5.1 This sampling practice is useful for converting material taken from ingots or other solid materials into a homogeneous solid sample suitable for direct excitation on a spark atomic emission or X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The resultant button may itself be chipped to provide specimens for test methods requiring solutions or chips.
5.2 This practice has been used extensively for the preparation of zirconium, zirconium alloy, titanium, and titanium alloy materials, and is applicable to other reactive, refractory, ferrous and nonferrous alloys, such as cobalt, cobalt alloys, niobium, nickel, nickel alloys, steels, stainless steels, tantalum, tool steels, and tungsten.