Etching

Etching is one of the many processes that a metal sample goes under during the metallurgical
examination. The reason behind which etching is done is that it exposes microstructural detail
that would otherwise goes unnoticed on a polished surface. A polished specimen does not expose
its microstructure due to the fact that incident light is uniformly reflected on it. Then the process
called etching come into play by producing imaging contrast as the human eye cannot detect
small reflectivity.
There are several method through which etching can be done and the one that was done the
specimen is called the chemical etching.
Chemical etching involve the use of chemical solution named etchants, which corrode the some
of the element of the microstructure of the specimen causing a change in appearance of the
specimen surface.
(Bell, 2014)
(Petzow, 1999)
Procedure for etching
Cleaning process as illustrated below.

Cleaning

Rinsing Water
Alcohol

Blo
w
Drying
drye
r
After cleaning, the specimen undergoes treatment using the acid. The specimen was put
under the fume hood with the upper surface, polished one, being up. Etchant was applied
to the entire surface of the specimen using a dropper. The etchant then undergoes the
cleaning process after a time lapse of about 20 to 30 seconds.
The workpiece was viewed under the microscope. If the image was not clear, the etching
process was repeated.
Precaution taken
Gloves was used to avoid contact with the acid.
Safety googles was worn to avoid accidental splash into eye.
Microstructure Analysis
For this stage, the structure of the material was studied in more detailed under magnification.
This step was done once each step like etching, polishing and grinding was finishes in order to
reveal accurate microstructure and all the properties of the sample.
The samples was put under a metallurgical microscope that had a set of lenses that help achieve
different magnification and thus allow more in depth analysis of structure. Once the lenses of the
microstructure had been adjusted, picture of the sample was taken via the computer with the
microscope. The picture of the structure of each sample are as shown below.
Microstructure after grinding
Figure1: Sample A
Figure2: Sample B
Figure3: Sample C