TITLE Microstructure Examination of Steel OBJECTIVES «To observe the constituents and structure of metals and their alloys by means of an optical microscope INTRODUCTION Microscopic examination with digital imaging Microstructure analysis is conducted by microscopic examination, a process that studies the structure of materials under magnification. The properties of a material determine how it will perform under a given application and these properties are dependent on the material’s structure. Industrial processes or treatments such as casting. welding and heat treating are often, applied to metals to prepare them for particular applications and to improve their characteristics and properties. A microscopic examination may be conducted to evaluate the effects of'a process on material using optical microscopy at low magnification or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) under high magnification. ‘There may be residual effects of these processes and treatments, inclusion or contaminants that can be explained by microstructure analysis and microscopic examination. In many cases. the investigation centers on the correlation between the resulting microstructure and the material properties. For example, exposure of carbon and alloy steels to elevated temperatures during heat treatment can cause a loss or gain of carbon near the surfaces of the parts if the atmosphere in the furnace is not properly controlled. Decarburization causes the surface to be soft and weak with little wear resistance, while unwanted carburization can cause the surface to become too brittle Also, if austenitic stainless steel does not see sufficient temperature for enough time or does not receive a sufficiently rapid quench during heat treating. the carbon in the alloy will form chromium carbides on the grain boundaries which will make the material brittle and susceptible to inter granular corrosion, A sensitization test will reveal this problem. THEORY Before examining the steel specimen, there are some before in hand procedures to follow for a better observation. Initially the specimen should be prepared for the examination: * Mounting: Isdone for the ease of holding the specimen during the grinding and polishing process. Here, in one process, cold mounting is conducted where using two components resins which are liquid to start with but which set solid shortly after mixing. Cold mounting requires very simple equipment consisting of a cylindrical ring which serves as a mold and a flat piece which serves as the base of the mold. The sample is placed on the flat piece within the mold and the mixture poured in and allowed to set. Cold mounting takes few hours to complete. Another method is hot-mounting which uses a heating method. 1lPageGrinding: Is done using rotating dises covered with silicon carbide paper and water. There are a number of grades of paper, with 180, 240, 400, 1200, grains of silicon carbide per square inch, 180 grade therefore represents the coarsest particles and this is the grade to begin the grinding operation, We should always use light pressure applied at the center of the sample. Continuation of this grinding should be carried out until the blemishes are removed, Polishing: Is done to get a mirror like surface to clearly observe the structure here it is being polished by polishers which has rotating discs covered with soft cloth impregnated with a pre-prepared slurry of hard powdery alumina particles (Al2Os, the size ranges from 0.5 to 0.03 jim). This is done due to fact that the surface unevenness will be removed The specimen should be put in acid in which the acid will attack the grain boundaries taken into a reaction Etching: Is done due to Grinding and polishing operations produce a highly deformed, thin layer on the surface which is removed chemically during etching. Secondly, the etchant attacks the surface with preference far those sites with the highest energy, leading to surface relief which allows different crystal orientations, grain boundaries, precipitates, phases and defects to be distinguished in reflected light microscopy, (Figure 4: Surface reflections) [Examples of how contrast canarise Light not alt collected itor iby the microscope are collectect by the lens Wi ek Grains with different are etched ditferentiy HSS) SNE Etched grain boundary Figure 4: Surface reflections Before Etching After Etehing 2|PageTo calculate the average grain size, the average grain interception method is used. How it is conducted is initially drawing a set of equal length parallel lines on the micrograph. Afier that, counting the number of times the line segment cuts the grain boundary, and thereafter finding the ratio of intercepts to the line length. Avarage Grain Size — Nunlbe afhines)» (Length of ine) (Total Number of Grains Cut) MATERIALS AND APPARATUS * Optical Microscope with 50x and 1000x magnification. «A light source. «Piece of steel of which its surface fully polished (using abrasive papers and powders), © Meter ruler * 25ml of alcohol + 25ml of Nitric Acid (HINO3) © Alumina Powder PROCEDURE * Apiece of steel was chosen, + The grinding and polishing machine was switched on and piece of steel was grinded until smooth face is coming. Grinding and Polishing machine «The piece of steel was polished by using the grinding and polishing machine ( Alumina powder was used for polish) * Next, the piece of steel was embossed 10 seconds one by one in 25ml of alcohol and 25m of HNO3, # [twas then placed under an optical microscope and a light was shown on to the cut surface of the piece of steel while the sample was under the microscope. Bl PageOptical Microscope # A printout of the microstructure was taken to scale on a paper About five paralle! equally lengthen of straight lines were drawn on the printed paper. # Afterwards the number of grains were counted which each line was cut. Started from the middle of a grain The counted number of grains were then summed up, © The number of grains was then divided by the number of lines to find the average number of grain: © The length of the line was taken to the scale of the. Taken the length of the line according to the scale of the printed microstructure and divided it by the number of grains to find the average size of a grain, 4[PageRESULT 5|Page Average Grain Size = 1.22 em Scale = 9.9 em: 400m Actual Grain Size = 49.29