4 7 2 METALLOGRAPHY

required. Serial sectioning provides a direct method for determining Nv and

requires no assumptions about grain shape. However, for a fine-grained structure,
the method presents considerable experimental challenge, although the calculations are quite simple.
6-8 INCLUSION RATING METHODS
Because inclusions can significantly influence material properties and behavior,
they have been studied extensively. While the vast majority of this work concerns
inclusions in steel, one should not conclude that inclusions do not influence other
materials. Inclusions are usually categorized according to origin, i.e., exogenous
or indigenous. Exogenous inclusions come from external sources such as slag or
refractories. Indigenous inclusions arise from natural processes, such as deoxidation or precipitation of sulfides. Although the word "inclusion" by definition
should be used only in reference to the exogenous types, it has been applied to
both types. Most inclusion studies concentrate on the indigenous types because
they can be controlled by the melting practice and they are more numerous and
more predictable in distribution.
Indigenous inclusions are usually classified by composition, such as oxides or
sulfides. Carbides and nitrides are not considered to be inclusions because they
are more akin to metals than to nonmetals. In a few instances, nitrides have been
included in chart methods for rating inclusions. Inclusions are also categorized by
size, i.e., microscopic or macroscopic. In general, indigenous inclusions are
smallless than 100 n.m in diameter (as-cast condition). Macroscopic inclusions
are usually exogenous in origin, but small exogenous inclusions are also observed.
Thus, one cannot simply state that all indigenous inclusions are microscopic in size
and all exogenous inclusions are macroscopic.
In this chapter, only microscopic methods for assessing inclusion content are
covered. Broader coverage of techniques for inclusion identification and measurement is available in a recent review [61]. A variety of methods have been used
to measure or describe inclusion content. These methods involve the following:
Chart comparison
Counting
Volume fraction determination
Inclusion analysis requires quantification of the amount, size, shape, and
distribution of inclusion types. In many cases, it is adequate to sort inclusions as
either sulfides or oxides, although precise chemical identification is sometimes
necessary. Chemical identification is a simple procedure if an energy- or
wavelength-dispersive analytical device is available.
6-8.1 Chart Comparison Methods
Comparison methods using standard charts have been the most widely used
procedure for describing inclusion content microscopically [11-14]. These charts