Much effort has recently been employed in modeling steel behavior as a function of chemical composition and thermo-mechanical processing. In order for the models to be predictive, experimental data are needed to first calibrate and then validate the calculated results. Since many steel properties are conditioned in part by the state of precipitation, this study was undertaken to provide experimental measurements of precipitates in terms of their size distributions. Due to the size range (2-100 nm) of particles which exert the greatest influence on the mechanical properties, electron microscopy is practically the only technique available for obtaining images of the precipitates.

Two types of micrographs were used for image analysis in order to determine the size distribution of NbC particles present in a ternary alloy (Fe-Nb-C) heat treated at 800°C for 1000 mn. Polished surfaces lightly etched with a solution of 2% HNO3 and 98% ethanol were prepared for observations in a LEO 1550 scanning electron microscope equipped with a field emission gun.