1. Optical metallography

1.1 Definitions

Knowledge of materials involves assessing the shape, distribution, quantity and identity of the constituents (phases) that make them up. The basic tools for this are electromagnetic radiation and elementary particles, which have given rise to two main methods: optical microscopy and electron microscopy.

1.1.1 Observation scales

A mechanical part of the order of a meter in size is generally made up of metal grains of the order of 10 μm, which themselves result from a stack of elementary...