This article reviews the essential parts of the complex process of quantitative image analysis to assist automatic image analysis in laboratories. It describes the basic difference between the bias of classical manual stereological analysis and quantitative image analysis. The article concentrates on the basic properties of digital measurements that are the core of quantitative image analysis. It provides a brief description of the specimen and apparatus preparation as well as the image acquisition. The article explains how to evaluate stereological parameters and provides the general rules and guidelines for optimization of image processing algorithms from the viewpoint of shape quantification. It concludes with examples that demonstrate the usefulness of automatic image analysis in comparison to manual methods.

This article reviews many commonly used stereological counting measurements and the relationships based on these parameters. The discussion covers the processes involved in sampling and specimen preparation. Quantitative microstructural measurements are described including volume fraction, number per unit area, intersections and intercepts per unit length, grain size, and inclusion content.

This article describes the various steps involved in image analysis, including sample selection and preparation, image preprocessing, measurement, and data analysis and output. It reviews various types of image analyzers and explains how operator bias and poor sample selection and preparation practices can lead to measurement error. It also examines several applications, illustrating how microstructural measurements can be used to assess quality control and better understand how processing changes affect microstructure and, in turn, material properties and behavior.

Quantifying microstructural parameters has received considerable attention and success in developing procedures and using such data to develop structure/property relationships has been achieved. This article reviews many of the simple stereological counting measurements of volume fraction, grain structure (two-phase grain structures, and nonequiaxed grain structures), grain size, and inclusion content. It also reviews simple relationships between number of grains per unit area, number of intersections of a line of known length with particle or grain, and number of interceptions of particles or grains by a line of known length.

The objective of quantitative metallography/stereology is to describe the geometric characteristics of the features. This article discusses the geometric attributes of microstructural features that can be divided into: the numerical extents and the number density of microstructural features; derived microstructural properties; feature specific size, shape, and orientation distributions; and descriptors of microstructural spatial clustering and correlations. It emphasizes on the practical aspects of the measurement techniques and applications. The article also provides information on the quantitative metallographic methods for estimation of volume fraction, total surface area per unit volume, and total length of per unit volume.

The principal objective of quantitative fractography is to express the characteristics of features in the fracture surface in quantitative terms, such as the true area, length, size, spacing, orientation, and location. This article provides a detailed account of the development of more quantitative geometrical methods for characterizing nonplanar fracture surfaces. Prominent techniques for studying fracture surfaces are based on the projected images, stereoscopic viewing, and sectioning. The article provides information on various roughness and materials-related parameters for profiles and surfaces. The applications of quantitative fractography for striation spacings, precision matching, and crack path tortuosity are also discussed.

This article provides an overview of the origin of metallography. It presents information on how to select a section from a specimen and prepare it for macroscopic analysis. The article describes the macroscopic analysis of steel fracture surfaces with emphasis on ductile, brittle, and fatigue fracture with illustrations. It discusses microanalysis with a focus on the method of light microscopy and includes information of scanning electron microscope in fractography. The article also explains the characteristics of solidification, transformation, deformation structures, and discontinuities that are present in a microstructure. It concludes with information on image analysis.

The quantitative characterization of fracture surface geometry, that is, quantitative fractography, can provide useful information regarding the microstructural features and failure mechanisms that govern material fracture. This article is devoted to the fractographic techniques that are based on fracture profilometry. This is followed by a section describing the methods based on scanning electron microscope fractography. The article also addresses procedures for three-dimensional fracture surface reconstruction. In each case, sufficient methodological details, governing equations, and practical examples are provided.

This article discusses a set of experimental and computational studies aimed at understanding the effect of various processing parameters on the extent of burr and other defect formation during sheet edge-shearing and slitting processes. It describes the development of experimentally validated finite-element models for analyzing the classes of shearing processes. The article also discusses the use of microstructural characterization with stereology to render three-dimensional volumetric parameters. It concludes with information on the numerical simulation of an edge-shearing process, along with sensitivity studies with respect to process and tool parameters.

