Development of metallographic preparation techniques for group IVA and VA elements

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2001

OSTI ID:975321

Bingert, S A ^[1]; Abeln, T G ^[2]; Thoma, D J ^[3]; Cooley, J C ^[4]; Hults, W L ^[5]; Kelly, A M ^[6]

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1. Sherri A.
2. Terri G.
3. Dan J.
4. Jason C.
5. William L.
6. Anna Marie

Existing metallographic preparation techniques for Group IVA/VA (e.g. V, Ti, Ta, Hf, Nb, Zr) materials do not reveal all microstructural features inherent to the process history. As a result, new techniques have been developed and compared to existing procedures. For example, in pure tantalum, the new procedure exposes a substructure that is not evident using previously published techniques. In niobium, better grain boundary delineation is possible with the new process. Similar results are evident for titanium, zirconium, vanadium, and hafnium. The new preparation stage includes a chemical polish and etchant. The chemical polish was found to eliminate problems associated with the mechanical polish. Specifically, the chemical polish removes the worked surface and eliminates smearing. The etching stage serves to delineate the grain boundaries, and in some cases allows bright field as well as polarized or differential interference contrast (DIC) for optical examination. Finally, optical lighting conditions to enhance the observations available with the optimized procedure will be discussed.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE
• OSTI ID: 975321
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-01-2520
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CHEMICAL POLISHING
ETCHING
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
HAFNIUM
MECHANICAL POLISHING
METALLOGRAPHY
MICROSTRUCTURE
NIOBIUM
SAMPLE PREPARATION
TANTALUM
TITANIUM
VANADIUM
ZIRCONIUM