Metallography

Why do we do it?

Metallography is the analysis and identification of a material’s (specifically a metal’s) microstructure. Analysis of a material’s microstructure is a critical step in both material qualification and failure analysis.  Further, sometimes features of a fracture or material defect can only be observed or are observed most easily in a very flat cross section of a material (e.g. the branching nature of stress corrosion cracking or weld defects).  Finally, some types of testing, such as Vickers Hardness testing, require a very smooth surface in order to obtain good results.  In these cases, metallography enables the visualization of a materials microstructure and cross sectional visualization of material defects.