Soft Ceramics

MACOR 4 MOHS

Macor, a hybrid glass-ceramic, combines the best of polymers, metals, and advanced ceramics. It excels as an electrical and thermal insulator and is suited for high-temperature, vacuum, and corrosive conditions. Its applications include precision coil formers and high voltage insulators due to its stability and smooth surface. It's also used in laser assemblies as spacers and reflectors, offering heat resistance and precision finishing. Additionally, Macor is ideal for thermal breaks in high-temperature equipment, vacuum feed-throughs, and coil supports. It's been utilized in NASA's Space Shuttle and various satellite systems for its thermal and electrical insulation properties. Furthermore, it serves in power generation units as fixtures and reference blocks, maintaining dimensional integrity even under irradiation.

 STEP 1: CUTTING THE WORKPIECE 

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Wet abrasive cutting stands out as the most suitable method for materialographic cutting due to its minimal impact on the specimen in relation to the processing time. This technique involves the use of a cut-off wheel comprising abrasive particles and a binder.

DURING THE PROCEDURE

• The sample should accurately reflect the characteristics of the original piece or component from which it is derived

• The cut-off wheel should experience minimal wear and tear

• The cut-off wheel should not face obstruction during the cutting process

• There should be no occurrence of thermal damage or burning on the surface of the specimen

• The specimen should be cool to the touch upon extraction from the machine

• The presence of burrs should be minimized

• The resulting surface should exhibit a uniform and smooth appearance with consistent scratches

 STEP 2: MOUNTING 

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RECOMMENDED

We recommend you to mount your samples the most convenient way, giving attention to the heat resistance of the sample material, although, if a mounting press is unavailable, cold mounting becomes the sole viable option. Conversely, with access to a mounting press, the selection of mounting material can be refined based on specific attributes.

A crucial factor to consider is the abrasion rate, which denotes the speed at which material is ground or polished away. Ideally, the chosen mounting material should closely match the abrasion rate of the sample material. It is essential to recognize that the abrasion rate differs from the hardness of the sample.

As for the resin needs, we recommend the use of Epoxy resin as Epoxies offer a robust mounting solution with high resistance to chemicals and abrasion. Although they typically require a longer setup time compared to other castable materials, they exhibit superior flow and minimal shrinkage properties. For mounting challenging samples, long-cure epoxies are employed, and they can be introduced into a vacuum environment to eliminate trapped air and address voids.

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If necessary, calibrate the sample with a coarser grit to make sure flat surface is achieved. The workpiece should be perfectly flat.

 STEP 3: PLANAR GRINDING AND LAPPING 

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 When working with a flat sample, the Soft Ceramics grinding process begins with a 40µm abrasive.

If the sample is not flat, you should start with a coarser grit (54µm) in order to get a flat surface. It's crucial to remember that the diameter of the sample determines the amount of force that is used during grinding; in this case, the sample is 30 mm in diameter. It is also advised to turn the plate and sample holder in a clockwise direction to avoid causing the sample undue damage.

Pre-polishing is not neccessairy in this step for this material.

 STEP 4: PRE-POLISHING AND POLISHING 

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A 9µm abrasive is used to start the polishing process for Soft Ceramics. After that, a 2 µm abrasive is used after the 9 µm abrasive. The polishing force that is provided depends on the sample's diameter; the sample that is being used has a diameter of 30mm. All of the scratches must line up in the same direction; otherwise, you will need to go back and redo the previous step.

 STEP 5: FINAL POLISH 

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Finally, a suitable pad with a colloidal silica solution is utilized to clean and execute the last polishing step.

Materialography

The term materialography used today is a factual extension of metallography, which include many other groups of materials, such as ceramics, plastics and composite materials that are examined in the same way.​ Materialography is the science of examining a material's microstructure, which is its internal composition at a microscopic level. By polishing and analyzing a material's surface, materialography helps engineers understand properties like strength, corrosion resistance, and potential failure points.