IWT-Solutions AG

IWT-Solutions AG helps extend the service life of steel structures, machinery, cranes, and industrial systems through advanced materials engineering. Our work supports two key circular-economy strategies: Retrofit, upgrading existing assets for new requirements, and Re-Use, qualifying steel components for new applications.

Reliable documentation is often unavailable for older steels. Repairs, material substitutions, and historically variable supply sources create further uncertainty. Before components can be retained, modified, welded, or reused, engineers require reliable information about their steel grade, material properties, weldability, and resistance to brittle fracture.

IWT addresses this challenge through StIM (Steel Identification Modulus), an innovative non-destructive testing (NDT) method for identifying old steels directly on existing structures. StIM combines mobile optical emission spectroscopy (OES) with an IWT-developed algorithm for steel-grade identification. Depending on the application, mobile hardness testing and microstructure analysis can provide additional information. This integrated NDT approach enables the efficient on-site assessment of numerous components while minimizing interventions in the structure.

The results provide an important technical basis for recalculation, safety assessments, repair planning, Retrofit, and Re-Use. Where additional mechanical properties must be established, IWT can supplement mobile NDT with minimally invasive core sampling and laboratory testing.

StIM is embedded in IWT’s extensive expertise in materials analysis, materials testing, fracture mechanics, and damage analysis. With more than 30 years of experience in the qualification of old steels, the IWT team transforms uncertain material histories into reliable engineering information. This enables owners and planners to retain valuable structures, avoid unnecessary replacement, conserve resources, and keep steel components in productive use for longer.