Mech2001Y- Materials and Machining Processes

Metallurgy Practical

Tables of contents
Acknowledgement

Introduction

Filling

Grinding

Polishing

Etching

Optical Microscopy

Hardness test (Vickers Hardness Number- VHN)

Objectives

Experimental Procedures

Process 1: Filling
Process 2: Grinding
Process 3: Polishing
Process 4: Etching
Process 5: Optical Microscopy
Process 6: Hardness Test (Vickers Hardness Number)

Safety Precautions

Conclusion

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Manufacturing Engineering Level 2
Mech2001Y- Materials and Machining Processes
Metallurgy Practical

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank our lecturer Dr VENKANNAH Santaram who have helped us in
pursuing our practical. Furthermore, we would also like to show our heartfelt gratitude to the
whole technical staff who gave us a huge helping hand in a way or another.

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Manufacturing Engineering Level 2
Mech2001Y- Materials and Machining Processes
Metallurgy Practical

Introduction

The metallurgy experiment is carried out to view the structure of metals and also to carry out
hardness test. The two metals being used are stainless steel and mild steel. Two work piece
made of mild steel were used ( one of circular cross section and the other of square cross
section) and one work piece of stainless steel( Circular cross section).

The practical consists of the following:

Filing
Grinding
Polishing
Etching
Optical Microscopy
Hardness test( Vickers Hardness number)

Filling
Filing is a material removal process in manufacturing. Similar, depending on use, to both
sawing and grinding in effect, it is functionally versatile, but used mostly for finishing
operations, namely in deburring operations. Filing operations can be used on a wide range of
materials as a finishing operation. Filing helps achieve workpiece function by removing some
excess material and deburring the surface. Sandpaper may be used as a filing tool for other
materials, such as glass.

Grinding
It consists of grinding wheels which is composed of abrasives to remove material from the
surface of the work being ground. Each abrasive grain on the working surface of a grinding
wheel acts as a separate cutting tool. Removes a small chip as it passes over the surface of the
work. As the grain becomes dull, it fractures and presents a new sharp cutting edge to the
material. Thousands of individual grains working on the surface of a grinding wheel leads to
a smooth surface on the work piece

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Manufacturing Engineering Level 2
Mech2001Y- Materials and Machining Processes
Metallurgy Practical

Polishing
This is done using rotating wheels covered with a cloth impregnated with a very fine abrasive
compound. The common compounds used are diamond and alumina.
Due to the very small depth of field obtained from an optical microscope it is essential that
the surface is flat, in fact it needs to be optically flat, acting as a perfect mirror. The specimen
therefore has to be polished. Figure 1 below shows an automatic polishing machine with
two rotating discs.

Figure 1

Etching
The microstructure is revealed by a surface treatment using an appropriate chemical reagent
in a procedure termed etching. The etching reagents depend on the material used and after
etching the specimen must be washed with alcohol and ether to remove the grease. The atoms
at the grain boundaries are chemically more active, and consequently dissolve more readily
than those within the grains forming small grooves. These grooves become discernible when
viewed under a microscope because they reflect light at an angle different from that of the
grains themselves.

Optical Microscopy
With optical microscopy, the light microscope is used to study the microstructure; optical
illumination systems are its basic elements. For materials that are opaque to visible light (all
metals, many ceramics and polymers), only the surface is subject to observation, and the light
microscope must be used in a reflective mode. Contrasts in the image produced result from
differences in reflectivity of the various regions of the microstructure.
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Manufacturing Engineering Level 2
Mech2001Y- Materials and Machining Processes
Metallurgy Practical

Hardness test (Vickers Hardness Number- VHN)

Hardness : Resistance of a surface to abrasion or penetration
Hardness of a material may be specified in terms of some standard test involving indentation
or scratching of the surface of the material.

Vickerss: Uses a diamond square pyramid indenter. It is suitable for hard and also soft materials.

Figure 2

Objectives

This experiment is carried out with the objectives of seeing the grain structure of the metals
and also to carry out hardness test on the material.

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Manufacturing Engineering Level 2
Mech2001Y- Materials and Machining Processes
Metallurgy Practical

Experimental Procedures

Process 1: Filling

Both work piece corners are being filled to prevent damaging the sand papers and
cloth on the polishing machines.

Process 2: Grinding

This process is done in three different stages. Firstly with sand paper of grits 80
followed by grits 220 and then 500.
The surface to be polished is placed parallel to the rotating paper and then pressed
against it.
The 80 grits is used to remove rust layer, imperfection and pits on the surface of the
metal.
As the experiment proceeds the metal will heat up hence, time to time the work piece
need to be placed in a beaker of water to cool it.
The work piece must then be dried using a piece of cloth before continuing with this
process.
To move to the next process which is polishing, a relatively flat and shiny surface
needs to be obtained.

Process 3: Polishing

The work piece is washed to remove all the residues on the surface of the work piece.
It is dried and the process is started with the 6 micron cloth.
No need to cool in water since the cloth is already lubricated with an organic liquid.
When satisfactory results are obtained the we move to the 1 micron rotating plate.

Process 4: Etching

Before etching the work piece the structure of the metal is observed under a
microscope if desired results are obtained.
If the results are positive we then carry out with the etching process.
For the mild steel work piece a dilute acid is used (nital 0.2%)
For the stainless steel work piece concentrated acid.
The work piece is allowed to etched for 5 seconds and immediately rinsed with water.

Process 5: Optical Microscopy

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Manufacturing Engineering Level 2
Mech2001Y- Materials and Machining Processes
Metallurgy Practical

The work piece is placed under the microscope.

Using the combination of focus and lens fully visible grain structure of the metal is
obtained.
Figure 3 and Figure 4 below shows the structure of mild steel (circular and square
cross section respectively).

Figure 3

Figure 4

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Manufacturing Engineering Level 2
Mech2001Y- Materials and Machining Processes
Metallurgy Practical

Figure 5, 6 and 7 below shows the structure of stainless steel.

Figure 5

Figure 6

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Mech2001Y- Materials and Machining Processes
Metallurgy Practical

Figure 7

Process 6: Hardness Test (Vickers Hardness Number)

The different criteria are set on the test machine like the load before the test is
started. (load = 200g)
The work is placed under the indenter and the test started.
The test takes 15 seconds to be completed.
By the use of a lens on the machine a magnified view of the test is obtained.
Through the use of two adjusting nobes the measurement in the x and y axes
are obtained.
A mean is calculated.
The VHN value is obtained from tables.
The results are illustrated below.

Load = 200 g

Test 1

Dx = 42.7 m
Dy = 42.8 m
Dav = 42.75 m

VNH42.7 = 203
VNH42.8 = 202

Test 2

Dx = 42.2 m
Dy = 41.5 m
Dav = 41.85 m

VNH41.8 = 212
VNH41.9 = 211

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Manufacturing Engineering Level 2
Mech2001Y- Materials and Machining Processes
Metallurgy Practical

Test 3

Dx = 36 m
Dy = 38 m
Dav = 37 m

VNH37 = 271

Safety Precautions
Avoid touching newly etched surface to prevent impurities to be transferred on the
work piece.
Since dealing with acidic solution care should be taken.
Etching time should be kept small to avoid over-etching.
The work piece should be washed dried after each processes in order to avoid
contamination.
The metal should be held tightly to avoid it slipping.
Lab coats should be used.
Wear gloves when dealing with acidic solution.

Conclusion

From the VHN it can be concluded that:

1. Test 1 is for the low carbon containing mild steel which is the circular cross
section.
2. Test 2 is for high carbon containing mild steel which is the square cross
section.
3. Test 3 is for the stainless steel.

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