MICROSTRUCTURAL EXAMINATION OF STEEL

TITLE
MICROSTRUCTURAL EXAMINATION OF STEEL

LEARNING OUTCOME
At the end of the laboratory experience, the students will be able to prepare metallurgical
specimens for analysis using optical microscopic techniques.

INTRODUCTION
Observing the physical structure and components of metals under high magnification on a
scale is assigned as metallography. It is defined as observing and determining the atomic and
chemical structure.
Also certified as observed about grans, constituents includes or phases in metallic alloys. In
metallography, they perceive microstructure by using microscopes, usually, they use optical
and electronic microscopes.
Metals, metals are crystalline in structure when it is in solids form. The arrangement of atoms
in tree dimension lattice in metals is known as crystalline structure. It’s a collection of very
small crystals that exit in normal metallic materials of polycrystalline and are known as
grains. Also, this structure’s features are small in size and they can’t see with the bare naked
eye. So this structure is observed by optical microscopes or if possible, by an electron
microscope that is above a hundred times magnification. Observing the microstructure of a
material can influence its physical properties, such as corrosion resistance, toughness,
hardness, flexibility, strength, and ductility. And also observing crystal structure help to
describe the periodic arrangement of every single atom or molecule and how the material will
perform in a specific task.

THEORY
In this process, careful surface preparation is necessary to be done to reveal the important
details of the microstructure of the specimen. Several steps are carried out for the material
preparation. The followings are the steps for the preparation,

 Sawing and cutting the pieces that are to be examined-

Cut the piece that is to be observed with a circular saw to a proper size.

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  Mounting the specimen-
The specimen is mounted by a grinding machine (figure: 01) during the grinding and
polishing process to have a smooth and mirror-like surface. There are various types of
paper grinding with numbers and it is used in order from the largest to the smallest
number. After the grinding, the specimen should be polished by the same machine
using a soft cloth.
 Etching
Etching is a process that the specimen gives a chemical process to reveal the
microstructure (up to 10 min). The reagent depends on the material used and after
polishing the specimen should be cleaned with alcohol or 2% nitric acid to remove the
greased layer or other debris. And after wiping it with a cotton bud.
Now the grain forming can be perceived under the view of an optical microscope
(figure: 02) since they divert at a different angle from their grains. Grain size is
calculated by multiplying the number of lines (n) by the length of the line (x) and
dividing it by the total number of intersections.

Grain size = number of lines (n)* length of a the line (x)

Total number of intersections

Material and apparatus

 Specimen
 some amount of alcohol or chemical for the etching process
 optical microscope
 grinder/polish machine
 diamond lapping pasta

Figure 01: specimen

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 Figure 02: grinding machine

Figure 03: optical microscope

Figure 04: chemical for etching

PROCEDURE
 A specimen of prepared steel which is recently grinding and polished is needed.
 The specimen was observed by using an optical microscope and light was focused on
it.
 Then a printout of the microstructure was taken onto a hard copy.
 Five parallel equal lines were drawn in the previous microstructural printout.
 The number of grains that were counted witch lines were cut through the printed
paper.
 Summed up the counted numbers of grains.
 The number of lines was multiplied by the length of a line and divided by the total
intersection count to get the average grain size.
 Finally the average grain size was calculated using the given formula.

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Observation

 Grains
 Grain boundaries
 Defects/ Impurities

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Line numbers Numbers of
intersections

1 (8+1.5*1)=9.5

2 7

3 6

4 (5+1.5*1)=6.5

5 7

36

Average grain size = no. of lines * avg. length of lines

No. of intersections
=5 *(50um * 10cm)
4.5cm
36
=15.4320um

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DISCUSSION
1. Identify the phase structure present in the observed microstructure.
Engineering material, engineering material is generally categorized under four main
categories such as metals, ceramic polymers, and semiconductors. Most of them represent
functional materials except semiconductors. Most solid’s important properties depend on the
geometrical arrangement of their atoms and depend on their bounding type. Microstructure of
their scale rival that a lot about their microscopic properties.
We can get an idea about their application by observing the types of phases present in the
material such as grain size, shape description of their structure, and size distribution.

