Metallographic Preparation of Aluminium-Titanium Composites

There is no method that allows the simultaneous preparation of titanium and aluminum, so that both phases can be investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at the same time. Especially local orientation measurements by electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD) are challenging as they require a very good surface quality. This study deals with the preparation of aluminum/titanium composites, produced by Accumulative Roll Bonding (ARB) as well as with their microstructural analysis emphasing on the metallographic sample preparation. Well established routes of metallographic preparation for aluminum and titanium are facing serious problems such as rounding of edges, arising of deformation layers, blurred layers and oxide layers. This is of particular concern when these routes are applied to Al/Ti multilayered samples without adaption. This study reveals a route for metallographic sample preparation that enables SEM including EBSD analyses of Al/Ti composites for both phases simultaneously.