A microsection allows the connector and wire combination to be assessed. It also allows the tool setting to be confirmed for a wire/termination combination which may be outside the crimp terminals specification. It can easily show up under or over crimping as well as cracking of the crimp barrel, lifting of the plating or uneven crimping.
A microsection can be produced in less than an hour if all the materials are available in the company. It can be useful technique if problems are being seen during other tests, like pull off or voltage drop measurement. Basically the crimp is mounted in a mould and epoxy resin is used to encapsulate the terminal prior to grinding the sample to the point of interest. This is normally at the point of compression. Ideally the section is ground to the centre of the compressed area and then examined. Which provides the possibility of grinding the section further if there are any areas of concern during initial preparation of the sample.
The section should show complete compression with the wire taking up and filling the cavity in the crimp barrel. The tool compression should be even on each side of the crimp and there should be no damage to the plating on the crimp terminal or any evidence of cracking of the barrel.