Positive Material Identification
Encyclopedia
Positive Material Identification (PMI) is the analysis of a metallic alloy
to establish composition by reading the quantities by percentage of its constituent elements
. Typical methods for PMI include X-ray fluorescence
(XRF) and optical emission spectrometry (OES).
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
to establish composition by reading the quantities by percentage of its constituent elements
Chemical element
A chemical element is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom distinguished by its atomic number, which is the number of protons in its nucleus. Familiar examples of elements include carbon, oxygen, aluminum, iron, copper, gold, mercury, and lead.As of November 2011, 118 elements...
. Typical methods for PMI include X-ray fluorescence
X-ray fluorescence
X-ray fluorescence is the emission of characteristic "secondary" X-rays from a material that has been excited by bombarding with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays...
(XRF) and optical emission spectrometry (OES).