Electrolytic etching of uranium and of its alloys for examination under ordinary light

The author reports a metallographic study of uranium and of some of its alloys (U-Mo with different Mo contents, U-Sn, U-Al) performed by using electrolytic etching. Samples are polished before being etched. Metallographic images are provided and results are briefly stated in terms of presence of grain boundaries, twins, platelets, pitting, metallic and non-metallic inclusions or eutectoid decomposition. The authors notice that, in some alloys with a gamma-stabilized structure, electrolytic etching allows an oxidation under reduced oxygen pressure, and then phase structure to be perfectly revealed