Metallographic Microscopy

Expert Metallographic Analysis

microscope image metal fatigue cracks

How it Works

Metallographic microscopes differ from traditional microscopes in the way they illuminate the sample.  The light is passed through the aperture and onto a polished sample surface.  The light is usually modified using polarizers, apertures, lightfields, darkfields, and other lenses and filters.  These different lighting effects allow for different types of surface analyses.

Applications

A common use of metallographic microscopes is grain structure and grain size analysis in metals.  A corrosive etchant preferentially attacks grain boundaries on a polished metal surface, making them more defined. Another common use is coating thickness measurement of paints and multi-layered materials.  Metallographic microscopy also plays a significant role in our failure analysis investigations as can be seen in the slideshow above.

Related Services: Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Film and Coating Thickness

For more information contact us.