显微结构的量化处理及组织分析的教程 Lecture Notes 4.docx

Quantification of Microstructure and Texture7. True Size and Size Distributions of Second PhasesMetallographic images are a 2D representation of a 3D structure, and as such the measurements of size that we make using the image may not be the same as the sizes of the features in reality. Conventionally, this is not a concern for the grain size, where values reported are those measured in 2D, and generally, the mean intercept length is a good way of characterising the dimensions of features that will be sampled by many processes (e.g. by dislocations moving during plastic deformation) in the material. There remain, however, some situations where the precise true size is of interest. The first part of this lecture is concerned with the relationship between the 2D sections of features observed in metallographic images and the true size of such features. The second part considers what information can be extracted from the measurements concerning the distribution of sizes. Note that, while the linear intercept method can give enough information to allow the determination of the true size of features, individual measurements of features (such as by the method of equivalent circles) is necessary in order to obtain size distributions.Determination of True SizesAlthough grain sizes are by convention reported as the sizes measured in the plane of the section, there may be occasions when we need to know the true size of grains or, more commonly, second phase particles in a microstructure. It is clear on considering a spherical particle, Figure 1, that random sections are unlikely to reveal a section with diameter equal to the real diameter of the sphere. Rather, the mean diameter of spherical inclusions as determined by the linear intercept method will be somewhat less than the true value.Figure 1 – Possible sections through a spherical particles and the apparent particle diameter measured as a result.The relationship between the true size of a particle and the mean line