Chapter 3: Rough Grinding and Polishing

Rough grinding and polishing of mounted specimens are required to prepare the composite sample for optical analysis. This chapter describes these techniques for preparing composite materials. First, it provides information on grinding and polishing equipment and describes the processes and process variables for sample preparation. Then, the chapter discusses the processes of abrasive sizing for grinding and rough polishing. Next, it provides a summary of grinding methods, rough polishing, and final polishing. Finally, information on common polishing artifacts that can result from any of the steps is provided.