Scribd
Upload
238 views5 pages

Cold Molding

The document summarizes the process of cold mounting metal samples for metallographic examination. It describes three types of cold mounting resins - acrylic, epoxy, and polyester resins. For the experiment, mild steel samples were cold mounted using acrylic resin, binder, and activator. The samples were allowed to harden overnight before being cut from the molds. Cold mounting provides protection to the specimen edges and better handling during subsequent metallographic processes like grinding. Proper mixing of resins and avoiding air bubbles are important to avoid flaws in the mounted samples.

Uploaded by

Moiz Amir
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
238 views5 pages

Cold Molding

The document summarizes the process of cold mounting metal samples for metallographic examination. It describes three types of cold mounting resins - acrylic, epoxy, and polyester resins. For the experiment, mild steel samples were cold mounted using acrylic resin, binder, and activator. The samples were allowed to harden overnight before being cut from the molds. Cold mounting provides protection to the specimen edges and better handling during subsequent metallographic processes like grinding. Proper mixing of resins and avoiding air bubbles are important to avoid flaws in the mounted samples.

Uploaded by

Moiz Amir
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Metals and Alloys Lab

Lab Report # 3
Cold Mounting

Instructor Name: Mr. Talha Farooq


Assignment submitted by

Abdul Moiz (170301058)

Sanan Ali (170301022)

Abdullah Mumtaz (170301056)

Fahad Irfan (170301038)


Cold Mounting
Cold mounting or embedding is when a resin is mixed with a hardener (or accelerator) to provide the
mounting compound, and then the polymerization process take place to form the block. In some
cases, this process gives-off heat. However, this heat generation can be controlled by the use of ice
or cool air blow setting. Cold mounting compounds are preferred for specimens that are sensitive to
the heat or pressure, which applies during the hot mounting process. There are three types of cold
mounting:

ACRYLIC RESINS:
Acrylics are easy-to-use resins with short curing times, very limited shrinkage, and excellent
mounting properties. They are well-suited for both serials mounting of irregularly shaped specimens
and for routine work or single specimens. Acrylics are available with and without a mineral filler. Dye
can be used if color coding is needed. When mixing acrylic resins, it is recommended to add powder
to the liquid (hardener) – this will result in the most uniform resin mixture.
EPOXY RESINS:
Epoxy resins are suitable for mounting of all types of materials and are especially recommended for
vacuum impregnation. Epoxies have the lowest shrinkage of all cold-mounting resins. The curing
time is relatively long, but adhesion to most materials is excellent. They polymerize through a
chemical reaction after being mixed in the correct proportions. The hardened epoxy is duroplastic,
and not affected by moderate heat or chemicals. Struers' epoxy systems consist of two components:
a resin and a curing agent/hardener. Properties such as low vapor pressure, transparency, good
adhesion, low viscosity, and no shrinkage are all specific to epoxies. As the stoichiometric resin:
hardener ratio is critical; both parts should be weighed to obtain the best mounting result. If it is
only possible to measure the amount by volume, use syringes to measure the quantities of resin and
curing agent/hardener.
Polyester resins:
Polyester belongs to the catalyzed system, like acrylics. Curing times are relatively short and the
hardened specimen is duroplastic.

Cold mounting selection guide


Apparatus and Equipment:
The equipment you will need to do this experiment is as follows:
1. A laboratory spatula.
2. A paper cup to mix the resin.
3. A pair of gloves.
4. A small wooden stick.
5. Empty mold/bottle cap.
6. Small blade.
7. A pliers.
8. A Meta Cut to cut the sample of metal.
The chemicals used to make the mold are as follows:
1. Acrylic resin
2. Binder
3. Activator

Procedure:
To prepare the sample we first poured the acrylic resin in a container. Then six drops of
binder and three drops of activator were added. This mixture was thoroughly mixed with a
small spatula. After that our metal specimens were placed in molds which in our case were
PET bottle caps. Then the resin mixture was carefully added in each mold. The molds were
left overnight for resin to harden. After almost 24 hours, the resin had hardened, and the
molds were cut open using blades. We finally had our cold molded metallography samples.

Cold Mounted Sample

Results and Discussion:


We used cold mounting and prepared three mild steel samples. We use cold mounting to provide
protection to the edges of our specimen during working.

Sources of error:
The problems that occur while cold mounting are:
 Improper mixing of the hardener, activator which can produce flaws in our mount.
 Formation of bubbles of air inside the mount.

The solution to this problem is:

 Adding appropriate amount of activator, hardener and resin.


 We should stir it until constituents are homogenously mixed.

Precautions:
 Wear personal protection equipment(PPE).
 Do not touch or smell the chemicals it can hazardous.

Conclusion:
The purpose of cold mounting is to provide better grip while metallography processes such as
grinding as the metal samples are very small so handling such small pieces on machine becomes a
difficult task. So it provides ease in doing such a difficult process.
References

[1] "Miley D.V., Calabra A.E. (1974) A Review of Specimen Mounting Methods for Metallography. In:
McCall J.L., Mueller W.M. (eds) Metallographic Specimen Preparation. Springer, Boston, MA".

You might also like