Aluminum supplier to pay penalty, for using fake test results to hide defective aluminum

[Swordsmyth]

An Oregon aluminum extrusion manufacturer has agreed to pay $46 million to NASA, the Department of Defense, and others to resolve criminal charges and civil claims relating to a 19-year fraud scheme that included falsifying thousands of certifications for aluminum extrusions provided to hundreds of customers.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger for the Eastern District of Virginia, Inspector General Paul K. Martin of the NASA Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Loren ‘Renn’ Cannon of the FBI’s Portland Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Bryan Denny of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s (DCIS) Western Field Office made the announcement.
According to court documents, Hydro Extrusion Portland, Inc., formerly known as Sapa Profiles Inc. (SPI), and its corporate parent, Hydro Extrusion USA, LLC, formerly known as Sapa Extrusions Inc. (SEI), admitted to providing customers, including U.S. government contractors, with falsified certifications after altering the results of tensile tests designed to ensure the consistency and reliability of aluminum extruded at the companies’ Oregon-based facilities. Tensile testing involves slowly stretching and then ripping apart a sample of the metal using a machine, which then measures the force applied to the sample at each stage of the test.
“For nearly 20 years, Sapa Profiles and Sapa Extrusions falsified critical tests on the aluminum they sold — tests that their customers, including the U.S. government, depended on to ensure the reliability of the aluminum they purchased,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. “Corporate and personal greed perpetuated this fraud against the government and other private customers, and this resolution holds these companies accountable for the harm caused by their scheme.”

More at: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/aluminum-extrusion-manufacturer-agrees-pay-over-46-million-defrauding-customers-including

[oyarde]

I probably would not want to buy products from an oregon plant myself , I would go with upper midwest .

[Swordsmyth]

When the launch of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory and Glory missions failed (https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/01/orbital-atks-taurus-rocket-finally-makes-it-into-space/) in 2009 and 2011, the agency said it was because their launch vehicle malfunctioned. The clamshell structure (called fairing) encapsulating the satellites as they traveled aboard Orbital ATK's Taurus XL rocket failed to separate on command. Now, a NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) investigation has revealed that the malfunction was caused by faulty aluminum materials. More importantly, the probe blew (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-investigation-uncovers-cause-of-two-science-mission-launch-failures) a 19-year fraud scheme perpetrated by Oregon aluminum extrusion manufacturer Sapa Profiles, Inc., which Orbital ATK fell victim to, wide open.
LSP, along with NASA's Office of the Inspector General and the US Department of Justice, have discovered the Sapa Profiles falsified critical tests on the aluminum it sold. For almost two decades, employees would doctor failing numbers or violate other testing standards, such as increasing the speed of testing machines or using sample sizes that didn't meet specifications. They'd then provide clients, including government contractors, with falsified certifications. SPI itself was motivated by profits and the need to conceal the inconsistent quality of its aluminum products, while its employees were motivated by production-based bonuses.

More at: https://www.engadget.com/2019/05/01/nasa-aluminum-fraud-scheme-probe/

[Grandmastersexsay]

Makes sense NASA would be the ones to figure this out. They use one of the lowest factor of safety of any engineering field due to the costs associated with getting heavier objects into space. They'll use a factor of safety as low as 1.4 in some cases.

You would think with the cost, importance, and dangers inherent to space travel, NASA would be doing these tests themselves. SpaceX probably does.