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UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
Prepared by S. Venkannah
GRAIN STRUCTURE:
Grains are individual crystals of a microstructure. Grains grow from nucleation sites, with
primary phases of metallic alloys commonly growing as dendrites.
When grains meet during the solidification process they will produce a lattice mismatch as the
orientations of the growing crystals will almost certainly be different. This mis-match forms a
grain boundary.
Grain boundaries occur when growing grains meet.
Fig 2 (a): Sketch showing arrangements Fig 2(b) : grain structure of a polycrystalline solid
of atom in grain structure
Phase Diagram
A phase diagram is a temperature -
composition diagram for two or
more elements. It can be thought of
as a "map" giving the
microstructure of the resultant
alloy at any given temperature and
composition.
A binary phase diagram is a phase
diagram of two elements.
Phase
Normally we consider there to be
three phases, or states of matter:
gas, liquid and solid. In materials
science, the term has an additional,
rather more specialised meaning.
Gas phases are of no real relevance,
and we concentrate on liquid and
solid phases.
Heat treatment of metals- An operation or combination of operations involving the controlled heating
and cooling of metals or alloy in the solid state to produce certain desired properties. The improvements
resulting from the heat treatments are mainly due to the development of certain micro-constituents which
have the desired qualities.
Microstructure
The microstructure of an alloy
consists of the structure of the
grains and phases which the alloy
possesses. An alloy normally
requires metallographic preparation
and magnification before its
microstructure can be seen.
ETCHING.
If required, the specimen is etched. Etchants usually attack a particular phase or a
grain boundary to make it appear a different colour. Kellers etch is an exception to this
rule as it deposits copper onto grain boundaries in Al-Cu alloys.
OPTICAL MICROSCOPY:
With optical microscopy, the light microscope is used to study the microstructure;
optical illumination systems are its basic elements. For materials that are opaque to
visible light (all metals, many ceramics and polymers), only the surface is subject to
observation, and the light microscope must be used in a reflective mode. Contrasts in
the image produced result from differences in reflectivity of the various regions of the
microstructure.
Careful and meticulous surface preparations are necessary to reveal the important
details of the microstructure. The specimen surface must first be ground and polished
to a smooth and mirror like finish. This is accomplished by using successively finer
abrasive papers and powders. The microstructure is revealed by a surface treatment
using an appropriate chemical reagent in a procedure termed etching. The etching
reagents depend on the material used and after etching the specimen must be washed
with alcohol and ether to remove the grease. The atoms at the grain boundary are
chemically more active, and consequently dissolve more readily than those within the
grains forming small grooves. These grooves become discernible when viewed under a
microscope because they reflect light at an angle different from that of the grains
themselves.
Discuss how and why the properties of an alloy/metal are affected by recovery,
recrystallization and grain growth?
MECHANICAL WORKING : Meatls and alloys can be hot or cold worked and the
Mechanical working of metals will affect their grain structure as well as their
properties.