nitaln.
/ˈnʌɪtal/, U.S. /ˈnaɪˌtæl/ Metallurgy.
An etchant consisting of a few per cent of concentrated nitric acid in ethanol or methanol.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > materials used in metallurgical processes > [noun] > substance used for testing > types of
nital1925
picral1928
1925 M. A. Grossmann tr. E. Heyn Physical Metallogr. iv. 144 Alcoholic Nitric Acid (Martens)... Abbreviation HNO3/Alc., or nital.
1936 Metals Handbk. (Amer. Soc. Metals) 557 Nital brings out ferrite junction lines clearly while both Nital and Picral etch pearlite clearly.
1963 B. Harocopos Princ. Struct. Metall. v. 55 Occasionally nital will produce pits in the vicinity of non-metallic inclusions, and in such cases amyl alcohol may be used as a solvent instead.
1991 Acta Metallurgica et Materialia 39 2554/1 The adiabatic shear bands of the transformed type, formed in steels, etch white with Nital.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1925