This article provides a discussion on the metallographic techniques used for failure analysis, and on fracture examination in materials, with illustrations. It discusses various metallographic specimen preparation techniques, namely, sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing, and electrolytic polishing. The article also describes the microstructure examination of various materials, with emphasis on failure analysis, and concludes with information on the examination of replicas with light microscopy.

Metallographic analysis is primarily a collection of visual and imaging techniques that provide an insight into the background of a material or part and its behavior. Metallic specimens, both porous and pore-free, are opaque, and as a result, an optical examination must be performed on carefully prepared planar (two-dimensional) surfaces. This article discusses the preparation sequence of ferrous powders, which is normally separated into several well-defined steps: sample selection, sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing, drying, and chemical etching and/or coating. It provides several suggestions to promote and encourage the safety of those performing metallographic preparation and analysis.

This article reviews the characterization methods for producing 3-D microstructural data sets. The methods include serial sectioning by mechanical material removal method and focused ion beam tomography method. The article describes how these data sets are used in realistic 3-D simulations of microstructural evolution during materials processing and materials response. It also explains how the 3-D experimental data are actually input and used in the simulations using phase-field modeling and finite-element modeling.

This article contains tables that list standard reduction potentials for electrochemical reactions. The first table lists reactions alphabetically by element of interest. The second table is ranked by potential value. Potential is measured versus the Standard Hydrogen Electrode which has a value of 0.0000 V. Reactions with more than one voltage indicate that results have not been reconciled. Parenthetical materials not needed to balance reactions are catalysts.

This article reviews how process variations influence the characteristics of thermal spray coatings. It describes various specimen preparation techniques, which allow accurate microstructural analysis. These techniques include sectioning, cleaning, mounting, planar grinding, fine grinding, rough polishing, and etching. The article provides information on the problems associated with specimen preparation. It concludes with a discussion on the various methods of analysis for thermal spray coatings.

The electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique has proven to be very useful in the measurement of crystallographic textures, orientation relationships between phases, and both plastic and elastic strains. This article focuses on backscatter diffraction in a scanning electron microscope and describes transmission Kikuchi diffraction. It begins with a discussion on the origins of EBSD and the collection of EBSD patterns. This is followed by sections providing information on EBSD spatial resolution and system operation of EBSD. Various factors pertinent to perform an EBSD experiment are then covered. The article further describes the processes involved in sample preparation that are critical to the success or usefulness of an EBSD experiment. It also discusses the applications of EBSD to bulk samples and the development of EBSD indexing methods.

Metallographic examination is a critical step in the assessment of thermal spray coating characteristics. This article discusses the major steps involved in metallographic examination: sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing, optical microscopy, and image analysis. It provides a discussion on etching to reveal grain structure. The article also provides recommendations for metallographic examination of some standard coatings.

This article reviews the topic of computational thermodynamics and introduces the calculation of solidification paths for casting alloys. It discusses the calculation of thermophysical properties and the fundamentals of the modeling of solidification processes. The article describes several commonly used microstructure simulation methods and presents ductile iron casting as an example to demonstrate the ability of microstructure simulation. The predictions for the major defects of casting, such as porosity, hot tearing, and macrosegregation, are highlighted. Finally, several industry applications are presented.

This article discusses the specimen preparation of three types of cast and wrought heat-resistant alloys: iron-base, nickel-base, and cobalt-base. Specimen preparation involves sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing, and etching. The article illustrates the microstructural constituents of cast and wrought heat-resistant alloys. It describes the identification of ferrite by magnetic etching. The transmission electron microscopy examination of the fine strengthening phases in wrought alloys and bulk extraction in heat-resistant alloys are included. The article also reviews the gamma prime phase, gamma double prime phase, eta phase, laves phase, sigma phase, mu phase, and chi phase in wrought heat-resistant alloys.