tafila technical university

Faculty engineering


Experiment #2
Preparation and Examination Of Specimens

Name: Salam Fayez Albaradie

Lecturer name: Eng. Mohannad Tamimi .

Date of submission: 11/3/2014.

.



1. Objective

1. How to prepare a metal pieces to see in microscope
2. Identifying the main internal structures


2. Introduction

2.1. Microscopic Examination

generally macro examination is performed at less than 10x magnification. Several semi-
finished and samples of finished products are subjected to macro test to reveal internal
discontinuities such as impurities, inclusions in rolled products or grain flow in forgings after
exposure to appropriate preparation and exposure to chemicals or heat.
Macro examination is also performed on the test specimens exposed to other tests such
corrosion resistance test, passivation, salt spray test, case depth measurement.
The most common test is weld cross section examination to reveal internal discontinuities,
weld profile, weld passes and sequence, extent of penetration and the quality of weld.

2.2. Microscopic Examination

microscopic examination, a process that studies the structure of materials under
magnification he properties of a material determine how it will perform under a given
application and these properties are dependent on the materials structure. 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. A carefully prepared specimen and magnification are needed for microscopic
examination. Proper preparation of the specimen and the materials surface requires that a
rigid step-by-step process be followed. The first step is carefully selecting a small sample of
the material to undergo microstructure analysis with consideration given to location and
orientation. This step is followed by sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing and etching to
reveal accurate microstructure and content.
Detailed viewing of samples is done with a metallurgical microscope that has a system of
lenses (objectives and eyepiece) so that different magnifications (typically 50X to 1000X)
can be achieved. Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEMs) are capable of much higher
magnifications and are utilized for highly detailed microstructural study.
And this test is also used for these following purposes:
1- Determination the grains size and grains boundaries of the metal.
2- Analyzing microstructure of the metal
3- Determination the size, shape and distribution of the non-metallic impurities.


Figure 1 grains size and grains boundaries


2.3. Preparation of specimen

2.3.1. Choice of the specimen

Any specimen should be selected to be representative of the metallic piece to be examined.
Also the specimen should have a suitable size ti facilitate the following processes.

2.3.2. Cutting

Sectioning and Cutting - Following proper documentation, most metallographic samples
need to be sectioned to the area of interest and for easier handling. Depending upon the
material, the sectioning operation can be obtained by abrasive cutting (metals and metal
matrix composites), diamond wafer cutting (ceramics, electronics, biomaterials, minerals), or
thin sectioning with a microtome (plastics).
Proper sectioning is required to minimize damage, which may alter the microstructure and
produce false Metallographic characterization. Proper cutting requires the correct selection of
abrasive type, bonding, and size; as Well as proper cutting speed, load and coolant. Table I
list the most common type of abrasive blades used for Metallographic sectioning .

2.3.3. Rough grinding

1. To ensure the specimen's surface is flat & parallel.
2. To reduce the damage created during sectioning (specimen cutting)






Figure 2 Rough file




2.3.4. Fine grinding or Sanding

This process requires some equipments to eliminate small scratches resulted from rough
grinding process and to get a smooth and level surface
Silicon carbide is used material in sanding equipments, it is used in :
1- Emery papers with different grades number (e.g. 220-600-1200) which the grade number
indicates the number of particles per square inch. See fig
2- Silicon carbide powder added to a grinding revolving disk





Figure 3 emery paper

2.3.5. Polishing

To remove the damage produced during grinding.

The main equipments used in this process are:
1- Polishing machine.
2- Polishing cloth.
3- Polishing materials, like:
a) Diamond pate Or
b) Alumina (Al
2
O
3
)



Figure 4 polishing machine


2.3.6. Etching

to alters and develop the surface topology to make it visible in the microscope

Apparatus and substances:

Nital solution (2% HNO
3
)
Alcohol
Dryer
Time 16 sec




3. Materials, equipment and Experimental procedure

3.1. Materials

We use in this experiment mild steel.

3.2. Equipment

1. Polishing machine
2. Metallurgical microscope


3.3. Experimental procedure

1. Choice of the specimen
2. Fine grinding
3. Polishing
4. Etching
4. Result and discussion

This experiment is important to make us familiar with metallography techniques such
as grinding, polishing and etching. We can also get to be familiar with metallurgy
microscope to investigate the microstructure of metal and alloy. we can also learn
the microstructure of the specimen which undergoes different kinds of heat
treatment the preparation of the specimen must be carefully perform step but step to
ensure an accurate and clear result for microstructural analysis. Improper technique
such as not aiding the grinding process with water or touching the specimens
surface after etching will Couse scratches to specimen which will bother the
microstructural analysis. To enhance the quality of the result for this experiment. We
should follow the specimen preparation step carefully. the suggestion in improving
the quality are the mounting process should be watched so that the pressure should
not go lower than 20kn. enough water should be added while grinding, new silicon
carbide paper and polishing cloth should be used for grinding and polishing, the
diamond spray should be added while polishing, accurate amount of 2% of nital
solution is used and we should not touch the specimen's surface after etching. As
the conclusions, we should follow the specimen preparation method accurately so
that we can achieve a good result in microstructural analysis of the specimen for the
different heat treatments.

5. References

1. www.microscopemaster.com
2. www.labtesting.com
3. Wiki.answers.com
4. www.lmats.com
5. www.scribd.com