Detailed analyses of failures of material components have proved to be valuable in many ways; by preventing further failures, by assessing the validity of designs and the selection of materials, by uncovering shortcomings in the processing of the materials in volved through characterizations of defects, and by revealing problems introduced during the manufacture or fabrication of the component. Increased recognition of the value of performing failure analyses has caused the field to develop into a very active area of tech nical endeavor. Failure analysis has been employed in numerous...

During recent years, people involved in developing new metals and materials for use in some of the rather extreme conditions of stress, temperature, and environment have relied heavily on the microstructural condition of their materials. In fact, many of the newer materials, such as dispersion-strengthened alloys, have been designed almost entirely by first determining the microstruc ture desired and then finding the right combination of composition, heat treatment, and mechanical working that will result in the de sired microstructure. Furthermore, the extremely high reliability required of...

/.letallography is much more than taking striking pictures at high magnifications or polishing and etching specimens in such a way that no scratches can be seen. Basically, metallography is the physical metallurgist's most useful and most used tool for studying metals. Although it is perhaps his oldest tool, it certainly is not likely to become obsolete. Rather, the continued demands that have been placed upon materials have required more detailed charac terizations of their microstructures and this, in turn, has re quired the metallographer to develop new techniques to make these...

In recent years microstructural analysis has been a rapidly changing field of scien tific endeavor. No longer are the efforts of the microstructural analysts (sometimes referred to as metallographers, materialographers, ceramographers, and similar desig nations) limited to the tasks of polishing, etching, and photographing specimens of materials. The performance demanded of materials used for many current applica tions requires much more complete characterizations than were possible only a scant few years ago. Although the individuals who have been expected to develop new and improved...