Automation of metallographic sample cleaning process

0564157 - ÚPT 2023 RIV CZ eng C - Conference Paper (international conference)
Čermák, Jan - Ambrož, Ondřej - Jozefovič, Patrik - Mikmeková, Šárka
Automation of metallographic sample cleaning process.
METAL 2022. 31st International Conference on Metallurgy and Materials. Conference Proceedings. Ostrava: TANGER, 2022, s. 402-407. ISBN 978-80-88365-06-8. ISSN 2694-9296.
[METAL 2022. International Conference on Metallurgy and Materials /31./. Brno (CZ), 18.05.2022-19.05.2022]
R&D Projects: GA TA ČR(CZ) TN01000008
Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) LQ100652201
Program: Prémie Lumina quaeruntur
Institutional support: RVO:68081731
Keywords : metallography * sample cleaning * process automation * repeatability
OECD category: Automation and control systems
https://www.confer.cz/proceedings/metal/2022.pdf

Specimen cleaning and drying are critical processes following any metallographic preparation steps. The paper focuses on automation by reason of absence of the process repeatability during manual sample handling. An etchant or electrolyte results in inhomogeneous surface quality because the solution runs off the specimen surface during its removal from the beaker. High-quality specimen cleaning is absolutely crucial for the acquisition of the specimen suitable for characterization by a scanning electron microscope operated at very low landing energies of the primary electrons (SLEEM). The SLEEM technique is a powerful tool for the characterization of advanced steels, as described by many scientific papers. The SLEEM requires the specimen absolutely free of water and any organic residues on the surface. This work presents a novel unique apparatus enabling automatic specimen cleaning and drying after the etching or electropolishing processes. Automation reduces the influence of dependent variables that would be introduced into the process by the metallographer. These variables include cleaning time, kinematics, and motion dynamics, but the process can also be affected by variables that are not obvious. Performed experiments clearly demonstrate our in-house designed apparatus as a useful tool improving efficiency and consistency of the sample cleaning process. The high quality of the specimen surface is verified using a light optical microscope, an electron scanning microscope, and above mentioned SLEEM technique.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0335837