Products - Futuretech - Metallographic Consumables

Metallographic Consumables

9.1 Sectioning

Metallographic sectioning is defined as obtaining a representative sample without changing the structure of the sample material. There are two requirements for achieving this goal : (1) A water – cooled sectioning machine with adequate capacity; and (2) a cut – off wheel that has been selected for this particular application.

Choosing a cut – off wheel involves several factors – material type (i.e. ferrous/nonferrous), hardness, and size of the sample part. Typically, ferrous application require an aluminium oxide wheel, nonferrous material require a silicon carbide wheel. If the sample is hard, then a softer bond wheel is required, such as a rubber – bonded wheel. This type of blade will break down faster, but will section the sample more effectively. A softer sample material might require a resin – bonded wheel – which is harder. This allows the wheel to section the softer sample, and the blade life is increased.

9.2 Mounting

Compression Mounts (Hot Mounting) – for higher volume labs analyzing non tempersture sensitive materials or component

BAKELITES (Phenolic) are cost effective and set up quickly. They axhibit good edge retention and hardness properties.

EPOXIES have high hardness and chemical resistence. Epoxy is typically chosen for mounting the hardest materials. Edge retention is exellent and edge separation from the sample is minimal.

DIALLYL PHTHALATES have high hardness and superior chemical resistance. They are exellent for application where adge retention is a concern. Exellent for tungsten carbide. Copper dially phthalate is electrically conductive for SEM and spectrometer applications.

THERMOPLASTIC (Lucite) provides an economical, transparent mount for specimens. The transparent properties allow the operator to see areas of interest in the mount. If a specific area is to be examined, then grinding can occur until that area is reached.

Castable Mounts (Cold Mounting) – for low volume laboratories and materials sensitive to higher temperatures and pressures

POLYESTERS arethe most economical choice for labs with low sample volume and less concern about specimen adge retention. They provide an exellent way to make a mount quickly and easily.

ACRYLIC will cure faster than most other mounting media. They ave exellent abrasion resitence ang fair edge retention. Acrylic is typically used for making multiple mounts whre hot mounting is not practical, A pressure cvessel used during curing will provide a semi clear mounting material.

EPOXIES provide a hard, chemical and abrasion resistant mount. They generally take longer to set up than other castable materials, but have superior flow and shrinkage properties. Epoxies are used to mount the most difficult samples and can be placed in a vacuum to remove entrapped air and fill voids. Epoxies are available ain quick cure formulation that will cure in less than an hour.

9.3 Grinding

Most materials can be ground using silicon carbide papers. Other materials need special grinding media such as aluminium oxide, ceramics, or even diamond grinding.

One option is to use fixed diamond grinding discs such as those in the CAMEO system. These discs have resin – bonded diamonds that provide exellent material removal and a uniform surface finish. The discs are used with a magnetic disc that allows for easy removal and replacement during the preparation process. The CAMEO system can help reduce the number of steps and improve sample quality, while reducing the overall cost of preparing samples.

The hardest materials may need a diamond grinding disc to effectively remove and adequate amount of material. Tungsten carbide, cermets, ceramics, and some tool steels require such grinding.

Silicon carbide is used for most other applications, such as aluminium, copper, steel, and cast iron. Silicon carbide is an economical abrasive that has been proven over many tears to be effective and reliable.

9.4 Polishing

Intermediate Polishing . 3 micron, 6 micron, 15 micron

Gold Technotron : a very durable, satin woven, waterproof cloth for 1 to 9 micron diamond sizes. Exellent intermediate polishing cloth for a variety of materials.

Nylon : hard polishing cloth exellent for intermediate amd fine polishing steps using diamond compounds or suspensions.

Orange Silk: a rigid backed, satin woven polishing cloth fir intermediate polishing. The cloth ir waterproof and the rigid backing allows the cloth to be removed and used again. Available in PSA only.

Silk : highly recommended whre edge retention is desire. Silk is hard and can be used with 9,6,3,1 micron diamonds compounds. Available in Plain Back only.

Ultra Silk : this cloth is a woven, artificial silk polishing cloth with an internal barrier film.It consists of a very thin layer of silk on a rigid backing that will transmit the flatness of the polishing wheel. Exellent for medium size diamond suspensions and pastes. Available in PSA only.

White Technotron : an exellent alternative to plain back silk if the opearator desires as PSA cloth. Flatness and durability are desirable features of this polishing cloth. Available in PSA only.

PEFA : inexpensive and versatile, this floked cloth is outstanding for intermediate diamond polishing (3 to 9 micron). Exellent for automatic procedures and especially for manual preparation. Very forgiving cloth that provides good sample flatness economic results.

White satin : flexible, satin woven cloth for intermediate polishing with 9 down to 1 micron diamond. Strong adhesive allow cloth to adhere to a polishing wheel for extended periods of time. Available in PSA only.

Gold Label Nylon : semi hard polishing surface on a soft backing for intermediate polishing. Exellent for manual polishing application.

Final Polishing . 3miron, 1 micron, 0.5 micron, 0.25 micron, 0.05 micron

Brown Technotron : this cloth has flocked, semi hard surface polishing in a wide range of applications. Provides a superior finish fir sample preparation. Highly durable cloth that can perform intermediate operations and also final polishing steps.

Black Technotron : a specialized cloth that consists of a buffed polyurethane with microscopic voids. The cloth is chemically resistant and exellent for final polishing of soft and other soft alloys. Available in PSA only.

Imperial : a final polishing cloth that works extremely well with colloidal silica on many different types of materials. An exellent combination for final polishing of aluminium and other soft alloys. Available in PSA only.

Lecloth : this cloth is a most versatile polishing cloth. It has a medium nap that is exellent for final polishing but can also ne used for intermediate polishing with most any polishing compound. Can also be used for attack polishing where acidic polishing solutions are used.

Red Technotron: a soft, flocked final polishing cloth that works well with sub micron polishing compound and other abrasive such as aluminium oxide or colloidal silica.

Red CAMEO : super finishing of all materials with sub micron abrasives. Rigid backing allows easy removal and long service life.

Multi Purpose Polishing

Red Felt : this cloth can also be used in many applications, but is the best suited when used with an intermediate diamond compound (6,3,or 1 micron). It is hard, durable cloth that can be used on a wide variety of materials.

Yellow CAMEO : a coarse, hard nylon cloth for raugh polishing with intermediate and larger diamond compounds. An exellent replacement for cloth like canvas, billiard, and other coarse polishing cloths. Sometimes referred to as sail cloth, tis cloth is durable and is only available in PSA only.