Metallography Laboratory

Dale Grant measures grain size distribution in a spinel optical window material.

Since the early 1960s, the Metallography Laboratory at UDRI has been active in the sample preparation and determination of microscopic characteristics and physical properties of a wide variety of materials. Metals and metal alloys, monolithic ceramics, ceramic matrix composites (CMC), polymer matrix composites (PMC), and permanent magnet materials are routinely studied in this facility to determine such things as aging and corrosion characteristics, optical properties, grain size and grain size distribution, hardness, electrical conductivity, and residual stress.

Presently, the laboratory is studying the aging and retrogression of aluminum alloys, optical materials such as spinel and sapphire lenses, subsurface damage of silicon, ferritic ODS alloy microstructures, and the fracture analysis of silicon carbide and silicon nitride materials that have been tested under fast fracture and creep conditions at elevated temperatures.

To learn more about our metallography capability, please contact Dale Grant.