Use of a total intensity internal standard for the emission spectrographic analysis of multicomponent alloy systems

Abstract

A summation of the normalised relative intensities of selected spectrum lines of the major components of an alloy is used as an internal standard for the emission spectrographic analysis of a group of alloys. The procedure depends on the sum of the concentrations of the major components being constant but does not rely on prior knowledge of these concentrations. The usefulness of the technique is demonstrated in the analysis of stainless steels, using argon spark excitation with point-to-plane geometry. In principle, the technique should be applicable to other alloy systems.