Relationships between hardness, elastic modulus, and the work of indentation

The work done during indentation is examined using dimensional analysis and finite element calculations for conical indentation in elastic-plastic solids with work hardening. An approximate relationship between the ratio of hardness to elastic modulus and the ratio of irreversible work to total work in indentation is found. Consequently, the ratio of hardness to elastic modulus may be obtained directly from measuring the work of indentation. Together with a well-known relationship between elastic modulus, initial unloading slope, and contact area, a new method is then suggested for estimating the hardness and modulus of solids using instrumented indentation with conical or pyramidal indenters.

Scaling approach to conical indentation in elastic-plastic solids with work hardening

We derive, using dimensional analysis and finite element calculations, several scaling relationships for conical indentation in elastic-plastic solids with work hardening. Using these scaling relationships, we examine the relationships between hardness, contact area, initial unloading slope, and mechanical properties of solids. The scaling relationships also provide new insights into the shape of indentation curves and form the basis for understanding indentation measurements, including nano- and micro-indentation techniques. They may also be helpful as a guide to numerical and finite element calculations of indentation problems.

Essential and Non-Essential Work of Fracture of PI/SiO2 Hybrid Thin Films

Essential work of fracture (EWF) analysis is used to study the effect of the silica doping level on fracture toughness of polyimide/silica (PI/SiO2) hybrid films. By using double-edge-notched-tension (DENT) specimens with different ligament lengths, it seems that the introduction of silica additive can improve the specific essential work of fracture (w (e) ) of PI thin films, but the specific non-essential work of fracture (beta w (p) ) will decease significantly as the silica doping level increasing from 1 to 5 wt.%, and even lower than that of neat PI. The failure process of the fracture is investigated with online scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation and the parameters of non-essential work of fracture, beta and w (p) , are calculated based on finite element (FE) method.

Effect of Work of Adhesion on Nanoindentation

Three adhesion contact models, JKR (Johnson-Kendall-Roberts), DMT (Derjaguin-Muller-Toporov) and MD (Maugis-Dugdale) are compared with the Hertz model in dealing with the nano-contact problems. It has been shown that the dimensionless load parameter, $\bar{P}=P/(\pi\Delta\gamma R)$, and the transition parameter, $\Lambda$, have significant influences on the contact stiffness (contact area) at micro/nano-scale and should not be ignored in shallow nanoindentation.

Revelation of a Functional Dependence of the Sum of Two Uniaxial Strengths/Hardness on Elastic Work/Total Work of Indentation

Dimensional and finite element analyses were used to analyze the relationship between the mechanical properties and instrumented indentation response of materials. Results revealed the existence of a functional dependence of (engineering yield strength sigma(E,y) + engineering tensile strength sigma(E,b))/Oliver & Pharr hardness on the ratio of reversible elastic work to total work obtained from an indentation test. The relationship links up the Oliver & Pharr hardness with the material strengths, although the Oliver & Pharr hardness may deviate from the true hardness when sinking in or piling up occurs. The functional relationship can further be used to estimate the SUM sigma(E,y) + sigma(E,b) according to the data of an instrumented indentation test. The sigma(E,y) + sigma(E,b) value better reflects the strength of a material compared to the hardness value alone. The method was shown to be effective when applied to aluminum alloys. The relationship can further be used to estimate the fatigue limits, which are usually obtained from macroscopic fatigue tests in different modes.

Characterization of the Fracture Work for Ductile Film Undergoing the Micro-Scratch

The interface adhesion strength (or interface toughness) of a thin film/substrate system is often assessed by the micro-scratch test. For a brittle film material, the interface adhesion strength is easily obtained through measuring the scratch driving forces. However, to measure the interface adhesion strength (or interface toughness) for a metal thin film material (the ductile material) by the microscratch test is very difficult, because intense plastic deformation is involved and the problem is a three-dimensional elastic-plastic one. In the present research, using a double-cohesive zone model, the failure characteristics of the thin film/substrate system can be described and further simulated. For a steady-state scratching process, a three-dimensional elastic-plastic finite element method based on the double cohesive zone model is developed and adopted, and the steady-state fracture work of the total system is calculated. The parameter relations between the horizontal driving forces (or energy release rate of the scratching process) and the separation strength of thin film/substrate interface, and the material shear strength, as well as the material parameters are developed. Furthermore, a scratch experiment for the Al/Si film/substrate system is carried out and the failure mechanisms are explored. Finally, the prediction results are applied to a scratch experiment for the Pt/NiO material system given in the literature.

