UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia France Institute

FWB24303 - FUNDAMENTAL METALLURGY

PREPARED FOR:
MR. XXXXXXX

PREPARED BY:
STUDENT ID STUDENT NAME
50223221141 ABDUL KHAHAR BIN ISMAIL
50223221140 MOHD FADZIL BIN MOHD SAID
50223221147 NORZAHAR BIN MOHD NOR
50223221150 MUHAMMAD HIDHIR BIN
BAHAROM
Muka surat

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 1. Microstructure Test of Steel.
The only way to see the microstructure of a material is with a metallurgical microscope, which
reveals the grain, grain boundaries, sediment, porosity, impurities, and infinitesimal solution
phase. Microstructure analysis is a method of characterizing the structure of a material in
relation to its mechanical and physicochemical characteristics. After carefully preparing the
sample, it is possible to observe microstructure using an optical metallurgical microscope. After
the polishing process, microstructure defects including voids and cleavage may be seen.
However, after the etching process, microstructures including grain boundaries, alloy phases,
and surface layers can be seen in materials like metals and alloys. A diamond polisher material
must be placed onto the polisher board.
The metallurgical microscope is the most important tool of the metallurgist. It consists of an
objective and an eyepiece. Its primary function is to reveal the details of the object. The clarity
and the extent to which the details are revealed depend on the degree to which these optical
systems are created. Microstructure Test also to observe the constituents and structure of
metals and their alloys by means of an optical microscope.

2. Purpose of Microstructure Test of Steel.

The purpose of Microstructure Test of steel is to observe the constituents and structure of metal
and their alloys by means of an optical microscope. Microstructure Test of steel in welding of
performance qualification of records (PQR) also to examine a particular region of the weld or
HAZ to examine the microstructure and identify the nature of a crack or other imperfection.
According to Welding procedure and Specification (WPS) is examine the weld cross-section to
give assurance that the weld has been made in accordance with the WPS and the weld is free
from defects.

3. Microstructure Test Application

Microscopic examination with digital imaging Microstructure analysis is conducted by

microscopic examination, a process that studies the structure of materials under magnification.
The properties of a material determine how it will perform under a given application and these
properties are dependent on the material’s structure. Industrial processes or treatments such as
casting, welding and heat treating are often applied to metals to prepare them for applications

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and to improve their characteristics and properties. A microscopic examination may be
conducted to evaluate the effects of a process on material using optical microscopy at low
magnification or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) under high magnification.

There may be residual effects of these processes and treatments, inclusion or contaminants
that can be explained by microstructure analysis and microscopic examination. In many cases,
the investigation centers on the correlation between the resulting microstructure and the
material properties. For example, exposure of carbon and alloy steels to elevated temperatures
during heat treatment can cause a loss or gain of carbon near the surfaces of the parts if the
atmosphere in the furnace is not properly controlled. Decarburization causes the surface to be
soft and weak with little wear resistance, while unwanted carburization can cause the surface to
become too brittle. Also, if austenitic stainless steel does not see sufficient temperature for
enough time or does not receive a sufficiently rapid quench during heat treating, the carbon in
the alloy will form chromium carbides on the grain boundaries which will make the material
brittle and susceptible to inter granular corrosion. A sensitization test will reveal this problem.

4. Different macro test and micro test

Macro examination is principally used for checking the quality of welds. A cross section of
welded material is polished and etched for examination. Porosity, lack of weld penetration,
lack of side wall fusion, poor weld profile and other important defects are checked in
accordance with the relevant welding standard.This examination is a requirement of
international welding standards such as:

 BS EN ISO 5817
 ASME IX
 AWS D1.1

Micro examination is performed for several purposes, most commonly it is carried out to
assess the structure of material for quality purposes:

 Ensures correct heat treatment is employed.

 Detects unwanted phases and inclusions.
 Ensures castings are free from cracks or voids and segregations.
 Identifies where excessive grain growth has occurred.

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  Determines fracture modes and corrosion damage in failure investigations.

