Laboratory Description

The Metallography Laboratory of the Military Institute of Engineering (IME) is linked to the Materials Engineering Section (SE/8), with the main objective of providing academic support to the Undergraduate Course in Materials Engineering and the Graduate Program in Science and Engineering of Materials (Master’s and Doctoral levels) to meet the demand for practical classes and the development of undergraduate final projects, master’s dissertations, doctoral theses, and other research projects related to the field of Materials. Furthermore, as required, it offers support to the academic work of students and research projects of faculty members from other IME departments, particularly the Undergraduate and Master’s Courses in Mechanical Engineering and the Undergraduate Course in Fortification and Construction Engineering, as well as from external Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Science and Technology Institutions (STIs) for academic purposes.

This laboratory is of fundamental importance, as it provides the basic tools and resources for preparing samples of metallic materials (ferrous and non-ferrous) and non-metallic materials (ceramics, polymers, and composites), aiming at microstructural characterization for the laboratory’s own needs (via optical microscopy), as well as for analysis conducted in other institutional laboratories: Electron Microscopy Laboratory (analyses via Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy), Mechanical Testing Laboratory (macro and microhardness analyses), X-ray Diffraction Laboratory, among others.

Laboratory Infrastructure

• Fume hood for handling reagents and preparing solutions for metallographic analysis;

• Ultrasonic bath heated to 35 °C;

• Cutting machines: discotom type and precision type (MINITOM);

• Hot mounting press for metallography with a 30 mm diameter mold;

• Desiccator with heating up to 60 °C;

• Rotary grinding and polishing machines, with and without variable speed;

• Automatic vibratory polisher (VIBROMET);

• Electrolytic polishing system (home-made setup);

• Zeiss optical microscope with inverted stage and Olympus microscope with digital camera and image acquisition system.

Expertise

• Cutting of small-sized samples of various materials.

• Metallographic preparation: cutting, cold and hot mounting, grinding, polishing (mechanical, chemical, and electrolytic), and chemical etching for macro- and microstructural contrast; microstructure observation via optical microscopy.

• Macrostructural and microstructural analysis (porosity, inclusions, phases, grain size, etc.).

• Support laboratory serving research lines that use microstructural characterization through sample preparation for optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, as well as preparation of samples for other types of characterization, such as hardness (macro and microhardness), X-ray diffraction, among others.

Contact Information

Laboratory Supervisor: Professor Andersan dos Santos Paula
Phone: +55 (21) 2546-7254
E-mail: andersan@ime.eb.br
Institution Name: Military Institute of Engineering (IME)
Address: Praça General Tibúrcio, 80 – Praia Vermelha – Rio de Janeiro – RJ
Postal Code: 22.290-140