The chemical analysis is often carried out in order to classify and characterize a metal alloy. The experimental investigation gives the concentration of the different chemical elements of the metal alloy.

Different types of metal alloy can be investigated, some of them are reported hereafter:

Hammer laboratory tests semifinished or finished products according to ASTM A751 standard.

The concentration of the chemical elements is measured by means of optical emission vacuum spectrometric technique (OES) according to both ASTM E415 standard and ASTM E1086 standard for carbon-low alloy steel and stainless steel respectively.

The above mentioned ASTM standards are under accreditation and the range of investigation of each chemical element was extended by Hammer laboratory according to internal procedure (Annex B of both R.M.P. I.O. 01 and R.M.P. I.O. 02) approved by the accreditation authority.

In research activities, the characterization of each chemical element is carried out over the thickness of the semifinished or finished products. This activity helps to study diffusive mechanism in huge forged semifinished or finished products. The investigation is usually performed by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy probe (EDX). In this case, the chemical elements are investigated in very local scale (few micrometers).