Practical aspects of carbon content determination in carburized steels by EPMA

The carbon contents in carburized steels were investigated by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) for a range of carbon levels in the solid solution less than I wt%. This article describes the difficulties encountered with the classic analytical procedure using the k ratio of X-ray intensities and the phi(pz) model. Here, a suitable calibration curve method is presented with emphasis on the metallographic study of standard specimens and on the carbon decontamination of samples.