Positive Material Identification (PMI) is a convenient method of verifying the material grade or determining the grade of steel of unknown origin. For an unidentified grade of steel, chemical analysis should be verified by additional examination of mechanical properties.
We carry out qualitative and quantitative analysis using a PMI-MASTER Smart portable optical emission spectrometer (OES) from Oxford Instrument. The test consists of analyzing the spectrum within the range of visible (optical) radiation of a spark discharge generated between the supporting tungsten electrode of the spectrometer inductor and the inspected material. The applicability of this method is limited to metallic materials and the available spectrometer calibration plate (at our laboratory, these include carbon steels, alloy steels and cast irons). The spectrometer identifies the following elements: C, Si, Mn, Cr, Mo, Ni, Al, Co, Cu, Mg, Nb, Ti, V, W, Zr, Pb, Fe (excluding: P, S, B, N) within the concentration ranges depending on the selected test program.
