Its Prevention and Control", which discusses new, existing and emerging test methods to Identify and evaluate plating and coatings as potential sources of hydrogen embrittlement.