Techniques of Specimen Preparation for Metallography Using a New and Unique Automated Polishing Process

Abstract

This paper describes a new automatic polishing device which has proven itself capable of producing high quality surfaces for microstructural analysis of a wide range of materials. These included soft materials (lead alloys), brittle materials (coal, oxide coatings), sensitive materials (austenitic stainless steel, zinc alloys) and hard materials (carbides, iron ore pellets). It was also found that the polishing characteristics of the system were relatively insensitive to the material polished so that no special polishing “recipes” were required. Results are consistent, predictable and largely independent of operator factors, such as level of skill, experience or motivation. Polishing by this method is very fast; the polishing time is generally under 10 minutes total.