Mechanical properties and microstructure of Yb2SiO5 environmental barrier coatings under isothermal heat treatment

Yb₂SiO₅ (ytterbium monosilicate) top coatings and Si bond coat layer were deposited by air plasma spray method as a protection layer on SiC substrates for environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) application. The Yb₂SiO₅-coated specimens were subjected to isothermal heat treatment at 1400 °C on air for 0, 1, 10, and 50 h. The Yb₂SiO₅ phase of the top coat layer reacted with Si from the bonding layer and O₂ from atmosphere formed to the Yb₂Si₂O₇ phase upon heat treatment at 1400 °C. The oxygen penetrated into the cracks to form SiO₂ phase of thermally grown oxide (TGO) in the bond coat and the interface of specimens during heat treatment. Horizontal cracks were also observed, due to a mismatch of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between the top coat and bond coat. The isothermal heat treatment improves the hardness and elastic modulus of Yb₂SiO₅ coatings; however, these properties in the Si bond coat were a little bit decreased.     

Nanomechanical characterization of polymer using atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation

The nanomechanical characteristics of polycarbonate (PC) polymer were investigated by atomic force microscope (AFM) and nanoindentation. Scratching, wear properties, hardness and Young's modulus were obtained. The relationships between scribing feed and speed, surface depth and roughness and applied load were also investigated. The results indicated that as the applied load was increased, the furrow depth and the surface roughness increased. When the scribing feed was increased, the depth and roughness decreased. Increasing the furrow speed also decreased the surface roughness. The applied load is more significant than the scribing speed on the material removal rate. In addition, the Young's modulus and hardness of the polycarbonate material were 1.8 and 0.2 GPa, respectively.     

Probing nanomechanical properties of nickel coated bacteria by nanoindentation

As a powerful method for the study of mechanical properties at micro-/nanoscale, nanoindentation was applied to measure the hardness and elastic modulus of bacteria-templated metallic nanomaterials for the first time. Based on the morphological characterization by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), nanoindentation testing results showed that after coating with nickel via electroless chemical plating, the elastic modulus and hardness of bacterial cells were increased about 17 times and 50 times, respectively, indicating a great improvement in mechanical properties. This study would lay a forceful mechanical foundation for a better and general understanding of this kind of biotemplated metallic nanomaterials, which showed potential applications in nanoelectronics, nanomagnetism and nanomechanics.     

Nanoindentation mapping of mechanical properties of cement paste and natural rocks

This paper reports a study to assess nanoindentation mapping of mechanical properties of cement paste and natural rocks. Initial work seems to show that mechanical property mapping by nanoindentation is feasible and can be related to microscopic information. Further work is however required on the effect of indent size and spacing. Such a testing technique can be very useful for materials with different phases to study the intrinsic properties of each component, and also the interaction and properties of the interfacial regions of different phases. The values of Young's modulus and hardness of the individual mineral phases were also determined by statistically analysing a large number of experimental data.     

Nanomechanical analyses of porous SiO2 low-dielectric-constant films for evaluation of interconnect structure reliability

Porous SiO₂ low-dielectric-constant films containing different porosities and sizes of uniformly distributed pores were prepared in this study. Their nanomechanical properties including true flow stress and fracture toughness were analyzed by a nanoindentation test. The hardness and elastic modulus of the films prepared with an ethanol molar ratio of 3 and an aging time of 16 h reached maximum values of 2.4 and 40 GPa, respectively. With increasing ethanol molar ratio, the porosity increased, and the mechanical properties consequently decreased. With increasing aging time, the mechanical properties increased and then dropped due to enlarged pore sizes. From converted true flow stress, the porous SiO₂ films were found to yield at an ultimate stress of 3.1 GPa, and the maximum fracture energy release rate was calculated as 3.4 J/m². The plastic deformation and fracture behavior of the porous films was observed through crack initiation and propagation along the large amount of pores.     

A CALPHAD-type Young's modulus database of Ti-rich Ti–Nb–Zr–Mo system

Accurate Young's modulus is the necessity for the design of biomedical Ti alloys. A combinatorial method of the diffusion couple, nanoindentation, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), and CALculation of PHAse Diagrams (CALPHAD) techniques has been utilized to construct the Young's modulus database of Ti alloys with various compositions in the present work. Two groups of body-centered cubic (bcc) Ti–Nb–Zr–Mo quaternary diffusion couples annealed at 1273 K for 25 h were experimentally prepared. Subsequently, the composition-dependent mechanical properties in the wide compositional range of Ti-based alloys were obtained by using EPMA and nanoindentation probes. Finally, on the basis of the measured Young's moduli in the present and previous work and the modeling parameters of Young's modulus of Ti–Nb–Zr system, the Young's modulus database of bcc Ti–Nb–Zr–Mo system was established through the CALPHAD approach. The CALPHAD-type database of bcc Ti–Nb–Zr–Mo system can provide the accurate Young's moduli of Ti alloys with wide compositions.     

