Description:

Aluminum and its alloys are relatively soft materials which have a wide range of alloy applications.

Preparation Challenge:

The difficulty in preparing these materials arises from the fact that these materials have oxide inclusions in the microstructure. Proper specimen preparation retains these oxides and thus eliminates scratching and smearing from these particles. If the specimen is not prepared properly, the microstructure will not be accurately represented.

Examples:

2024 Aluminum		6061 Aluminum
7075 Aluminum		Aluminum-silicate alloy
Zinc-Aluminum alloy