A perspective on materials characterization for technology advancement and industrial growth: Emphasis on non-destructive evaluation

Materials are the index of human progress. The evolution of mankind is linked to materials, for example, stone age, bronze age, iron age etc. The success of use of materials towards better quality of human life depends on the capabilities for characterization of these materials, which leads to ensuring reliable performance of the materials and development of new, and more efficient materials. The materials characterization encompasses determining chemical constituents, microstructural characterization down to a few Angstroms level and defect assessment from a few micrometers to few millimeters in a wide variety of materials. Recent progress made in the nondestructive characterization of materials and the future trends and direction are discussed in this paper. Text of the Presidential Address delivered at the Materials Science Section of the 82nd Indian Science Congress held at Calcutta during January 3–8, 1995.