A study of global vs. local properties for maleic anhydride modified polypropylene nanocomposites

Nanoindentation of organomodified clay filled maleated polypropylene (MAPP) was investigated. The study aims to identify the relative increase in local stiffness in comparison to the increase in mechanical properties of the bulk in polypropylene-based nanocomposites. Such a study allows one to assess confined material property in addition to increased filler volume at the local scale. A mixture of highly intercalated and well exfoliated clay structures, when dispersed in MAPP matrix, was observed under transmission electron microscopy. The degree of exfoliation was found to increase with clay loading, which was attributed to the higher viscosity and mechanical shear forces during melt compounding. Instrumented indentation was performed on (1) clay aggregate supported by MAPP matrix, (2) clay-matrix boundary, and (3) the MAPP matrix. The clay aggregated region generally showed higher stiffness as compared to the matrix. And, the relative increase in indentation stiffness is substantially higher than the relative increase in tensile and compressive stiffnesses for clay reinforced systems. Polymer chain confinement and topological constraint appeared to be operative to enhance local stiffness in the clay aggregated region. Good correlation was, however, obtained between the change in macroscopic stiffness and the change in highly local indentation stiffness as a result of clay reinforcement.     

The effect of two types of C-S-H on the elasticity of cement-based materials: Results from nanoindentation and micromechanical modeling

It has long been recognized, in cement chemistry, that two types of calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) exist in cement-based materials, but less is known about how the two types of C-S-H affect the mechanical properties. By means of nanoindentation tests on nondegraded and calcium leached cement paste, the paper confirms the existence of two types of C-S-H, and investigates the distinct role played by the two phases on the elastic properties of cement-based materials. It is found that (1) high-density C-S-H are mechanically less affected by calcium leaching than low density C-S-H, and (2) the volume fractions occupied by the two phases in the C-S-H matrix are not affected by calcium leaching. The nanoindentation results also provide quantitative evidence, suggesting that the elastic properties of the C-S-H phase are intrinsic material properties that do not depend on mix proportions of cement-based materials. The material properties and volume fractions are used in a novel two-step homogenization model, that predicts the macroscopic elastic properties of cement pastes with high accuracy. Combined with advanced physical chemistry models that allow, for a given w/c ratio, determination of the volume fractions of the two types of C-S-H, the model can be applied to any cement paste, with or without Portlandite, Clinker, and so on. In particular, from an application of the model to decalcified cement pastes, it is shown that that the decalcification of the C-S-H phase is the primary source of the macroscopic elastic modulus degradation, that dominates over the effect of the dissolution of Portlandite in cement-based material systems.     

Nanoindentation and nanomachining characteristics of gold and platinum thin films

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and an experimental method were carried out to study the effects of applied load, hold time, and temperature on nanoscratching and nanoindentation of gold and platinum thin films. The simulated results showed that the wear depth of gold decreased as the scratching velocity was increased and the temperature was decreased. The results also indicated that when the simulated nanoindentation of gold film hold time was increased, the plastic indentation depth and the plastic energy both increased. In addition, the experimental results showed that the groove depth for gold films was larger than that of platinum films under the same machining load. The wear depth and the surface roughness of platinum films were larger than those of gold films under the same lateral machining feed. Furthermore, the simulated plastic energy of gold films was compared during nanoindentation test.     

Mechanical properties determined by nanoindentation tests of [Pb(Zr,Ti)O3] and [Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)1−xTixO3] sputtered thin films

As the introduction of piezoelectric materials into micro electromechanical systems increases, there is a correlating requirement for understanding the mechanical properties of these films. We have investigated the mechanical properties of unpoled PZT [Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃] and PMNT [Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_1−xTi_xO₃] thin films deposited by sputtering. In this study, nano-indentation, a technique which allows determination of the transverse mechanical properties, is used. It is the easiest method for assessing the biaxial elastic modulus and the hardness of thin films. It was confirmed that neither cracks, nor pile-ups, were observed for indentation depths below 20% of the film's thickness.The continuous stiffness method was used and allowed us to demonstrate that the indentation modulus decreases continuously with increasing grain diameter. This can be explained by the orientation changes of the crystallites with increasing grain diameter. The indentation modulus measured under load, or at almost null load (that is when the ferroelectric domains are or are not oriented by the stress) are coherent with those determined by the same method with a hard bulk ceramic. These results tend to show that the compliance C_ij of the hard bulk ceramic can possibly be used with sputtered thin films. The hardness is almost independent of the grain diameter (H_b ≅ 7.5 ± 0.9 GPa) and higher than that for the bulk PZT ceramics considered in this study. PMNT and PZT films have appreciably the same mechanical characteristics. No influence of the film thickness was found on the values of both of these parameters.