Mounting may seem like a small step in materialographic preparation, but it has an outsized impact on everything that follows. In this expert interview, Application Specialist Ólafur Magnús Ólafsson explains why mounting is one of the most common, and most overlooked, sources of errors in the lab. If you want to reduce rework, avoid contamination issues, and achieve more consistent, reproducible results, his insights offer a practical roadmap to stronger performance and fewer frustrations.

Are you working in a foundry and looking for metallographic advice for every step in the quality control area? This brand-new article from the Struers team will discuss the steps and techniques to prepare metal specimens, focusing on how to prepare, verify and check hardness for Cast Iron and Aluminium. Discover how to fine grind and polish your unmounted specimens in 10 minutes, produce a verification analysis in 30 seconds and produce fast hardness test results.

In the dynamic area of quality control within Foundries, the assurance of quality and rapid results in verification and hardness tests are paramount. Yet, the task of sample verification often presents challenges, consuming valuable time. This article delves into streamlined approaches to generate a verification analysis within 30 seconds, ensuring uniformity across all samples. Explore the insights into selecting the optimal hardness test method for your specific requirements.

In short, metallography can be defined as the science and art of studying the microstructure of different metals and metal alloys. Read this article to understand the differences between metallography and materialography and how does that impact the choice of preparation methods? We take a closer look at the history, the applications, and the analysis of both metallography and materialography.

Electrolytic preparation offers a range of benefits compared to mechanical preparation, not least a shortened preparation time and virtually deformation-free material removal, especially in soft and tough materials. But it has drawbacks, too. So, when is electrolytic preparation most effective? In this article, the results of a Round Robin Test, done by working group “Sample Preparation” of German Materials Society, involving 10 different labs to assess the drawbacks and benefits of electrolytic preparation, giving detailed recommendations for certain materials in comparison to mechanical preparation. It’s a must-read for labs that are considering electrolytic preparation as a way to meet fast turnaround times.

Grain size is a key parameter in materials technology. But automatic determination of grain size in high-alloy austenitic steels can be tricky due to twinning and other specific problems caused by materials properties. This article outlines the results of a Round Robin Test, done by working group “Sample Preparation” of German Materials Society. It shows the possibilities when preparing corrosion resistant austenitic steels for grain size measurements, using mechanical and electrolytical preparation methods, and illuminates contrasting by chemical and electrolytical etching.

Carbidic coatings are used as wear protection in certain industries – and hardness is a key indicator of coating quality. But what is an acceptable hardness fluctuation range and what causes fluctuations when hardness testing HVOF (high velocity oxygen fuel) spray coatings? In this article, the results of a Round Robin Test, done by working group “Sample Preparation” of German Materials Society, involving 19 companies and institutes to determine the potential hardness fluctuation range of carbidic HVOF spray coatings. The article describes the preparation and methods and microscopic evaluation in detail, giving you a clear methodology and indicator of acceptable hardness fluctuations.