Corrosion and Equipment Failure Expert

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

Dr. Sean Brossia is a corrosion, materials, mechanical integrity, reliability, and industrial equipment failure expert with more than 30 years of experience in chemical, refining, pharmaceutical, paper, pipeline, manufacturing, and industrial facilities. He provides expert witness and litigation support through Vulcan Integrity for matters involving corrosion damage, materials degradation, inspection adequacy, risk-based inspection, mechanical integrity, maintenance and reliability practices, material selection, and equipment failure causation. Dr. Brossia has experience with piping, pressure vessels, tanks, heat exchangers, boilers, cooling water systems, pipelines, coatings, linings, stainless steels, specialty alloys, polymers, gaskets, glass-lined equipment, PTFE-lined systems, corrosion sensors, and corrosion monitoring technologies. He evaluates damage mechanisms including pitting, general corrosion, localized corrosion, erosion-corrosion, corrosion under insulation, microbiologically influenced corrosion, stress corrosion cracking, coating and lining failure, water chemistry-related corrosion, environmentally assisted cracking, galvanic corrosion, and materials compatibility failures. His litigation support work includes case merit review, technical document review, failure analysis review, causation analysis, standard-of-care assessment, inspection and maintenance program evaluation, expert reports, rebuttal support, deposition testimony, and trial testimony. He has testified and been deposed, has supported both defense and plaintiff matters, and has never had his opinions excluded. Dr. Brossia’s opinions are grounded in engineering principles, available data, physical evidence, operating history, inspection records, laboratory or field information, industry standards, and recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices. He has experience with API, ASME, ASTM, AMPP/NACE, PHMSA, OSHA, EPA, PIP, and RAGAGEP-related expectations, and has participated in standards development activities. He is known for explaining complex corrosion, materials, reliability, and mechanical integrity issues in clear, practical terms that attorneys, judges, arbitrators, and juries can understand. His work often involves identifying the applicable damage mechanism, evaluating whether degradation was foreseeable, assessing whether inspection and maintenance practices were reasonable, and determining whether materials of construction were appropriate for the service environment. Dr. Brossia has held senior technical and leadership roles in engineering, maintenance, reliability, corrosion management, fixed equipment integrity, research and development, asset integrity consulting, and corrosion monitoring technology. He is a NACE/AMPP Fellow, has authored more than 80 publications and book chapters, and holds multiple patents related to corrosion monitoring and sensing technologies.