The characterizations of solid specimens: Approaching the whole problem

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that complicated mixtures of solids can be characterized to a rather high degree if a coordinated examination by non-destructive methods is used. The techniques discussed are X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction. The application of these methods to the characterization of corrosion scale on an inconel coupon is illustrated. The types of information accumulated were elemental composition, chemical forms of elements, special distributions of elements and compounds in the scale, sizes of particles that made up the scale, variations in composition of particle surfaces from that of their interiors, and composition of scale-alloy interface.