This chapter covers the practical aspects of machining, particularly for turning, milling, drilling, and grinding operations. It begins with a discussion on machinability and its impact on quality and cost. It then describes the dimensional and surface finish tolerances that can be achieved through conventional machining methods, the mechanics of chip formation, the factors that affect tool wear, the selection and use of cutting fluids, and the determination of machining parameters based on force and power requirements. It also includes information on nontraditional machining processes such as electrical discharge, abrasive jet, and hydrodynamic machining, laser and electron beam machining, ultrasonic impact grinding, and electrical discharge wire cutting.

This chapter explains how to safely prepare beryllium alloy samples for metallographic analysis. It describes grinding, polishing, and etching procedures in detail. It also discusses the identification of major and minor constituents and the general appearance of beryllium microstructure.

The qualities that make superalloys excellent engineering materials also make them difficult to machine. This chapter discusses the challenges involved in machining superalloys and the factors that determine machinability. It addresses material removal rates, cutting tool materials, tool life, and practical issues such as set up time, tool changes, and production scheduling. It describes several machining processes, including turning, boring, planing, trepanning, shaping, broaching, drilling, tapping, thread milling, and grinding. It also provides information on toolholders, fixturing, cutting and grinding fluids, and tooling modifications.

Beryllium’s machining characteristics are similar to those of heat-treated cast aluminum and chilled cast iron. Like the other materials, it can be turned, milled, drilled, bored, sawed, cut, threaded, tapped, and trepanned with good results. This chapter explains how these machining operations are conducted and describes the effect of tooling materials, cutting speeds, metal-removal rates, and other variables. It also explains how to assess and remove surface damage caused by machining such as microcracks and twins.

This chapter explains how to prepare metallographic samples for light microscopy and how to anticipate and avoid related problems. It describes standard practices and procedures for sectioning, mounting, grinding, and polishing and identifies common defects along with their causes and cures. It also provides recommendations for handling specific materials and addresses safety concerns.

Mechanical treatments such as grinding and shot peening are often employed in the production of case-carburized parts. Grinding, besides restoring precision, removes carbide films, internal oxidation, and high-temperature transformation products. Shot peening strengthens component surfaces and induces a stress state that increases fatigue resistance. This chapter describes both processes as well as roller burnishing. It explains how these treatments are applied and how they influence the microstructure, properties, and behaviors of case-hardened components. It also addresses process challenges, particularly in regard to grinding.

This chapter provides an overview of the various inspection methods used with metals and alloys, namely visual inspection, coordinate measuring machines, machine vision, hardness testing, tensile testing, chemical analysis, metallography, and nondestructive testing. The nondestructive testing methods discussed are liquid penetrant inspection, magnetic particle inspection, eddy current inspection, radiographic inspection, and ultrasonic testing.

Cross-sectioning is a technique used for process development and reverse engineering. This article introduces novice analysts to the methods of cross-sectioning semiconductor devices and provides a refresher for the more experienced analysts. Topics covered include encapsulated (potted) device sectioning techniques, non-encapsulated device techniques, utilization of the focused ion beam (FIB) making a cross-section and/or enhancing a physically polished one. Delineation methods for revealing structures are also discussed. These can be chemical etchants, chemo-mechanical polishing, and ion milling, either in the FIB or in a dedicated ion mill.

Induction heating, in most applications, is used to selectively heat only a portion of the workpiece that requires treatment. This chapter covers the basic principles, features, and metallurgical aspects of induction heating. The discussion includes the conditions required for induction heating and quenching, the use of magnetic flux concentrators to improve the efficiency of surface heating, and the quenching systems used for induction hardening. The discussion also provides information on time-temperature dependence in induction heating, workpiece distortion in induction surface hardening, residual stresses after induction surface hardening and finish grinding, and input and output control of steel for induction surface hardening of gears.

This chapter explains how to prepare material samples for optical microscopy, the most common method for characterizing the microstructure of cast iron and steel. It provides information on sectioning, mounting, polishing, etching, and recording. It describes the nature of surface roughness, the factors that contribute to it, and its effect on image quality. It discusses the use of fixturing and holding devices, includes photographic examples of polishing defects and drying marks, and provides an overview of micrographic etchants and the features they reveal. It also describes the steps involved in replicating part surfaces.

