4 5 6 METALLOGRAPHY

Figure 6-11 Example of a well-dispersed duplex grain structure in a low-carbon steel (150 x , etched
with nital, Marshall's reagent, and nital). (Courtesy of A. O. Benscoter, Bethlehem Steel Corp.)

tions were averaged and are listed in col. 6 of the table. Then, the intercept length
per class interval was calculated as shown and is listed in col. 7. Next, the
percentage of intercept length per class was calculated and is listed in col. 8. The
raw data were separated into fine- and coarse-grained regions after inspection of
the frequency data. This separation requires some judgment on the part of the
metallographer.
In each region, the number of intercepts and the intercept length are
determined. The volume fractions of the fine- and coarse-grained regions are
determined by dividing the intercept length in each region by the total intercept
length. The intercept length in each region is divided by the magnification, and the
number of intercepts is divided by this value to give NL for each region. Then L 3
and G are calculated for each region. For the data given in Table 6-6, the results
are as follows:

Volume fraction, %
1
NJL, mm'
L 3 , mm
G

Fine-grained region

Coarse-grained region

97.4
89.4
0.01118
9.7

2.6
15.76
0.0634
4.7

The data in Table 6-6 are plotted in Figs. 6-12 and 6-13 using linear and semilog
plots of the frequency distribution, respectively.
Two-phase structures Many commercial alloys contain more than one phase or
constituent. A classic example is carbon steels, which frequently exhibit ferrite
and pearlite. In such steels, it is often important to measure the ferrite grain size.