hard powdery alumina particles (Al2O3, the size ranges from 0.5
to 0.03 m). Begin with the coarse slurry and continue polishing
until the grinding scratches have been removed. It is of vital
importance that the sample is thoroughly cleaned using soapy
water, followed by alcohol, and dried before moving onto the final
stage. Any contamination of the final polishing disc will make it
impossible to achieve a satisfactory polish. Examining the
specimen in the microscope after polishing should reveal mirror
like surface.
Etching: - the purpose of etching is two-fold. 1. Grinding and
polishing operations produce a highly deformed, thin layer on the
surface which is removed chemically during etching. 2. attacks
the surface with preference for those sites with the highest
energy, leading to surface relief which allows different crystal
orientations, grain boundaries, precipitates, phases and defects to
be distinguished in reflected light microscopy as demonstrated in
Figure
Etching: - Etching should always be done in stages, beginning
with light attack, an examination in the microscope and further
etching only if required. If you over etch a sample on the first step
then the polishing procedure will have to be repeated. The table
below gives the etchants for alloys that will be examined in this
experiment. Etchant Sample Kellers (2 ml HF +3 ml HCL + 5 ml
NO3+ 190 ml water) Al alloys 10 ml HNO3+90 ml water Cu-Zn
alloy (brass) Natal (2% HNO3 + 98% ethanol) Steel and cast
irons
Microscopic techniques:- Microscopic techniques Optical
microscopy used to obtain an enlarged image of a small object. In
general, a compound microscope consists of a light source, a
condenser, an objective, and an ocular or eyepiece, which can be
replaced by a recording device such as a photoelectric tube or a
photographic plate. The optical microscope is limited by the
wavelengths of the light used and by the materials available for
manufacturing the lenses.
1.Microstructure
Microstructure is defined as the structure of a prepared surface or thin foil of material as
revealed by a micr oscope above 25 magnification. The microstructure of a
material (which can be broadly classified into metallic, polymeric, ceramic and
composite) can strongly influence physical properties s u c h a s s t r e n g t h ,
toughness, ductility, hardness, corrosion resistance, high/low
t e m p e r a t u r e behavior, wear resistance, and so on, which in turn govern the
application of these materials in industrial practice.
1.1 What is microstructure?
When describing the structure of a material, we make a clear
distinction between its crystal structure and its microstructure. The
term crystal structure is used to describe the average positions of
atoms within the unit cell, and is completely specified by the lattice
t yp e a n d t h e fractional coordinates of the atoms (as determined, for
example, by X-ray diffraction). In other words, the crystal structure describes the
appearance of the material on an
Atomic (or ) length scale
. The term microstructure is used to describe the appearance of the material on the
nm-cm length scale
. A reasonable working definition of microstructure is: Microstructure can be
observed using a range of microscop y techniques . The micro structural
features of a given material may vary greatly when observed at different
length scales. For this reason, it is crucial to consider the length scale of the
observations you are making when describing the microstructure of a material.
2.Metallography
Metallography is the science and art of preparing a metal surface for
a n a l y s i s b y g r i n d i n g , polishing, and etching to reveal the structure of the
specimen. Ceramic, sintered carbide or any other solid material may also be
prepared using metallographic techniques, hence the collective term, materialography.
Metallographic and materialographic specimen preparation seeks to find the true
structure of the m a t e r i a l . M e c h a n i c a l p r e p a r a t i o n i s t h e m o s t c o m m o n
m e t h o d o f p r e p a r i n g t h e s p e c i m e n s f o r examination. Abrasive particles are
used in successively finer steps to remove material from the specimen surface until
the needed metallographic surface quality is achieved. A large number of material
graphic preparation machines for grinding and polishing are available, meeting
different demands on preparation quality, capacity, and reproducibility. A systematic preparation method
is the easiest way to achieve the true materialographic structure.
Introduction
The examination of microstructure is one of the principal means of evaluating alloys and
products to determine the effects of various fabrication and thermal treatments and
to analyze the cause of failur e. Main micro structural changes occur during
freezing, homogenization, hot or cold working, a n n e a l i n g , e t c . G o o d
interpretation of the structure relies on having a complete history of the
specimen. I n g e n e r a l , t h e m e t a l l o g r a p h i c o f m e t a l s a n d m e t a l l i c a l l o y s i s a
h a r d j o b i n t h e m e a n i n g t h a t materials represent a great variety of chemical
compositions and thus a wide range of hardness and different mechanical properties. Therefore
the techniques required for metallographic examination may vary considerably between
soft and hard alloys. Moreover, one specific alloy can contain several micro
structural features, like matrix, second phases, dispersions, grains, sub grains and
thus grain boundaries or sub boundaries according to the type of the alloy and its thermal or
thermo mechanical history . Howe ver , som e methods of samp le prepa ration and
observatio n are quite general and apply to all such materials. A s a g e n e r a l r u l e ,
examination should start at normal eye vision level and proceed to
h i g h e r magnification. Simplicity and cost make optical examination (macro and
micro) the most useful. When the magn ification and the depth of focus becom e too
low, the elect ron microscopes are required.
ii