Microstructural characterisation developments

J Electron microprobe analysis. The instrument which I shall introduce here is, in my view, the most important development in characterisation since the 1939-1945 War. It has completely transformed the study of microstructure in its compositional perspective. 

Chemical characterisation of F uptake in archaeological bone has already been developed in the 19th century [1,2] and is now well established [60], However, relatively few studies use a combined multianalytical approach using trace elemental and microstructure analytical techniques (PIXE/PIGE, TEM-EDX) for evidencing modifications on different microscopic and nanoscopic levels (Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM, TEM) and enabling an objective evaluation of the F uptake mechanisms [32-34,51],... 

In the second part of this chapter (Sections 9.3-9.S), we review the various microstructural techniques that have been successfully employed to characterise the effects of irradiation on microstructure. The brief review of each technique includes an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses and is supported by representative microstructural data which demonstrate their contribution to developing a mechanistic understanding of irradiation embrittlement. 

It should be noted that these methods characterise the extent of clustering by employing various parameters, but it can be difficult to relate these to a visual description of the developing microstructure. 

A recent development of some importance to this mechanistic framework is the observation (primarily using the LEAP) of Mn-Ni-Si clusters in irradiated low-Cu steels. For example. Miller et characterised the irradiation-induced microstructure of low-Cu (0.05 wt%) high-Ni (1.26 and 1.78wt%Ni) WER-1000 forging and weld materials that were... 

The aim of this chapter is to evaluate the effect of altering the composition of synthetic binders, in order to design new materials with selected properties. Rheological, thermal, microstructural and technological tests have been developed to characterise synthetic binders, describe the interactions among their components and to predict their properties. In references [20-22], the thermomechanical properties of binary blends were studied and correlated as a function of composition and temperature. 

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