4 4 8 METALLOGRAPHY

The above circle has a diameter of 79.8 mm for an area of 5000 mm2. The micrograph is a low-carbon sheet
steel, etched with nital. at 500X. The true area is found by dividing the circle radius by 500 and then calculating
the area, rrr . The true area is 0.02 m m . The number of triple points within the test area was counted and found
to be 141. Hence, the number of ferrite grains per mm2 at 1X is:
No. of grains/ mm2 = l'"U^+

' =3574

The ASTM grain size G, is:

G = [log(3574)/0.3] - 2.95 = 8.85 (round to 8.9 or 9)
The same micrograph was analyzed by the Jeffries method and found to have 61 grains within the test area and
30 intersecting the circle. Hence, the number of ferrite grains per mm2 is 3800 and the ASTM grain size is 8.94
(round to 8.9 or 9). Using the three-circle template, Pt was 70.5 per mm. Hence, the mean lineal intercept was
0.0142 mm and the ASTM grain size was 8.98 (round to 9). Hence, all three methods produced excellent
agreement.

Figure 6-9 Example of grain size determination by the triple-point count method and comparison to
planimetric (Jeffries) and intercept (Heyn) measurements (reduced 25 percent in reproduction).

a decent comparison chart rating. The intercept method is ideally suited for
measuring nonequiaxed grains, and the number of intercepts per unit length NL is
directly related to the surface area per unit volume Sv of grain boundaries as
follows:
Sv = 2NL

(6-26)

Thus, the intercept technique provides additional insight into the microstructure.
To use the method, a straight or curved line of known length L r is drawn on a
micrograph or a clear plastic overlay or scribed on a ground-glass projection
screen or reticle. The magnification is chosen so that the number of grains