No Macro Test Micro test

Visual examination for defects Visual examination for defects & grain
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structure
2 Cut transverse from the weld. Cut transverse from a weld
Ground and polished P400 grit paper Ground & polished P1200 grit paper,
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1µm paste
Acid etch using 5-10% nitric acid Acid etch using 1-5% nitric acid solution
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solution
Visual evaluation under 100-1000x
Visual evaluation under 5x
5 magnification
magnification

Figure 1: Metallographic Examination

5. Theorical of Microstructure Test

Before examining the steel specimen, there are some before in hand procedures to follow for a
better observation. Initially the specimen should be prepared for the examination following by:

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5.1 Mounting
Is done for the ease of holding the specimen during the grinding and polishing process.
Here, in one process, cold mounting is conducted where using two components resins
which are liquid to start with, but which set solid shortly after mixing. Cold mounting
requires very simple equipment consisting of a cylindrical ring which serves as a mold
and a flat piece which serves as the base of the mold. The sample is placed on the flat
piece within the mold and the mixture poured in and allowed to set. Cold mounting
takes few hours to complete. Another method is hot mounting which uses a heating
method.

5.2 Grinding
Is done using rotating discs covered with silicon carbide paper and water. There are a
number of grades of paper, with 100, 200, 400,800, and 1200, grains of silicon carbide
per square inch. 180 grade therefore represents the coarsest particles and this is the
grade to begin the grinding operation. We should always use light pressure applied at
the center of the sample. Continuation of this grinding should be carried out until the
blemishes are removed.

5.3 Polishing
Is done to get a mirror like surface to clearly observe the structure here it is being
polished by polishers which has rotating discs covered with soft cloth impregnated with
a pre-prepared slurry of hard powdery alumina particles (Al2O3, the size ranges from
0.5 to 0.03 μm). This is done due to fact that the surface unevenness will be removed.
The specimen should be put in acid in which the acid will attack the grain boundaries
taken into a reaction.

4.4 Etching
Is done due to Grinding and polishing operations produce a highly deformed, thin layer
on the surface which is removed chemically during etching. Secondly, the etchant
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.

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 Figure 1. Surface reflection

6. Calculate the Average Grain Size.

To calculate the average grain size, the average grain interception method is used. How it is
conducted is initially drawing a set of equal length parallel lines on the micrograph. After that,
counting the number of times the line segment cuts the grain boundary, and thereafter finding
the ratio of intercepts to the line length.

Avarage Grain Size: (Number of Lines)×(Length of a Line)

(Total Number of Grains Cut)

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 7. MATERIALS AND APPARATUS

6.1 Optical Microscope with 50x and 1000x magnification.

6.2 A light source.

6.3 Piece of steel of which its surface fully polished (using abrasive papers and powders).

6.4 Meter ruler

6. Alcohol

6.6 Nitric Acid (HNO3)

6.7 Alumina Powder

8. THE PROCEDURE OF MICROSTRUCTURE

7.1 A piece of steel was chosen.

7.2 The grinding and polishing machine was switched on and piece of steel was grinded until
smooth face is coming.
7.3 The piece of steel was polished by using the grinding and polishing machine (Alumina
powder
was used for polish)
7.4 Next, the piece of steel was embossed 10 seconds one by one in 25ml of alcohol and 25ml
of
HNO3.
7.5 It was then placed under an optical microscope and a light was shown on to the cut surface
of the
piece of steel while the sample was under the microscope.
7.6 A printout of the microstructure was taken to scale on a paper.

7.7 About five parallel equally lengthen of straight lines were drawn on the printed paper.

7.8 Afterwards the number of grains were counted which each line was cut. Started from the
middle of a grain.

7.9 The counted number of grains were then summed up.

7.10 The number of grains was then divided by the number of lines to find the average number
of grains.

7.11 The length of the line was taken to the scale of the. Taken the length of the line according
to the scale of the printed microstructure and divided it by the number of grains to find the
average size of a grain.

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 Figure 2. Grinding and Polishing machine

Figure 3. Optical Scope

Conclusion

The microstructure examination experiment provided an important information of any crystalline

structure, may it be metallic or non-metallic. The observation through optical microscope gave a
clearer understanding of the grains. The grain boundary and size determination made in the
experiment demonstrates the practical way of calculating grain size from SEM (scanning
electron microscopy) image. After observing different samples of metals, the observatory
comparisons satisfied the objective of the experiment. This examination is conducted in the
industry to identify failure of materials and evaluation specifications.

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REFERENCE

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microstructure

2. https://www.intertek.com/non-destructive-testing/materials-testing/micro-macro-
examinations/

3.