Metallography Education & Training
Grow your career or accelerate your team’s impact with training from ASM International.
Learn from industry experts in a variety of formats that suit your budget, schedule, and preferred learning style.
Instructor-Led Courses
Hands-on learning that takes place in-person at ASM headquarters in our state-of-the-art training labs and classrooms, or virtually through direct interaction with an expert ASM instructor without needing to travel!
Self-Study Courses
Online education courses which allow you to learn at your own pace in an independent study format.
Digital Short Courses
Shorter format, typically completed in ~2 hours, which offer visual guides, animations, and interactive quizzes.
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Certificate of Achievement
Learning is a lifelong process. Completing a certificate program advances your knowledge while increasing your value to your company.
Note: As an IACET Accredited Provider, ASM International offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard.
Instructor-Led Courses
Advanced Metallographic Techniques
This course is designed to build upon the skills of an experienced metallographer. The course focuses on teaching and reinforcing practices that will reveal the true microstructural characteristics of a wide range of materials and will delve into the theory and understanding of the proper selection of abrasives, lubricants, equipment, polishing cloths/pads, as well as analysis and quantification techniques. Like the introductory course, Metallographic Techniques, Advanced Metallographic Techniques incorporates a combination of lectures with course material, demonstrations utilizing state-of-the-art equipment, and hands-on laboratory work. The structure of the course promotes sharing of ideas and expanding participants’ metallographic skills through exposure to new preparation and analysis methods and collaboration with others from various industries. Participants are encouraged, but not required, to bring their own samples, which can be used for real-time problem solving and preparation for particularly difficult-to-prepare materials.
ASM Handbook, Volume 9: Metallography and Microstructures is provided to each student.
Unfortunately, a virtual option is not currently offered, but please click below to share your interest and help inform our course development efforts!
Fractography
This course is designed for a broad cross-section of failure analysis practitioners. Failure analysis principles, tools and mechanisms are covered in detail. In addition, the practical aspects and importance of considering the failed part, the material of construction and the failure circumstances in combination is stressed. Emphasis is placed on learning the macroscopic failure modes and correlation of these observations with microscopic fracture surface features. The salient points are illustrated with case histories. Course attendees are also encouraged to bring case histories to share in an interactive manner.
Unfortunately, a virtual option is not currently offered, but please click below to share your interest and help inform our course development efforts!
Introduction to Metallography
This two-day basic metallography course combines lessons from Introduction to Metallurgical Lab Practices and Metallographic Techniques. During this course, students will be exposed to basic techniques commonly used in a Metallurgical Laboratory. Students will become familiar with metallography by sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing, and etching samples. These samples will be examined, and photomicrographs obtained by using optical microscopes equipped with digital cameras. Various microhardness equipment will be used to demonstrate the strengths and limitations of the tests. Basic principles and sample demonstration on the use of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) will be covered. Hands on testing complimented by lectures on the basics of the tests will give a thorough overview of these procedures. This is the course you need if you learn by doing and could use an overview of Metallographic Lab procedures.
Unfortunately, a virtual option is not currently offered, but please click below to share your interest and help inform our course development efforts!
Introduction to Metallurgical Lab Practices
During this course, the student will be exposed to basic techniques commonly used in a metallurgical laboratory. Students will become familiar with metallography by sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing, and etching samples. These samples will be examined and photomicrographs obtained by using optical microscopes equipped with digital cameras. Various Microhardness and Macrohardness equipment will be used to demonstrate the strengths and limitations of the tests. Tensile Testing and Impact Testing will be performed on standard samples. Basic principles and sample demonstration on the use of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) will be covered. Hands-on testing complimented by lectures on the basics of the tests will give a thorough overview of these procedures. This is the course you need if you learn by doing and could use an overview of metallographic lab procedures.
Unfortunately, a virtual option is not currently offered, but please click below to share your interest and help inform our course development efforts!
Mechanical Testing of Metals
This hands-on course provides a comprehensive introduction to standard mechanical testing and the properties derived from those tests. Students will learn the fundamentals of testing philosophy to determine material suitability for both service and manufacturing applications.
This course examines standardized testing procedures from ASTM, ISO, JIS, SAE, and AWWA including test limitations, the reasoning behind specific requirements, and how to interpret experimental results. Students will also explore how metallurgical variables affect test results and how microstructure can affect selection of an appropriate testing procedure. (For example, hardness testing of wrought vs. cast material.) This course requires some algebraic manipulation and use of logarithms. Students may need a scientific calculator (available in most smartphone calculator apps).
This course addresses critical knowledge gaps in mechanical testing that directly impact product quality, safety, and manufacturing efficiency. Participants gain practical skills immediately applicable to their current roles while building expertise that supports career advancement in engineering, quality assurance, and technical management positions.
Metallographic Techniques
This course is is tailored towards new metallographers and those with little exposure to metallography. The course will introduce the principles of metallographic specimen preparation and etching. Participants will prepare a variety of hard, soft, ferrous, and nonferrous alloys using manual preparation techniques to provide a solid foundation, upon which more advanced techniques can be built. The course incorporates a combination of lectures with course material, demonstrations utilizing state-of-the-art equipment, and hands-on laboratory work including specimen preparation, optical microscopy, grain size determination, basic measurements, and micro hardness testing. Throughout the course, participants will keep a detailed laboratory notebook, which can be used for future reference after the course..
