About Etching

Etching Is a Chemical or Electrolytic Process Used after Metallographic Grinding and Polishing Procedures.

Etching Enhances the Contrast on Surfaces in Order to Visualize the Microstructure or Macrostructure.

Etching in materialography exerts a controlled influence on the surface profile or optical properties at grain boundaries, phases, or grain surfaces, thus enabling microscopic inspection and additional use of optical filters in the microscope. Preparation before the etching process must be adapted to the investigation target.

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How to Do Etching

Method Selection Steps

Initial polishing of the sample requires a smooth surface without deformations or scratches.
The correct etching fluid for the material is selected from the listed literature.
In certain cases it is possible to enhance the contrast with light microscope filters in addition to the chemical etching process. This is referred to as "optical etching."
In the case of electrolytic etching, a suitable electrolyte, voltage, and sample exposure time should be selected.

Materials and Etchants

Some examples of a wide variety of etchants are listed below:

Carbon steels

Alcoholic nitric acid

High alloyed steels

Color etchants (Beraha, Lichtenegger), with V2A-lye or Adler-etchant containing hydrochloric acid

High alloyed steels

Electrolytic etching with oxalic acid

Aluminum and alloys:

Barker

Copper and alloys

Modifications of Klemm's reagent.

Types of Etching

There are several types of etching, which are described below.

Chemical Etching

Chemical etching involves the complete immersion of a prepared sample, usually ground (for macro etching) or fine polished (for micro etching), into an etching fluid (etchant).
Macro etching enables investigation of the sample surface by eye or magnifying glass (magnification up to 25x). Micro etching enables microscopic inspection at magnifications up to 1,000x (light microscopy) or more (electron microscopy).

Dissolution etching enables specific attacks at grain boundaries, surfaces, or phases.
During precipitation etching (also known as color etching), a thin layer is formed on the surface with a certain thickness, depending on the chemical composition or orientation of grains.

Electrolytic Etching

Electrolytic etching requires a homogeneous conductive workpiece. The initial required polishing of the surface can be in the form of short mechanical grinding and polishing which results in a more plane surface, but with deformation and/or scratches. Electrolytic polishing provides less deformation with edge rounding and possible washout of phases.

The principle of electrolytic etching is the same as that of chemical etching, except that the specimen is placed as an anode in a galvanic cell, resulting in the removal of material from the specimen surface. For special investigations on aluminum-based materials, an electrolytic etching forming an anodized layer on the well-polished sample surface can be applied and analyzed under polarized light (Barker-etching).

Etching of stainless steel

Learn all you need to know about how to prepare stainless parts for metallographic analysis in our application note.

Go to Metallographic preparation of stainless steel

Troubleshooting - Etching

Problem

Incorrect Preparation of the Specimen

Solution:

Scratches and deformation are acceptable for both methods. Depending on the preparation target, however, scratches and deformations can overlay or influence the phase or structur e that should be visible after etching.

Incorrect Electrolyte

Solution:

Using an incorrect electrolyte or etchant means it will not be possible to verify a surface structure according to the required parameters.

Voltage and Exposure

Solution:

In the case of electrolytic etching, the voltage and exposure times are critical to revealing t he correct surface structure for a valid verification. Exposure time, and sometimes temperature, are important parameters when using chemical (wet) etching.