Metallography (Classification of macrostructure)

Metallographic Specimen Preparation

The objective of metallographic examination is to reveal the constituents and structure of metals. The preparation of samples includes work processes like sawing/cutting, mounting, grinding, polishing and if necessary etching.

Equipment: cutting machines, hot mounting press + cold mounting, automatic grinder & polisher, electrolytic polisher & etcher

Standards: ASTM E3, ASTM E407, ASTM E340

Macroetching of Metals

Macroetching is used to reveal the heterogeneity and variations in the structure of metals such as flow lines, columnar structures, dendrites, weld structures, inclusions, segregation, porosity and cracks.

Equipment: Kaiser shooting table + digital camera Canon EOS

Standards: ASTM E381, ASTM A604, ETTC 3, AMS 2380

Determination of the Grain Size

These test methods are used to determine the grain size of metallic and nonmetallic materials and include the comparison procedure, intercept procedure and automatic image analysis.

Equipment: Light microscope Nikon Optiphot + camera ProgRes Speed XT Core 3

Standards: ISO 643, ASTM E112, ASTM E1181, ASTM E1382