Universities and research

Many materials, small quantities, and operators who change every semester. The constraints are almost the opposite of a production laboratory’s.

What this work prepares

A different material every week

Research work rarely repeats. That argues for consumables that behave predictably across a range rather than for a route optimised to one alloy.

Novel materials with no published method

Composites, additively manufactured parts, coatings and joints between dissimilar materials. There is often no manufacturer sheet to follow, and the method has to be developed and written down.

Teaching, where the sample is the lesson

A class of students producing comparable surfaces matters more than any one surface. Forgiving consumables and a short sequence beat an optimal route nobody can reproduce.

Small quantities, ordered infrequently

What can be supplied in small quantity is set by the manufacturer’s pack size, which differs by product — a pack of five cloths and a five-litre suspension are not the same question. Tell us what you need and we will tell you what is possible for that item.

Sources

• What each material class needs, and the figures behind it: the linked preparation guide, which cites the manufacturer document and page for every figure it prints.
• What P2 supplies and does not: Independent sourcing.
• The description of this sector’s metallographic work is general engineering knowledge and is P2’s own; it is not a manufacturer statement and it makes no claim about any particular customer.

Preparing aluminium alloys for metallography — the manufacturer’s published preparation route for the material this sector works with most, with the document and page behind every figure in it.

Holding a part number from another manufacturer? Send it and we will match it.