INTRODUCTION:-

The position that technology is holding cannot be imagined without taking metallic materials into
account. The impact of metals and its alloys is considered directly or indirectly on all technological
developments, because of their uniqueness of having alloys which cover a wide range of spectrum on
the basis of their range and properties.

The properties of metallic materials like elongation, yield strength, thermal conductivity, corrosion
resistance and coefficient of diffusion are more or less related to MICROSTRUCTURE, having high
microstructural sensitivity. The perception of the relation between properties and microstructure plays
a vital role in the development and controlling of metallic materials. The diagnosis of microstructure
METALLOGRAPHY is important testing method in production and the most authoritative rule in
disclosing the causes of material failure and fabrication defects. Without any apprehension most
examinations are carried out by incident light microscopy to disclose various microstructural features, it
is obvious that the specimen should be well prepared.

WHAT IS METALLOGRAPHY?

Metallography is defined as the study of metal and its alloys, including their structures. The applications
of metallography includes observations via microscope (most common practice) to investigate chemical
and atomic structure of metals, the components or its phase’s distribution. (1)

OR

The study of components and the structure (physical) of metals by microscopy is called metallography.
Polymer and ceramic materials may get prepared using this technique i.e. metallographic technique. (2)

OR

It is the study of structure of metal alloys and metals, it is done by performing the examination of
specimen with metallographic microscope and recording the structures photographically. (3)

MEASURES OF METALLOGRAPHIC SPECIMEN:-

The programs to accomplish metallographic sections for microscopic and macroscopic investigations are
diverse as well as numerous. (4)

Metallographic formation usually require a definite series of operations that includes;

 Sectioning
 Mounting
 Identification
 Grinding
 Polishing
 Cleaning
 Etching
The following steps can be performed in numerous manners depending on specimen’s material
properties. In the copy preparation several steps are required although all are not necessary to be
achieved in all cases. The rate of sensitivity while performing the steps must be considered so that it
may not affect the later results. Improper preparations may result in distorted structure leading to
erroneous interpretation.

An adequate metallographic specimen for microscopic or/and macroscopic examination must include
classic plane surface area of the material, to analyses clearly the structural details the area must be free
from the changes caused due to plucking, flowed material , surface deformation and scratches.in some
cases edges of specimen can be kept.

SPECIMEN SECTIONING:-

For physical and microscopic analysis sectioning is the most important step. The sectioning approach is
compiled and arranged according to the particular sectioning mechanism.

Specimen sectioning

Mechanical

Torch wire electrode

Arc cutting acid milling

Electro chemical acid sawing

Flat electrode acid jet

Abrasive cutting ultrasonic abrasive cleaving cutting sawing

Chiseling (sand blasting) knife edge

Cut off wheel lathe hand

Wire saw automatic

Low speed diamond saw

Fig 1.1

The most adaptable and cost-effective method is abrasive cutting. A delicate rapidly rotating abrasive
wheel gives high quality and low distortion cuts within seconds are in several minutes varying on the
basis of what material is used and what is the area off cross section. Important criteria in abrasive
cutting takes into account; wheel composition, technique and cooling conditions.

Selection of suitable abrasive wheel depends on the grain size and concentration of abrasive particles
and also the thickness of wheel.

MOUNTING:-
 The small or irregular shaped specimens for easy handling are mounted for the purpose of
examination.it is necessary to mount a specimen in a holding device when adapting porous, fragile,
irregular, small and soft specimen and also when edge retention is required.in general mounting follows
sectioning but when to handle small specimens in a large number it is better to reverse this order. While
mounting the hardness, brittleness, size, numbers, porosity, shape and heat and pressure sensitivity of
specimens are considered. The suitable MOUNTING MEDIA must have:

1. Sufficient hardness
2. Chemically resistive to solvents and etchants
3. Good adhesion to specimen

For opaque materials transparent mounting medium, for electrolytic techniques electrically conductive
medium and if material is to be analyzed with x-rays the medium should be inference reflected fig 1.2
describes the main types of mounting.

