4 3 6 METALLOGRAPHY

curvature to the faces, which changes the surface area about 4 percent. Another
shape of interest is the pentagonal dodecahedron with its 12 five-sided faces.
Although not a space-filling shape, its features agree well with measurements of
actual grains. In practice, however, the grains in a polycrystalline solid exhibit a
variety of sizes, shapes, and number of faces. This variability has been demonstrated by numerous studies, e.g., the work of Desch [35], who studied the shapes
of p-brass grains after intergranular disintegration in mercury, or the study of
Williams and Smith [36], who used stereoscopic microradiography.
In the study by Williams and Smith, the average number of edges per face was
5.02 (further study changed this value to 5.06) and the average number of faces
per grain was 12.48 [36]. These average grain characteristics compare closely with
the pentagonal dodecahedron. Their results showed that larger grains have a
greater number of faces than small grains.
6-7.2 Grain Size Measurement
The dimensions of grains observed on a cross section through the structure is used
to determine the planar grain size. Several different measurements can be used to
express the grain size:

Average diameter
Average area
Number of grains per unit area
Average intercept length
Number of grains per unit volume
Average diameter based on average grain volume

To add to the confusion, there are a number of ways that grain boundaries can be
revealed and there are different types of grains. In quality control studies, steel
samples can be processed by a variety of procedures that are designed to decorate
the austenite grain boundaries [37, 38]. These methods include the following:
McQuaid-Ehn carburizing method
Interrupted-cooling, isothermal transformation, or gradient-quenching
method
Oxidation method
Copper diffusion method
Thermal-etching method
These methods are described in specifications covering grain size measurement,
such as ASTM Specification El 12.
In a steel component that has already been heat-treated, these methods alter
the microstructure and, thus cannot be applied. For these samples, etching
techniques must be used to preferentially delineate the prior-austenite grain
boundaries. Etchants for this purpose are described in Chap. 3. If the steel is
predominantly martensitic with a very high hardness, as in the case of most heat-