What Does
Fitness For Service Assessment (FFS) Mean?
A fitness for service (FFS) assessment refers to a best-practice industrial standard that is used as a rational reference for determining material structural limits to differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable material conditions for operation.
Corrosionpedia Explains Fitness For Service Assessment (FFS)
The fitness for service (FFS) assessment is supported by several standards issued by the American Petroleum Institute (API). An example of these standards is API RP 579-1.
API RP 579-1/ASME FFS-1, Fitness for Service, Second Edition, provides guidelines regarding the methodology of inspections to be conducted to ensure that a material or piece of equipment is safe for use.
Such methodology requires increasing amounts of data, calculations and inspections to arrive at conclusions regarding the equipment's remaining life. Several corrosion related criteria must also be evaluated as per this standard. They include pitting patterns, corrosion morphology, crack depths and lengths and external chemical infiltration and concentrations.