Metallurgy, metallography, analysis

Metallurgy

Thermal joining, especially including fusion welding and soldering, involve substantial structural changes in the heat-affected zone in base materials, while also creating a completely new type of structure in the weld or solder. In close consultation with the customer, our metallurgy specialists in the materials engineering department study the impact of such changes on use and production characteristics in thermally joined metals and their alloys as used in specific applications. Our metallurgy specialists have special qualifications in materials engineering and metallurgy alongside years of experience in evaluating a wide variety of metallurgical welding phenomena.

Metallography

Metallography is a branch of destructive materials testing aimed at assessing macroscopic and microscopic structures in metallic materials and welded joints. This especially involves examining changes in joints caused by welding in metallographic examinations on microsections and macrosections specifically prepared for the purpose. These activities require the use of the analogue and digital light-optical microscopes and measuring systems available at SLV Halle GmbH. Experienced laboratory technicians prepare the samples required using state-of-the-art techniques.

Lab analysis

Optical emission spectrometry (OES) is ideal for clarifying chemical composition in metallic materials and welds. This involves analysing up to 32 individual elements in steel, aluminium, nickel, copper, cobalt, titanium, and magnesium alloys. The latest generation of stationary optical emission spectrometers also test for nitrogen in steel at levels of accuracy only otherwise achievable using hot gas extraction. Portable emission spectrometers allow high-precision on-site analysis in iron and aluminium alloys without destroying the test piece. The metallurgy specialisation in our materials engineering department has an energy dispersive spectrometry (EDX) unit for chemical analysis in the micro range. This is used in tests such as failure analysis under a scanning electron microscope.

Contact:

Phone  +49 345 5246-200
fax  +49 345 5246-222
email  wt@slv-halle.de