Unfortunately, a virtual option is not currently offered, but please click below to share your interest and help inform our course development efforts!
Metallography for Failure Analysis
This practical lab course focuses on metallographic techniques of failure analysis and will take you through the process of initial visual examination, fracture cleaning, documentation, and unusual metallographic sample preparation techniques and metallographic interpretation of various failure modes. You are encouraged to bring your own samples to prepare. Samples of various failure modes will also be provided.
Practical Fractography
This comprehensive 2-day course provides practical application of fractography through lectures and visual examination of failed components. Students will apply these concepts by inspecting actual fracture specimens, building competency in analyzing real-world failures. Students will develop skills to apply proper examination procedures, interpret fracture surfaces, identify failure origins and mechanisms, and analyze fractures across different materials including plastics, metals, castings, and powder metals.
Practical Interpretation of Microstructures, 3 day
Unfortunately, a virtual option is not currently offered, but please click below to share your interest and help inform our course development efforts!
Practical Interpretation of Microstructures, 4 day
Unfortunately, a virtual option is not currently offered, but please click below to share your interest and help inform our course development efforts!
Scanning Electron Microscopy
In collaboration with Zeiss, ASM presents this course on basic scanning electron microscopy (SEM) operation. Learners will complete the online course prior to attending onsite training at ASM Laboratories. The online course material presents necessary theory and operating principles and imaging and analytical techniques.
Lab time will be held in small groups of 1-3 attendees in the ASM Microscopy Lab using the EVO LS15 SEM and a Bruker energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) for fast elemental mapping and inclusion analysis. Students are encouraged to bring their own samples.
Steel Metallography
The ability to analyze and control microstructure and properties in steels is critical for many industries and applications. This course combines lecture and hands-on lab activities that focus specifically on metallographic preparation of steels to reveal microstructure accurately and provides practical skills for interpreting steel microstructures in real-world scenarios. Through applied lab exercises, students will perform heat treatments, metallography, hardness, and micro-hardness testing. Students will learn to determine prior austenitic grain size and predict how cooling rates affect resulting microstructure—skills that apply directly to production and quality control challenges.
Self-Study Courses
Principles of Metallography
Metallography is the field of scientific study devoted to the interrelationship between the structural characteristics and the physical and mechanical properties of metals and alloys as effected by composition, processing, and the service environment. Structural interpretation based on the visible characteristics of a fracture surface probably arose at the very dawn of metallurgy; this strategy was most likely used to control the composition of bronze for primitive axes. Modern metallography, mostly based on optical and electron microscopy, is important in maintaining close control over production processes for well-established materials, in basic materials research, in the development of new materials, and in failure analysis. This course is intended to provide instruction in proper metallographic preparation techniques and the principles on which they are based. It describes methods of viewing structures and analyzing the constituents which are present.
Scanning Electron Microscopy
In collaboration with Zeiss, ASM presents this course on basic scanning electron microscopy (SEM) operation. The online course presents necessary theory and operating principles and imaging and analytical techniques. Students have the option to choose the online course only or to pair the online course with onsite training at ASM Labs. This course is designed for new users.
Digital Short Courses
Mechanical Properties and Their Measurement
This digital short course provides essential knowledge for measuring and interpreting mechanical properties of materials. The course examines how to measure properties such as tensile strength, hardness, and impact resistance and what these tests reveal about material behavior and failure mechanisms, including fracture, creep, and fatigue. Clear technical visuals, narrated process animations, demonstration videos, and interactive quizzes reinforce key concepts.
Metallographic Techniques – Part 1
This course provides the essential knowledge for preparing metal samples for microscopic examination through instructional videos, animations, and interactive quizzes covering the fundamental techniques of specimen preparation and analysis.
This self-guided digital course covers the theoretical foundation and visual demonstrations needed before working with actual equipment and samples in the lab.
Metallographic Techniques – Part 2
This course explores the theory and principles of microscope operation and quantitative analysis techniques used in metallographic examination. Through instructional videos, animations, and interactive quizzes, learn about metallurgical microscope components and measurement principles for quantifying microstructural characteristics. This self-guided digital course provides the theoretical foundation and visual demonstrations needed to understand microscopic examination and quantitative analysis in metallographic work.
ASTM E10 Standard Test Method for Brinell Hardness of Metallic Materials
This course covers the determination of the Brinell hardness of metallic materials by the Brinell indentation hardness principle. This course provides the requirements for a Brinell testing machine and the procedures for performing Brinell hardness tests.
ASTM E18 Standard Test Method for Rockwell Hardness of Metallic Materials
These test methods cover the determination of the Rockwell hardness and the Rockwell superficial hardness of metallic materials, including test methods for the verification of machines for Rockwell hardness testing and the calibration of standardized hardness test blocks.
ASTM E23 Standard Test Methods for Notched-Bar Impact Testing of Metallic Materials
This course covers the test methods that describe notched-bar impact testing of metallic materials by the Charpy (simple-beam) test and the Izod (cantilever-beam) test. The course covers the requirements for: test specimens, test procedures, test reports, test machines verifying Charpy impact machines, optional test specimen configurations, designation of test specimen orientation, and determining the percent of shear fracture on the surface of broken impact specimens.
In addition, information is provided on the significance of notched-bar impact testing, and methods of measuring the center of strike.
