Polishing materials for materialography

Once the sample is cut and ground, it is subsequently polished. This polishing process completes the materialographic preparation. Besides the abrasive itself (polishing suspension or polishing paste), products like polishing pads made of synthetic fibre, wool or flock are used as well as various lubricants to keep the polishing cloth moist. The following selection of polishing materials is available: polishing cloths, lapping films, diamond polishing agents and lubricants. During the materialographic polishing process, these different substances and materials interact to achieve the preparation objective: obtaining a possibly smooth and deformation-free sample surface. The polishing materials serve to remove sample material using abrasives (similar to grinding, but using finer grit sizes). Just as with grinding, the removal rate is continuously reduced in various process steps. At the end of the polishing process, the sample's surface is optimally prepared for chemical etching or for an evaluation of the microstructure.

SCAN-DIA Polishing Material – our product range at a glance

An effective materialographic preparation requires utmost care and perfectly matched equipment for all sample preparation steps. In this context, the interaction of all used polishing materials is of major importance. High quality polishing cloths are used for pre-polishing and final polishing. SCAN-DIA offers various polishing cloths with a self-adhesive or magnetic backside. Diamond paste, diamond suspension and alumina are available as polishing agents. Abrasive diamond polishing materials have excellent properties, such as hardness and abrasiveness, and are frequently used. SCAN-DIA DIAMOND SUSPENSION is produced from close tolerance diamond and provides best removal performance and an excellent surface finish. The suspension is soluble in alcohol and water and comes in grain sizes from 0.25 ? to 15 ?. A 250 ml bottle as well as a 1000 ml refill bottle is available. DIAMOND PASTE is suited for manual and semi-automatic polishing. It is soluble in alcohol, oil and water and is filled into a nylon syringe. Available grain sizes range from 0.25 ? to 50 ?. SCAN-DIA Alumina continues to be used as tried and tested polishing agent as well. The SCAN-DIA range of Polishing Materials also comprises various lubricants which can be specifically used depending on the respective material properties.