Metallographic Preparation of Coatings

In most fields of scientific research and industrial quality assurance, we are constantly striving to improve the performance of the products and the materials from which they’re made. This can lead both to the refinement of key properties, and to reducing the margin of error in design.

In the aerospace and power generation industry, there is a constant push for higher performance and increased efficiency. The role of coatings has been of great importance to supporting rapid progress in capability. However, core measurements of some coatings can be compromised by the preparation and analysis. In repeated studies, we have seen large variability in measurement between testing laboratories. While mechanical preparation for coatings analysis can typically be made repeatable, it is far more challenging to make it reproducible and measurement results can be as dependent on the operator as on the actual material conditions.

We will examine approaches to metallographic preparation of coatings and their analysis in sufficient detail to characterize the importance of each stage to measurement result.