Key features:

• Grain Structure and Phases: The factors affecting such features really control the strength, hardness, and toughness of a material include size, shape, and distribution of the grains and their crystalline phases and inclusions. 
• The Effect of Processes: Microstructural factors are heat treatment, alloying, and mechanical processing through which microstructures ultimately influence hardness, ductility, and corrosion resistance. 
• Normal Applications: Microstructure analysis is necessary under metallurgy (steel quality controls), failure analysis (fracture studies), and material sciences (advancing alloys and composite materials). 

The essence of microstructure is its ability in predicting and optimizing performance. In aerospace engineering, one example of microstructure refinement is improvement in turbine blades fatigue resistance. In automotive manufacturing, there is improvement in wear resistance of engine components through controlling microstructure. Advances in electron microscopy, nanotechnology, and computational modeling continue dijatializing the analysis of microstructural aspects toward making stronger and more efficient materials in present-day engineering.