Start here · Essential guide
How Advanced Materials Are Tested and Inspected
A survey of the measurements used to qualify hard and engineered materials, from mechanical and thermal tests to microscopy, spectroscopy and flaw detection.
Making And Shaping
Inspection And Testing
How advanced materials are measured, tested and identified.
Electron Microscopy of Coatings and Ceramics
What scanning and transmission electron microscopes reveal about grains, pores, layers and interfaces in ceramics and thin coatings, and how samples are prepared.
Failure Analysis of Hard Materials
How investigators read fracture surfaces, from mirror and mist to hackle marks and origin flaws, to work out why a ceramic, carbide or composite part broke.
Measuring Thermal Properties of Solids
How thermal diffusivity, heat capacity and conductivity of solids are measured, including the laser flash method, and why samples of the same material can differ.
Nondestructive Evaluation of Ceramics and Composites
How ultrasound, radiography, thermography, dye penetrant and related methods find cracks, voids and delaminations in ceramics and composites without breaking the part.
Quality Standards and Certification in Materials Supply
How published standards, certificates of analysis, batch traceability and audits give buyers confidence that a material batch matches its specification.
Raman Spectroscopy for Carbon Materials
How Raman spectroscopy uses scattered laser light to tell diamond from graphite and amorphous carbon, and what peak position and width reveal about quality.
Telling Lab-Grown Diamond From Natural Diamond
What gem and materials laboratories examine to separate lab-grown from natural diamond, including growth patterns, impurity type and fluorescence, and why instruments are needed.
Wear Testing and Tribology Basics
An introduction to tribology and the common laboratory setups, including pin-on-disc and reciprocating tests, used to measure friction and material loss.
X-Ray Diffraction for Crystal Structure
How X-ray diffraction patterns identify crystalline phases and reveal crystal quality, grain size and strain in ceramics, coatings and carbon materials.
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