Updated Accredited Methods: Macroetching and Microphotographic Determination of Grain Size
Flexible accreditation: testing methods for hard metals in metallography and scanning electron microscopy
Planned accreditation: determination of hydrogen in steel
As a testing laboratory, TAZ GmbH is constantly striving to develop further and to meet the wishes of the customers. We also make sure to be up to date and work according to the latest procedures.
In the metallography testing area, two already accredited methods were updated at the end of June 2020:
Once in the field of macroetching the norm:
ASTM E 381-20: Standard Method of Macroetch Testing Steel Bars, Billets, Blooms, and Forgings
and secondly the norm:
DIN EN ISO 643:2020-06 – Steel – Microphotographic determination of apparent grain size
TAZ GmbH keeps getting inquiries from the carbide workpiece industry. Because hard metals in particular are characterized by a large number of special properties. Only a few important ones are mentioned here: high wear resistance, toughness, high hardness and extremely high compressive strength, etc. Of course, we would also like to meet customer requirements here. Thanks to our good equipment with microscopes and scanning electron microscopes, it is possible to determine, for example, the grain size, the porosity or the carbide content in these materials. For this reason, the following procedures for testing hard metals in metallography and scanning electron microscopy have been included as part of the flexible accreditation:
DIN EN ISO 4499-1:2010-10
Hard metals – Metallographic determination of the microstructure – Part 1: Micrographs and description
DIN EN ISO 4499-2:2010-10
Hard metals – Metallographic determination of microstructure – Part 2: Measurement of WC grain size
DIN EN ISO 4499-3:2016-10
Hardmetals – Metallographic determination of microstructure – Part 3: Measurement of microstructural features in Ti(C,N) and WC/cubic carbide based hardmetals
DIN EN ISO 4499-4:2016-10
Cemented carbides – Metallographic determination of microstructure – Part 4: Characterization of porosity, carbon defects and eta phase content
An increasing order situation in the test area of hot extraction with carrier gas. Among other things, the determination of hydrogen in steel is of great interest. We are therefore currently planning to transfer the following standard to the accredited area:
DIN EN ISO 3690:2018-12
Welding and related processes – Determination of hydrogen content in arc weld metal
Since the sample size plays a particularly important role in this standard, we may expand our equipment fleet with another analysis device.