Mounting

Perpendicular tapered section

Clamping

Gluing embedding

Inorganic materials organic materials

Metals and alloys plastic resins

Hot and cold

Thermoplastic

Thermosetting

Fig 1.2

GRINDING:-

The main use of this operation (PLANNER GRINDING) is to reduce the damaged caused by the previously
performed operation (sectioning).in general it reduced the size of particles in such a manner that the
surface is ready to be polished. Being cautious in this step is necessary so that it does not produce large
damage as already caused by cutting. The parameters of machine that affect the metallographic
specimen preparations are:

1. Grinding pressure
2. Relative velocity distribution
3. The direction of grinding

POLISHING:-
ROUGH POLISHING---------This operation is performed to eliminate the damage caused by the previous
steps(grinding and cutting).diamond abrasive is used because it has multiple smaller cutting edges due
to which the surface damage is minimum. If this operation is performed precisely it will reduce the time
for final polishing operation.

FINAL POLISHING------------this operation is used to only remove the surface damage (if any).and not the
damage caused by cutting and grinding. If the damage from cutting and grinding is not removed until
this step, rough polishing should be repeated before coming to final polishing.

ETCHING:-

To enhance the optically microscopic points such as (phase features, grain size) etching technique is
performed.in general chemical etching technique is used but other techniques can also be used like
electro electrolytic etching, plasma etching, thermal etching and molten salt.

The technique of etching has a very important role in identifying the failure of material because it
enables the observer to examine the metal features at microscopic level. After polishing the specimen
under microscope looks plain white field, so to expose the grain boundaries metallic phases, inclusions,
cracks, uniformity and thickness of coating material, shape and other issues in weld etchants are used.

METALLOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS:

Grain size, phase and solidification structure is the key point information provided by metallographic
analysis. The most familiar way to handle metallographic analysis is;

MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS----- The three techniques used to illuminate metallographic analysis are;

Bright Field illumination (BF):

The path that light follows for BrightFieild illumination is from the source, through the objective lens,
reflected off the surface, returning through the objective, and back the the eyepiece/camera. In this
manner, non-flat surfaces (cracks, pores, etc.) appear to be darker as compared to the flat surfaces
which construct the bright background.

Dark field illumination (DF):

This type of illumination is not as known as BF illumination, but nevertheless is a dominant illumination
approach. The light path for the Dark Field illumination is from the source, down the outside of the
objective, reflected off the surface, returning through the objective, and back to the eyepiece/camera.
What actually happens in this type of illumination is exactly opposite to the BF illumination, because
here the flat surfaces deliver as dark background to the non-flat surfaces which come out brighter.

(DIC) Differential Interference Contrast:

It is also known as Noma ski Contrast. It helps to examine small height differences on the surface of the
analyzed material. The height differences are visible as variations in color and texture.

Hardness testing
This technique provides the analyst with useful information which refer to the tensile strength, ductility,
wear resistance and many other physical characteristics. Hardness testing is very useful for monitoring
and also in quality control moreover for material selection process.

Micro hardness:-

It is determined by Knopp hardness number (HK) and Vickers hardness number and is used to
determine the special phase’s hardness, small particles, etc.

Rockwell hardness (HR):

This type of hardness is determined with a spheroconical penetrator (hard steel ball forced into the
material surface).

SCOPE:-

The scope to use this metallographic technique is helpful in the following ways;

1. To determine product reliability

2. To determine why material failed
3. To guarantee safe operations of equipments used in many plants
4. Assessment in service degradation of microstructure

The study is generally performed to determine any early stage damage in microstructural preparation by
analyzing the accurate results and this is only possible when proper specimen preparation is done (to
know as much physical properties of material as possible)

The extension of metallographic laboratory is known as field metallography.

ADVANTAGES:-

1. Used to monitor lifetime changes in microstructure

2. Used in determining creep damage at elevated temperature.
3. Valid for a large range of materials
4. Field metallography is portable and can be used on site.

The initial failure in the structure of the material could be the base of the disastrous fracture in our
cross member hence this technique (metallography) can be applied to ensure this risk factor.

CITATIONS:-
(K.GEELS, 2006)

[2] G.F. Vander Voort, “Metallography: Principles and Practice,” ASM International, Materials Park, OH,
1999.
https://www.thebalance.com/metallographic-etching-2340003
"Metallographic and Materialographic Specimen Preparation, Light Microscopy, Image Analysis and
Hardness Testing", Kay Geels in collaboration with Struers A/S, ASTM International 2006.(3)
"Metallography, Materialography and Specimen Preparation." It´s All About Materialography -. N.p., n.d.
Web. 21 Sept. 2016.(1)

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica(2)

Metallographic Etching, 2nd Edition G. Petzow, Author(4)

[1] K. Geels, “Metallographic and Materialographic Specimen Preparation, Light Microscopy, Image
Analysis and Hardness Testing,” ASTM International, 2006.