Discussion

Based on the experiment conducted, experiment on Sample Preparation And Optical

Microscope For Metallographic Observation, we was able to understand the procedure
metallographic sample preparation. Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the
physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their metallic compounds, and their
mixtures, which are called alloys. The stage of process to prepare the sample are cutting, hot
mounting, grinding, polishing, and etching .

The early process of preparing the sample is cutting. During this process , we use
abrasive cutting machine. By pressing the cutting knob slowly, the abrasive wheel was bring
into the sample. The pressure applied need to be constant, the next process is hot mounting.
We were using 10g of phenolic powder. The temperature has been set to 180 Celsius and the
pressure at 200 bar.

In mounting, the goal is to retain the true structure of the sample. Next , the sample
obtain from hot mounting, undergo grinding process. Grinding is divided by two which is coarse
grinding and fine grinding. This process is to obtain removes material using fixed abrasive
particles that produce chips of the specimen material. Next step is polishing. It is to obtain a
plane surface with minimal damage that can easily be removed during polishing in the shortest
possible time. The last process is etching .There are several types of etchant used. The resulting
structure that produces was ferrite and pearlite.

Next, we observed the microstructure using microscope. The microstructure of the

specimen with four different types of lens which is M5, M10, M20 and M40 . the different
microstructure has been drawn. Under the magnification of 50, the structure of the sample
looks neat and tidy. Under the biggest magnification which is at 400, we can see at the
structure of the sample, there are a few black spot which is known as defect.

The microstructure obtain were ferrite and pearlite which is a hypoeutectoid steel. as we all
known that the strength of a prealite is the lowest compared to other microstructure. They are
soft and ductile.
Conclusion

In a nutshell, the experiment goes as expected. We were able to determine the objectives of the
experiment. The method of preparation of metallographic sample was understood. The five process of
preparing the sample are very important such as cutting, molding, grinding, polishing and etching. at the
end of this process, we will get the surface finish like a mirror at the specimen. Furthermore, we also
understand the concept of etching and it purpose. Etching is done to bring out the structure of the
polished specimen. After put the polished surface of the specimen to the chemical action of some
appropriate reagent, we will see the result that will more perform by the specimen . the microstructure
study are very important in the engineering subject. It is very important to be able to analyze the
microstructure. The microstructure can be classify into metallic, polymeric and composite. Next , the
structure of the material can be observe with the use of an optical microscope. The objective of the
used and performed analysis from the microstructure has been achieved.

Discussion