This chapter instructs the metallographer on the basic skills required to prepare a polished metallographic specimen. It is organized in a chronological sequence starting with the information-gathering process on the material being investigated, then moving on to sectioning, mounting, grinding, and polishing processes, and ending with methods used to properly store metallographic specimens. The discussion covers the preparation procedures, the materials being investigated, and equipment used to perform these procedures.

This appendix provides an extensive amount of data corresponding to titanium machining processes, including sawing, turning, drilling, reaming, tapping, broaching, face milling, end milling, slotting, surface grinding, and thermal cutting.

This chapter provides helpful guidelines for selecting a surface treatment for a given application. It identifies important design factors and applicable treatments for common design scenarios, materials, and operating conditions. It explains why heat treatments and finishing operations may be required before or after processing and how to estimate or predict coating thickness, case depth, hardness, and the likelihood of distortion. It also addresses related issues and considerations such as part handling and fixturing, surface preparation and cleaning requirements, processability, aesthetics, and the influence of design features.

The need for precise targeted interactive surgery on boards or modules is the main driver of backside preparation technology. This article assists the analyst in making decisions on backside thinning and polishing requirements. Thinning of the substrates can be accomplished by flat lapping, laser assisted chemical etch, plasma reactive ion etch, and CNC based milling and polishing. The article discusses the general characteristics, key principles, advantages, and disadvantages of these processes. It also contains case studies that illustrate the application of these processes to ceramic cavity devices, injection molded parts, and ball grid arrays.

This chapter discusses the factors that influence the cost and complexity of machining titanium alloys. It explains how titanium compares to other metals in terms of cutting force and power requirements and how these forces, along with cutting speeds and the use of cutting fluids, affect tool life, surface finish, and part tolerances. The chapter also includes a brief review of nontraditional machining methods.

This chapter familiarizes readers with the machining characteristics of titanium and the implementation of machining and shaping processes. It explains why titanium alloys are more difficult to machine than other metals and how it impacts the equipment and procedures that can be used. It describes the basic machining requirements for titanium in terms of tool geometry and materials, machine setup rigidity, cutting speeds and feed rates, and surface conditions, and explains how the requirements are met in practice in milling, turning, drilling, surface grinding, and broaching operations. The chapter also covers chemical and electrochemical machining processes as well as flame cutting.

This chapter discusses the factors that play a role in fatigue failures and how they affect the service life of metals and structures. It describes the stresses associated with high-cycle and low-cycle fatigue and how they differ from the loading profiles typically used to generate fatigue data. It compares the Gerber, Goodman, and Soderberg methods for predicting the effect of mean stress from bending data, describes the statistical nature of fatigue measurements, and explains how plastic strain causes cyclic hardening and softening. It discusses the work of Wohler, Basquin, and others and how it led to the development of a strain-based approach to fatigue and the use of fatigue strength and ductility coefficients. It reviews the three stages of fatigue, beginning with crack initiation followed by crack growth and final fracture. It explains how fracture mechanics can be applied to crack propagation and how stress concentrations affect fatigue life. It also discusses fatigue life improvement methods and design approaches.

This chapter defines near-net shape forging as the process of forging parts close to their final dimensions such that little machining or only grinding is required as a final step. It then describes the causes of dimensional variations in forging, including die deflection, press deflection, and process inconsistencies, and discusses related innovations.

This chapter is a detailed account of the general characteristics and effects of and the methods for preventing or reducing different categories of wear failures, namely abrasive (erosive, grinding, and gouging), adhesive, and fretting wear.

This chapter discusses the important role of metallography and the metallographer in predicting and understanding the properties of metals and alloys. Examples are presented of a metallographer working as part of a team in a research laboratory of a large steel company and a metallographer working alone at a small iron foundry. The three basic areas in all metallography laboratories are discussed: the specimen preparation area, the polishing/etching area, and the observation/micrography area. Important safety issues in a metallographic laboratory are also considered.