Grins
Grains are the crystal present in microstructure, the basic crystal structure that is arranged
within each grain. They are the inner structure of a metal made-up of individual crystalline
areas. When the metal is in solidification, the grains are formed and they are naturally
adapted to technical applications.
Grain size and operation and other structural features are directly related to the materials’
mechanical and technological properties. The difference of grains used to analyze various
properties of materials. Known as the smaller region of metal, having a continuous crystal
lattice orientation.
Grain boundaries
The limits of the interface between two grains, or crystallites in a polycrystalline material are
known as grain boundaries. They are the 2D effect in the crystal structure and boundaries
tend to decrease the electrical and thermal conductivity of the material.
Most grain boundaries are preferred sites for the appearance of corrosion and involvement of
a new phase from the solid. In other way, grain boundaries suppress dislocation motion, and
this is how grain boundaries are effective to reduce the mechanical strength of the
microstructure.
Defects (impurities)
Defects in steel products are defined as deviations in dimension, appearances of
microstructure, shape, and chemical properties. Defectors are crucial in determining material
prospectus the black tiny deter shown in microstructure is also known as defects or
impurities. The often found metals in defects are Ni, Cu, Cr, and Sn. because of defects, the
quality of steel produced is decreased.
For steel, the stable equilibrium phases include ferrite, Austenite, and cementite. The
metastable phase is perlite, Bainite, and martensite.

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Common phase in steel
The thermal treatment of steel requires understanding the both equilibrium and metastable
that produce heating and cooling

 Ferrite: this is the cubic structure phase which is body-centered and this exists below
the temperature of 912 degrees Celsius for low concentrations of carbon in iron
 Austenite: this is known as the gamma phase and Austenite is a non-magnetic face-
centered cubic structure phase of iron. It’s only present above the temperature of 723
degrees Celsius and below 1300 degrees Celsius.

2. Discuss the importance of metallography

Metallography is defined as “observing the atomic and chemical structure of all the types
of metallic alloys using microscopes”
Modern industries use metallography to get knowledge about their materials to make the
decision about their product’s applications and the shape of their products. As an
example; metallography helps the company to choose which materials are good enough to
make their products like cars, motorcycles, or construction. With the knowledge about
metallography, they know the microstructure of the material that will grant their wish.
Modern manufacturing companies use it as a quality assurance as well.
As a result of knowing the metallography, the need for materials is founded. Nowadays
they are so many alloys are available because of their knowledge of them. Without
observing the metallography industry cannot certify the proper metal that is used in
critical applications like robotics, automobiles, etc.

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Reference

 Azimi, S.M. et al. (2018) Advanced steel microstructural classification by Deep

Learning Methods, Nature News. Nature Publishing Group. Available at:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-20037-5#:~:text=Depending%20on
%20how%20the%20steel,1.&text=Some%20examples%20of%20different
%20microstructure%20classes. (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
 Keever, R. and Robert Keever( Product Development Engineer )As a member of
Harvey Performance Company’s New Product Development team
(2021) Hardenability of steel - in the Loupe, Harvey Performance Company. Robert
Keever
http://www.harveyperformance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Logo_HarveyPerfor
manceCompany-4.png. Available at: https://www.harveyperformance.com/in-the-
loupe/hardenability-of-steel/ (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
 Microstructure (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microstructure (Accessed: November 18, 2022).

CONCLUSION

In this practical, we observed the microstructure of the steel. By observing the microstructure
of steel we can acknowledge the arrangement of atoms in steel and it is the smallest part of
the given material. By referring to this structure we can rival a lot about this material like
uses the material, productivity, applications, and all physical properties such as toughness,
hardness, strength, flexibility, etc.

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