Selection of methods for etching carbides in MAR-M509 cobalt-base superalloy and acquisition of their images

The paper summarizes results of research into conditions for selectively revealing carbides and carbide eutectics occurring in the structure of MAR-M509 cobalt-base alloy as well as conditions for their detection. Also discussed are the various conditions for acquisition and registration of structural images (by means of light and scanning electron microscopes) to ensure the selective detection of carbides and carbide eutectics. In particular, the influence of accelerating voltage on the possibility of automating the detection process is analyzed. Very good results were obtained on images registered by applying very low accelerating voltages (0.5 to 1 kV).