Papers by Keyword: Nanoindentation

Abstract: Now a days, extensive research has been attracted by the α + β based Ti alloys in biomedical applications due to their low elastic modulus and high strength properties. In order to explore the performance of Ti6AlxMo based alloys, Ti6Al with different amount of Mo-based samples were fabricated by powder metallurgy technique. The mechanical properties of the samples such as elastic energy, total energy and elastic recovery were studied through nanoindentation tests. Designed alloys exhibit elastic recovery values in the range of 25.4% - 33.7% which is higher than commonly used biomaterial such as CP Ti therefore it has good impact resistance properties. Ti6Al15Mo alloy with dominant β phase microstructure shows a high elastic energy as well as elastic recovery values which makes it more advantageous than CP Ti for load bearing implant applications.

Abstract: The influence of Al/Ti and Al/Cr ratios on the structural, mechanical and tribological properties of AlTiSiN and AlCrSiN coatings, deposited by the cathodic arc evaporation PVD method at a temperature of 400°C, was investigated. The remains of the original AlSiN hexagonal phase were observed in the obtained coatings as well as the crystallites of cubic TiN and CrN, respectively. XPS analysis assumes the presence of a substoichiometric SiN. The addition of 11 at.% Ti or 13 at.% Cr in AlSiN led to an increase in both the coating’s resistance to plastic deformation and the plasticity index. The addition of 13 at.% and 24 at.% Cr to the AlSiN coating structure resulted in a decrease in the average coefficient of friction with 18% and 36% against a counterpart of Al₂O₃, respectively, and with 36% for both concentration against steel ball counterpart. The addition of Ti have no influence on the values of the coefficient of friction at using ceramic counterpart, while at steel counterpart decreased it up to 30%. Both element change the abrasion effect of the coating.Keywords: AlCrSiN; AlTiSiN; Cathodic Arc Deposition; Tribological Behaviour; Abrasion Resistance; Nanoindentation

Abstract: Al₂O₃, Al₂O₃-10%CeO₂ and Al₂O₃ – 20% CeO₂ coatings were deposited on Mg AZ91 alloy by High Velocity Oxy Fuel (HVOF) process. The microstructure of deposited coatings was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. Nano-indentation tests were performed on deposited coatings to determine its load bearing capacity and elastic recovery. Al₂O₃ coatings exhibited coarse grain structure with porous sites. While addition of CeO₂ promoted grain refinement in the coatings. A load of 100mN was applied on all the samples for nano-indentation test. Coating with 20%CeO₂ exhibited maximum load bearing capacity of 98.7mN with elastic recovery displacement of 1000 nm.

Abstract: This study discussed the effect of blast exposure distance of lead-free solder on micromechanical properties. Sn-Ag-Cu solder samples were exposed to 1000 g of Plastic Explosive. The soldered samples were placed at a distance of 1 m, 2 m and 4 m distance from the blast source. In order to study micromechanical properties in localized and more details, the nanoindentation approach was used. The indentation was performed at the center of the solder to examine the hardness and reduced modulus properties. The load-depth curve of indentation for 1 m distance from the blast source has apparent the discontinuity during loading as compared to the control sample. The hardness value increased as the distance from the blast source increased. The shortest distance from the blast source gives a high impact on the degradation of hardness properties as compared to others. This result is important in assessing the effect of exposure distance from the blast source.

Abstract: Electronic packaging is the technology concerning to the establishment of electrical interconnections and it is a major discipline within the field of electronics engineering. Packaging of an electronics system should considered the protection from mechanical damage, cooling, radio frequency noise emission and protection from electrostatic charge. Solder alloys have been extensively used as interconnection materials for microelectronic package. Solder joint in radiation environment requires higher reliability and resistance to any damage caused by ionizing radiation. The electrical failure during radiation has proved that the reliability of solder joint is importance and sensitive to the service condition. In this study, a lead-free solder alloy, SAC305 (96.5Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu wt.%) were prepared into two batches, which are unirradiated and irradiated batches with the various doses 5, 50, 500 Gy of gamma radiation. Nanoindentation was used in order to investigate the effect of the radiation to micromechanical properties such as hardness, H and reduced modulus, E of the solder. The results showed that the SAC solder changed when exposed to gamma rays. The hardness of the specimens calculated from the nanoindentation were decreased to 195.4 from 279.6 MPa with the increasing of radiation dose. These values of hardness are also lower than the hardness of non-irradiated sample indicating possible radiation damage and needs further related atomic dislocation study. The reduced modulus for irradiated specimens significantly increased as well, with values from 25.6 to 123.9 GPa after exposure. The increment of the reduced modulus occurred as a result of strain hardening or softening of the solder.

