What Does Quality Control (QC) Mean?
Quality control (QC) refers to an industrial maintenance process that involves the thorough examination of all contributing factors to the final grade or acceptance of a finished product. Industrial metal structures such as tanks and pipelines are often examined using quality control practices to ensure they are free of corrosion.
Corrosionpedia Explains Quality Control (QC)
Quality control is an inspection method that is performed in strict adherence to published specification and standard guidelines. It is comprised of various techniques such as:
- Failure and fracture testing
- Alliance material sampling
- Statistical process control
- Analytical quality control
Quality control techniques are often performed by a team of professional inspectors who use specific measurement instruments. Without quality control techniques, a company would often be left in a position of using a given piece of equipment or material to the end of its useful life. Depending upon the material's application, this could have catastrophic consequences. For example, a tank containing hydrogen sulfide (H2S) may catastrophically fail and pose a fire and health hazard to personnel.
ASTM's quality control standards provide the statistical and empirical procedures that may be used to evaluate collected samples.