A general etchant for revealing prior-austenite grain boundaries in steels

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · Materials Characterization; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/1044-5803(93)90078-A· OSTI ID:6209576

Zhang, Liang ^[1]; Guo, Dong Cheng ^[2]

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1. Shanxi Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co (China)
2. Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Inst. (China)

In development of effective etchants for revealing the prior-austenite grain boundaries in steels of different composition, microstructure and properties are of significant importance in many areas, for example, in the development of new alloys, in structure-property correlations, in steel quality evaluations, and in failure analysis. At present, the Bechet-Beaujard etching solution is the most successful etchant for the delineation of prior-austenite grain boundaries in hardened steels. It is most useful for medium-and high-carbon alloy steels but does not work if the phosphorus content is very low. The authors have developed a CrO[sub 3]-NaOH-picric acid etchant that does not require preheating of the specimen, although the etchant still must be heated. Results indicate that this etch has a wide degree of applicability regarding steel compositions, heat treatments, and microstructures.

• OSTI ID: 6209576
• Journal Information: Materials Characterization; (United States), Journal Name: Materials Characterization; (United States) Vol. 30:4; ISSN 1044-5803; ISSN MACHEX
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360102* -- Metals & Alloys-- Structure & Phase Studies
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALLOYS
AROMATICS
AUSTENITE
CARBON ADDITIONS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL EXPLOSIVES
CHROMIUM COMPOUNDS
CHROMIUM OXIDES
ETCHING
EXPLOSIVES
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXIDES
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
MICROSTRUCTURE
NITRO COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHENOLS
PICRIC ACID
REAGENTS
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
SODIUM HYDROXIDES
STEELS
SURFACE FINISHING
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS