Search Results for mounting specimen

Mounting of the specimen is often desirable or necessary for handling and metallographic polishing after the specimen is cut into an appropriate size. This article illustrates the different mechanical clamps used in mounting small specimens. It provides useful information on compression molded mounts, which are molded with thermoplastic and thermosetting resins. The article reviews several resins and their key factors, which help in the selection of the most appropriate mounting method and resin. It also discusses the characteristics of plastic mounting materials. The article provides information on the molds and resins used for castable mounts, vacuum treatment of mounts, special mount arrangements, and mount marking and storage.

This article describes how composite specimens are sectioned, documented, and labeled during sample preparation. The mounting procedures for the specimen are summarized. The article explains sample clamping, which involves not mounting the specimens using an adhesive or casting resin and corresponds to clamped samples used in automated polishing heads. It details that cavity molds involve mounting the composite specimens using a casting resin in a preset mold. The article also discusses the mounting of composite materials for hand polishing.

Microscopy is a valuable tool in materials investigations related to problem solving, failure analysis, advanced materials development, and quality control. This article describes the sample preparation techniques of composite materials. These techniques include mounting, rough grinding, and polishing. The preparation techniques of ultrathin sections are also summarized. The article explains the illumination methods used by reflected light microscopy to view a specimen. These consist of epi-bright-field illumination, epi-dark-field illumination, epi-polarized light, and epi-fluorescence. The article also provides information on transmitted light microscopy.

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 examination is one of the most important procedures used by metallurgists in failure analysis. Typically, the light microscope (LM) is used to assess the nature of the material microstructure and its influence on the failure mechanism. Microstructural examination can be performed with the scanning electron microscope (SEM) over the same magnification range as the LM, but examination with the latter is more efficient. This article describes the major operations in the preparation of metallographic specimens, namely sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing, and etching. The influence of microstructures on the failure of a material is discussed and examples of such work are given to illustrate the value of light microscopy. In addition, information on heat-treatment-related failures, fabrication-/machining-related failures, and service failures is provided, with examples created using light microscopy.

The metallographic specimen preparation process for microstructural investigations of cast iron specimens usually consists of five stages: sampling, cold or hot mounting, grinding, polishing, and etching with a suitable etchant to reveal the microstructure. This article describes the general preparation of metallographic specimens and the methods of macroscopic and microscopic examination. Usually, gray-scale (black-and-white) metallography is sufficient for microstructural analysis of cast irons. The article discusses the use of color metallography of gray irons and ductile irons. It also presents application examples of color metallography.