Metallurgical and Material Engineering UET, LHR 1

Microstructures

1.0. Introduction:
Metallographic is the study of the physical structure and components of metals,
typically using microscopy. It is the study of the structure of metals and of metal
alloys through the examination of specimens with a metallurgical microscope. The
structures observed in the microscope are often recorded photographically.

Figure#1: Micro structure

In metallographic after the preparation of a sample it is important to obtain its

micrograph. As micrograph show us the details of the metal composition its grain
size, grain shape, grain size distribution etc. Thus micrograph is the essential part
of the metallographic.

1.1. Micrograph:
A micrograph or photomicrograph is a photograph or digital image taken through
a microscope or similar device to show a magnified image of an item.
Micrographic is the practice or art of using microscopes to make photographs.
A micrograph contains extensive details that form the features of a microstructure.
A wealth of information can be obtained from a simple micrograph like behavior
of the material under different conditions.[1]
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The phases found in the system, failure analysis, grain size estimation, elemental
analysis and so on.

Figure#2: Micro graph of an etched material

Micrographs usually have micron bars, or magnification ratios, or both.

Magnification is a ratio between size of object on a picture and its real size. A scale
bar, or micron bar, is a bar of known length displayed on a picture. The bar can be
used for measurements on a picture. When a picture is resized a bar is also resized.
If a picture has a bar, the magnification can be easily calculated. Ideally, all
pictures destined for publication/presentation should be supplied with a scale bar;
the magnification ratio is optional.
In order to present the micrograph scaling of a micrograph is taken place which
gives us the idea that at what resolution and magnification is that of the
microstructure.

1.2. Scaling:
In the most general sense, a scaling includes the case in which the directions of
scaling are not perpendicular. It also includes the case in which one or more scale
factors are equal to zero (projection), and the case of one or more negative scale
factors (a directional scaling by -1 is equivalent to a reflection).
Formula for the scaling of micro graph is given below:
length of line
Grain size= magnification ∗1000[3]

Magnification is about 100x, 200x and 400x. in this case adjust the length of the
line according to the magnification and thus obtain the grain size in micron-meter.

Thus scaling help us to find the grain size of the given micrograph.[4]
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2.0. Procedure:
 Use scale of 100x, 200x and 400x having least count of 0.01mm.
 Insert a line bar on microstructure image of length 10mm, 20mm and 40mm
depending upon the magnification of scale 100x, 200x and 400x.
 Insert a text box on the image and mention the average grain size.
 The average grain size in micrometre (µm) is measured by using the given
formula:
Grain size= 1000µm (length of line)/magnification

50µm

Figure# 1: Brass alloy

100 µm

Figure# 2: White cast iron

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25 µm

Figure# 3: Cu-ni alloy

100µm

Figure# 4: Microstructure of specimen at 400X

50µm

Figure#5: Microstructure of copper at 200X

100µm

Figure#6: Microstructure of steel at 200X

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100µm

Figure# 7: Microstructure of ductile iron at 100X

100µm

Figure# 8: Microstructure of gray iron at 100X

100µm

Figure# 9: Microstructure of aluminum silicon alloy at 200X

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100µm

Figure#10: Microstructure of brass at 400X

References:

1.  Snyder, John P. (1987). Map Projections - A Working Manual. U.S. Geological Survey

Professional Paper 1395.
2.  Flattening the Earth: Two Thousand Years of Map Projections, John P. Snyder, 1993,
pp. 5-8, ISBN 0-226-76747-7. This is a survey of virtually all known projections from
antiquity to 1993.
3. ^  Selin, Helaine (2008). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and
Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer (published March 17, 2008).
p. 567. ISBN 978-1402049606.
4.  Osborne, Peter (2013), The Mercator Projections, doi:10.5281/zenodo.35392.
(Supplements: Maxima files and Latex code and figure
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