Posted by leo440 on May 26, 2010 at 14:52:07:
In Reply to: Metallography reagent elimination posted by djim on May 23, 2010 at 04:14:36:
You want to know how to eliminate use of chemical etchants? but still be able to examine microstructure?
You could try...
1)Obtain a distortion free polished surface and use DIC lighting to observe/evaluate the specimen
2)prepare liquid nitrogen fractures of the specimen and examine the fracture surface directly,
3)with a finely polished surface, perform concentration mapping using a microprobe.
4)use an ion polisher or cross beam instrument to perform ion sectioning; follow-up with EBSD analysis of the surface.
With these methods, you can obtain information about parts of the microstructure, and depending on your needs, maybe piecing them all together will give you enough information, but nothing can completely replace a good etch.