Abstract: The paper deals with the determination of nano, microstructural, and micromechanical properties of cementitious materials surface with self-healing agent based on calcium carbonate precipitation (calcite). This was done by means of electron microscopy with elemental microanalysis and nanoindentation. These methods can define parameters of individual phases within cementitious materials, which are important for the development of micromechanical models. Bacillus pseudofirmus in combination with culture medium 235 was chosen as a self-healing agent. Our study provides information about micromechanical properties of crystals resulting from spontaneous crystallization from the culture medium and from crystallization caused by bacteria.

Abstract: Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are an important class of materials with unique set of properties. A bulk metallic glass with composition of (Fe_0.6Co_0.4)₇₁Nb₄Si₅B₂₀ was cast in the form of a 1 mm thick strip in a water cooled copper mold. The BMG produced was characterized for structure, thermal and mechanical properties. The X-ray diffraction performed on the as cast alloy has shown completely amorphous structure. The glass transition and crystallization peak temperatures obtained through differential scanning calorimetry scan were 542 °C and 588.4 °C, respectively. Some cast amorphous alloy sample was annealed below glass transition (450 °C for 30 mi93nutes) and others above glass transition (580 °C for 5 minutes) temperatures. Nano- indentation hardness of 13.3 GPa was obtained for as cast alloy while a hardness values of 12.8 and 15.84 GPa were measured for heat treated alloys at temperature of 450 °C and 580 °C, respectively. Increase in hardness was attributed to formation of crystals in an amorphous matrix whereas decrease in hardness was due to relaxation of quenching residual stresses. The maximum value of elastic modulus obtained through indentation was 255 GPa for 580 °C heat treated sample.

Abstract: In this research, a method is presented for predicting macroscopic plastic flow behavior of a quench and partitioning (Q&P) steel using data of nanoindentation experiments.The method is based on Tabor’s model in which nanohardness values obtained with indenters of different angles to be connected to the flow behavior of the indented material. The process consists of two steps: (i) the macroscopic flow relation of each microphases assessed based on the characteristic strain and constraint factor, (ii) the total flow curve of the steel extracted through an isostrain manner. A rationally successful prediction of the macroscopic plastic flow of the Q&P steel is obtained from the constituent phases properties due to consideration of the indentation size effect and application of a rule of-mixture. Eventually, the accuracy of the estimation is verified by comparing the predicted stress-strain curve to the tensile curve obtained from a standard bulk sample.

Abstract: The rapid development of cold spray technology has made it a viable option to repair and remanufacture damaged components as well as to create novel materials for biomedical applications. One of the most influential parameters of this distinctive process is the deposition velocity, which ultimately controls the degree of material deformation and material adhesion. Although the majority of materials can be successfully deposited at relative low deposition velocity (<700m/s), this is not representative of Ti alloys which have high yield strength. The amount of deformation and resultant properties of the coating are related to the velocity, temperature, and tensile strength of the particles. The ability to predict the deformation and resultant properties helps in developing process parameters and tailoring coatings to get the desired properties. In the current study, the particle deformation behavior and bonding with the substrate was investigated over a range of impact conditions. The effects of deposition velocity, gas temperature, gas pressure and nozzle stand-off distance were studied using cold sprayed splats of spherical Ti-6Al-4V powder deposited on to 316 SS substrate utilizing helium as a carrier gas. Finite element modeling of the impacted particles was conducted using Johnson-Cook high-strain-rate properties in a Lagrangian analysis to predict the overall deformation and estimated stress state of the impacted particles. Particle temperature due to impact was also predicted. Overall predictions were in good agreement with experimental results. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and focused ion beam (FIB) were used to identify three distinct regions within the impact morphologies; these include the initial impact region, the jetting region, and the upper splat region.

Abstract: In this study, we investigated the adhesion strength of SiO₂/SiN/TiW/Cu film stacks on silicon by the use of cross-sectional nanoindentation (CSN) technique. The delamination occurred along the SiN/TiW interface as determined by means of SEM and EDX analysis. The critical energy release rate was determined as a quantitative measure of the adhesion strength by application of analytical models as well as Finite Element Method (FEM). Comparative measurements on samples of the same layer composition using the well-established four-point bending (4PB) technique were performed to validate the results of the CSN measurements. FEM was performed to calculate the loading conditions and stress distribution in the samples. The calculations also allowed separating the contribution of plastic and elastic energy in the metallization layers during delamination testing and thereby estimating the value of the interfacial adhesion energy. The experimental results show the good applicability of both the 4PB and CSN method for determining quantitative values of the fracture toughness of thin-film interfaces found in microelectronic components and indicate a good agreement between the two methods.