Metallographic Sample Preparation Guide for Cast Iron
2026-06-18
Key Points of Sample Preparation
1. Cutting
Alloy white cast iron is extremely hard (HV600). Diamond cutting wheels are not suitable for cutting white cast iron regardless of hardness, and cubic boron nitride grinding wheels are recommended. For graphite-containing cast iron, alumina cutting discs shall be selected according to the hardness of cast iron. Automatic cutting is more efficient than manual cutting for large-volume cutting.
Alumina resin cutting disc
ZQ-100 Metallographic Cutting Machine
2. Mounting
Hot mounting is recommended for cast iron samples. UNIWARM universal hot mounting resin is applicable to soft and medium-hard cast iron; EDGWARM edge-protected hot mounting resin is more suitable for hard cast iron.
保边热镶嵌树脂
ZXQ-2D全自动双缸多模水冷金相试样镶嵌机
3. Grinding & Polishing
Graphite is soft, so it is hard to retain its original shape and size. Matrices of ferritic and/or austenitic cast iron tend to deform and scratch easily.
Hot mounting is recommended for cast iron samples. UNIWARM universal hot mounting resin is applicable to soft and medium-hard cast iron; EDGWARM edge-protected hot mounting resin is more suitable for hard cast iron.
GD-Dia 金刚石磁吸研磨盘
金相专用砂纸
Hard white cast iron and ADI cast iron adopt GD-Dia 220# diamond grinding disc for coarse grinding and GD-Sof diamond fine grinding disc for fine grinding. Soft and medium-hard cast iron with ferritic, austenitic or pearlitic matrix uses silicon carbide sandpaper for coarse grinding and GD-Sof diamond fine grinding disc for fine grinding. Compared with silicon carbide sandpaper, diamond grinding discs can keep the sample surface flat without highlighting graphite.
醇基金刚石悬浮液
抛光润滑冷却液
Cast iron is prone to oxidation during polishing, so alcohol-based diamond suspension and alcohol-based polishing cooling lubricant are recommended.
Grinding and Polishing Procedures
1. White Cast Iron
| No. | Content | Coarse Grinding | Fine Grinding | Diamond Coarse Polishing | Diamond Fine Polishing | Diamond Final Polishing |
| 1 | Surface | GD-Dia | GD-Sof | PCM canvas cloth | PCY wool cloth | PCV red short flannel |
| 2 | Abrasive grain size | 220# | 9μm | 3μm | 1μm | / |
| 3 | Polishing & lubricant | Alcohol, polishing cooling lubricant | Alcohol, polishing cooling lubricant | DS001 high-performance polycrystalline alcohol-based diamond suspension | DS001 high-performance polycrystalline alcohol-based diamond suspension | DS001 high-performance polycrystalline alcohol-based diamond suspension |
| 4 | Pressure | 30N | 25N | 25N | 20N | 15N |
| 5 | Rotational speed | 300 | 300 | 150 | 150 | 150 |
| 6 | Time | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2~5 | 2~3 |
2. Graphite-containing Cast Iron
| No. | Content | Coarse Grinding | Fine Grinding | Diamond Medium Polishing | Diamond Fine Polishing | Diamond Final Polishing |
| 1 | Surface | SiC sandpaper | GD-Sof | PCY wool cloth | PCV red short flannel | PCX rubber cloth |
| 2 | Abrasive grain size | 400# | 3μm | 1μm | 0.05μm | / |
| 3 | Polishing & lubricant | Water | Water | DS001 high-performance polycrystalline diamond suspension | DS001 high-performance polycrystalline diamond suspension | OS001-JP alumina fine polishing liquid |
| 4 | Pressure | 30N | 25N | 25N | 20N | 15N |
| 5 | Rotational speed | 300 | 300 | 150 | 150 | 150 |
| 6 | Time | 2 | 3 | 2~3 | 4 | 2~5 |
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