Preface Free

This new edition of Metallography and Microstructures, Volume 9 of the ASM Handbook series, is quite different from the 1985 edition in several ways. One difference is that the citations of micrographs are integrated within the textual discussions on the metallography and microstructures of materials. This is distinctly different from the previous edition, in which the end of each article contained an atlas of many micrographs without citation in text. The atlas method in the previous edition was effective at that time, as micrograph collections are useful in making visual comparisons for different materials conditions and/or specimen preparation techniques. However, with the development of electronic publication, a new approach is possible, where a large collection of micrographs can be stored and searched electronically. This is the underlying concept of the newly released Micrograph Center as part of the ASM International Materials Information Online. This electronic archive provides a collection of the previously published micrograph atlases in the 8th and the 9th Editions Metals Handbook. As such, one objective of the new Volume 9 is to complement more closely the electronic archive of the Micrograph Center by moving away from an atlas format and by focusing more on representative micrographs that are visual tools in assisting experienced and new practitioners in the preparation and interpretation of micrographs.

The new Volume 9 also places more emphasis on the underlying physical metallurgy of alloys, as an important part in the interpretation and understanding of microstructural development. In this regard, formation of phase constituents is described in more detail in terms of the general concepts in physical metallurgy and key compositional categories of important alloy systems. Some coverage on phase diagrams is included, although binary phase diagrams are not collected to the same extent as in the 8th Edition Metals Handbook, Volume 8, Metallography, Structures, and Phases Diagrams (1973). This is because binary phase diagrams are covered extensively in other publications such as ASM Handbook, Volume 3, Alloy Phase Diagrams, and the Desk Handbook: Phase Diagrams for Binary Alloys, ASM International, 2000. In this volume, the key emphasis is on the concepts for using phase diagrams as a tool in metallographic interpretation and on the presentation of important binary-phase regions or the quasi-binary and pseudo-binary diagrams of key compositional components.

The new Volume 9 edition also provides important updates and new information reflecting the substantial changes in automation, equipment, consumable products, and preparation methodology, as well as new metals, alloys, and manufacturing technologies that have emerged since 1985. Expanded and new coverage includes:

• New articles on field metallography, digital imaging, and quantitative image analysis, quantitative metallography, and color metallography

• All-new articles on the metallography and microstructural interpretation of cast irons, coated steel, carbon and low-alloy steels, aluminum alloys, precious-metal alloys, titanium alloys, ceramics, and thermal spray coatings

• Substantially revised articles on metallography and microstructural interpretation of tool steels, stainless steels, copper alloys, P/M alloys, and cemented carbides

• New micrographs throughout

• More integrated in-text citation of micrograph images with respect to discussions on preparation techniques and alloy metallurgy

• Updated coverage on specimen-preparation techniques for both manual methods and semi-automatic machines

• Practical coverage on sectioning and specimen extraction

• Laboratory safety guide

• New expanded color section

The titles of new articles on metallurgical topics include:

• Metallography: An Introduction

• Physical Metallurgy Concepts in Interpretation of Microstructure

• Fundamentals of Solidification

• Solidification Structures of Steels and Cast Iron

• Solidification Structures of Aluminum Alloys

• Solidification Structures of Titanium Alloys

• Interdiffusion Structures

• Plastic Deformation Structures

• Textured Structures

Titles of all-new articles on metallography include:

• Metallographic Sectioning and Specimen Extraction

• Light and Electron Microscopy

• Digital Imaging

• Quantitative Image Analysis

• Quantitative Characterization and Representation of Global Microstructural Geometry

• Three-Dimensional Microscopy

• Metallography of Archaeological Alloys

• Field Metallography Techniques

• Color Metallography

• Laboratory Safety in Metallography

In addition, this edition of Volume 9 has all-new articles on the metallography and microstructures of the following materials:

• Cast Iron

• Carbon and Low-Alloy Steels

• Aluminum and Its Alloys

• Cobalt and Its Alloys

• Precious Metals and Their Alloys

• Titanium and Its Alloys

• Biomedical Orthopedic Alloys

• Semisolid Formed Alloys

• Thermal Spray Coatings

• Ceramics

With this extensive revision of Volume 9, Metallography and Microstructures continues to be a comprehensive and indispensable reference work for anyone who specifies, performs, monitors, evaluates, or uses metallurgical analyses for production quality control, research, or educational training.