Heat Treatment and Metallurgy Lab

A microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microstructure  is the very small scale structure of a material, defined as the structure of a prepared surface of material as revealed by an optical microscope 🔬 The purpose here is to help identify the microstructures in steel using simple techniques based on the atomic mechanisms by which phases grow from austenite. Apart from their aesthetic beauty, microstructures become meaningful when examined in the context of their metallurgical theory. The symbols used to represent each phase are as follows: Phase Symbol Austenite γ Allotriomorphic ferrite α Idiomorphic ferrite α I Pearlite P Widmanstätten ferrite α w Upper bainite α b Lower bainite α lb Acicular ferrite α a Martensite α' Cementite θ θ Austenite:- Austenite has a cubic-close packed crystal structure, also referred to as a face-centred cubic structure  Ferrite:- Ferrite has a body-centred