tafila technical university

Faculty engineering

Exp. Name: Hot Mounting. # (5)

Name: Mohammad Nashat Abu-Sabbah.

Lecturer name: Eng. Mohannad Tamimi.

Date of doing this exp.: 17/11/2014.

1. Objectives :
1- To identify the mounting process and realize how it happen.
2- To know the types of mounting process and the main differences between them.

2. Introduction
2.1.

Mounting

What we mean by mounting is casing or packaging the material in polymer mold and this is
a very important process especially in stages of specimen preparation and its necessary for
several cases:
1-Small parts or specimens such as thin steel and coil springs that are difficult to handle
during grinding and polishing .
2- When edge retention is needed (i.e. for case hardened or decarburized parts); otherwise
edge rounding will result.
3- Specimen holders of a certain semiautomatic devices grinding/polishing machines require
the use of mounted materials or to facilitate placement on the microscope stage.
4- Polishing abrasives, solvent, and etchants may also be entrapped in open cracks, causing
staining problems.
There are two plastic mounting techniques: hot and cold mounting require heat and
pressure during mounting whereas cold mounting is conducted at room temperature in open
atmosphere.
Also the hardness of the mounting medium should be matched with that of the specimen, as a
harder specimen well result in edge rounding .A series of sinter aluminum oxide pellets in the
resin will match the hardness of a wide range of materials
If a specimen with quenching cracks is to be examined, vacuum impregnation is a necessary
step to remove air from the cracks during mounting, thus allowing the epoxy to enter so that
complete bonding is affected .Otherwise the crack may be enlarged and crack edges may
become rounded during later preparation steps.

2.1.1 Cold Mounting

Cold mounting is used when the specimen cannot withstand any heat or pressure during
mounting, e.g., as-quenched martensite, which would transform to tempered martensite.
Materials for cold mounting consist of fluid resins (e.g., epoxies) and hardened, which are
mixed thoroughly before pouring. The specimen is placed in a mold and the mixed mounting
material is poured over the specimen. After curing, the mount is usually removed from the
mold.

Fig.1: A cold embedding mount for fast cold mounting

Maximum adhesion between embedding and mold is insured by using a plastic mold with
ridges on the inside.
Such a mold is prepared together with the mount. It is important that the cold mounting
medium adhere well to the specimen and be free of hardened shrinkage; otherwise crackage
will occur.

Fig 2: Cold mounting machine

2.1.2 Hot Mounting

Hot mounting or compression molding is the fastest and most efficient mounting method. It
provides the best quality and allows the use of less expensive mounting resins, among
Backelite is most popular. And it is ensure uniform size and shape, and short processing
times. A hydropnuematic mounting press is shown in the (fig.3). During hot mounting the
applied heating time is 38 minutes, molding temperature and cooling time, which is different
for different resins can accurately adjusted.

Fig 3: Hot mounting machine

Not all materials or specimens can be mounted by this method. The heating cycle may cause
changes in the microstructure, or the pressure may cause delicate specimens to collapse or
deform. The size of selected specimen may be too large to be accepted by the available mold
sizes. These difficulties are usually overcome by cold mounting.

Fig 4: Hot mounted specimen

3. Materials , Equipment and Experimental procedure

3.1

Materials

Mild steel

3.2

Equipment
1- Hot Mounting Press.
2- Bakelite.

Fig.5: Manual hot mounting machine

3.3

Experimental Procedure

1- Preparation of the examined specimen.

2- Use a polymer (Bakelite) on the surface of the specimen.
3- Keep the specimen on the hot mounting press under specified temperature and pressure.

4. Results and Discussion

Table 1: comparison between hot and cold mounting

Pressure and heat

requirement
Crystal structure
Usage range

Hot mounting

Cold mounting

high heat and pressure

room temperature, and

moderate pressure
No effect on crystal
Structure
Limited for martial
with low melting point

In low melting point

materials it'll be effected
most common and
widely known

Hot mounting is prefer when we want to use cheaper mount and regular shape and
size , especially if we want to prepare the material in short time.
Cold mounting is preferred when the heating source is not found or when the material
could not resist a high temperatures or pressures.
In our experiment mounting process has been successfully done and our specimen is
ready for the next steps of preparation (fine grinding ,rough grinding and polishing)

Fig 5 : Mounted specimen of mild steel

5. References
1. www.emsdiasum.com
2. www.struers.com
3.www.scribd.com
4. Steel Heat Treatment Handbook by George E. Totten, Maurice A.H. Howes.