Published since January 1, 1964

Practical Metallography

ISSN: 0032-678X

About this journal

Practical Metallography is a bilingual (German-English) journal that informs you thoroughly on materialographic preparation, imaging and analysis of microstructures. The journal covers the development and improvement of metallographic methods and equipment, possibilities of optical and electron microscopy, spectroscopy, diffraction techniques, non-destructive testing, metallographic investigations of materials, problems of specimens preparation and evaluation including useful laboratory advice and recipes, failure analysis including damage detection and elimination.
All articles are subject to thorough, independent peer review.
Practical Metallography works closely with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde e.V. (DGM)

Abstracting and Indexing

Practical Metallography is covered by the following services:

Web of Science - Current Contents/Engineering, Computing, and Technology
Web of Science - Science Citation Index Expanded

Supplementary Materials

Topics

Volume 58 Issue 12

December 2021

Accessible December 30, 2021

Page range: 745-804

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Editorial

Accessible December 30, 2021

Editorial

Page range: 747-747

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December 30, 2021

Quantitative Characterization of a Belt-cast High-Manganese Steel Microstructure

S. Preißler, M. Witte, T. Evertz

Page range: 748-762

Abstract

The description of the solidification process in casting processes with varying product thickness is characterized based on solidification structures, segregations as well as the primary and secondary microstructure. In near-net-shape casting processes, it is particularly challenging to achieve microstructure homogeneity in the as-cast condition, since the degree of forming in production processes up to hot or cold strip is lower than in the production of slabs or thin slabs. The density of shrinkage porosity in belt-cast high-manganese steel (HMnS) will be determined quantitatively using polished microsections. Following the visualization of the primary cast structure, light microscopic images will be obtained using different tint etches. For the evaluation of secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS), internally developed software based on ImageJ and Matlab will be used.

December 30, 2021

Effect of Short Solution Heat Treatment Time on the Microstructure and Properties of Al-Si-Mg-Cu Alloys

P. Zhuang, H. Shi, Z. Zhang, R. Chai, J. Zan, X. Du

Page range: 763-780

Abstract

In this work, a solution heat treatment of Al-Si-Mg-Cu casting alloy was analyzed. A new short solution heat treatment (SHT) with only 60 min has been allowed. The results revealed that this short SHT enables the improvement of the dendritic structure and the spheroidization of the eutectic silicon particles. Furthermore, the alloy showed improved mechanical properties when compared to the same alloy subjected to a longer SHT of 4 h. It was observed that increasing the SHT temperature can accelerate the dissolution and homogenization of the silicon particles and intermetallic precipitates in the matrix.

Failure analysis

December 30, 2021

Metallurgical Failure Investigation of Combustion Chamber Leakage in a Heavy-duty Gas Turbine Engine

A. Neidel, T. Gädicke, S. Riesenbeck, S. Wallich

Page range: 781-792

Abstract

In this contribution, a case study is presented describing the failure of a combustion chamber assembly in a non-OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) gas turbine engine used for power generation. It showed how even advanced fabrication methods, such as Electron Beam (EB) welding, could trigger fatigue fracture, even if there are no material defects, no weld imperfections, no fabrication flaws, and even if everything is within specified limits. As is so often the case in component failures, the fact that failures occur anyway, despite the absence of out-of-spec material properties, and even though there were no fabrication flaws, is attributable to the design; which is often not sturdy enough to withstand unexpected dynamic loading.