Steady-state crack growth and fracture work based on the theory of mechanism-based strain gradient plasticity

Mode I steady-state crack growth is analyzed under plane strain conditions in small scale yielding. The elastic-plastic solid is characterized by the mechanism-based strain gradient (MSG) plasticity theory [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 47 (1999) 1239, J. Mech. Phys. Solids 48 (2000) 99]. The distributions of the normal separation stress and the effective stress along the plane ahead of the crack tip are computed using a special finite element method based on the steady-state fundamental relations and the MSG flow theory. The results show that during the steady-state crack growth, the normal separation stress on the plane ahead of the crack tip can achieve considerably high value within the MSG strain gradient sensitive zone. The results also show that the crack tip fields are insensitive to the cell size parameter in the MSG theory. Moreover, in the present research, the steady-state fracture toughness is computed by adopting the embedded process zone (EPZ) model. The results display that the steady-state fracture toughness strongly depends on the separation strength parameter of the EPZ model and the length scale parameter in the MSG theory. Furthermore, in order for the results of steady crack growth to be comparable, an approximate relation between the length scale parameters in the MSG theory and in the Fleck-Hutchinson strain gradient plasticity theory is obtained.

Work Softening And Annealing Hardening Of Deformed Nanocrystalline Nickel

We reported that work softening takes place during room-temperature rolling of nanocrystalline Ni at an equivalent strain of around 0.30. The work softening corresponds to a strain-induced phase transformation from a face-centered cubic (fcc) to a body-centered cubic (bcc) lattice. The hardness decreases with increasing volume fraction of the bcc phase. When the deformed samples are annealed at 423 K, a hardening of the samples takes place. This hardening by annealing can be attributed to a variety of factors including the recovery transformation from the bcc to the fcc phase, grain boundary relaxation, and retardation of dislocation gliding by microtwins.

Experimental Verification And Theoretical Analysis Of The Relationships Between Hardness, Elastic Modulus, And The Work Of Indentation

The relationship between hardness (H), reduced modulus (E-r), unloading work (W-u), and total work (W-t) of indentation is examined in detail experimentally and theoretically. Experimental study verifies the approximate linear relationship. Theoretical analysis confirms it. Furthermore, the solutions to the conical indentation in elastic-perfectly plastic solid, including elastic work (W-e), H, W-t, and W-u are obtained using Johnson's expanding cavity model and Lame solution. Consequently, it is found that the W-e should be distinguished from W-u, rather than their equivalence as suggested in ISO14577, and (H/E-r)/(W-u/W-t) depends mainly on the conical angle, which are also verified with numerical simulations. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Barium-Functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Yarns As Low-Work-Function Thermionic Cathodes

Barium-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube yarns were fabricated by drawing and twisting multiwalled carbon nanotube forests through a solution containing barium nitrate. After heat activation under vacuum, the functionalized yarns were enriched in barium oxide due to the high surface-to-volume ratio of the nanotubes. The cathodes exhibited good thermionic properties, with a work function as low as 1.73-2.06 eV and thermionic current density that exceeded 185 mA/cm(2) in a field of 850 V/5 mm at 1317 K. The barium-functionalized yarns had high tensile strength of up to 420 MPa and retained strength of similar to 250 MPa after a 2 h activation process. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Work and energy equations and the principle of generalized effective stress for unsaturated soils

The effective stress principle has been efficiently applied to saturated soils in the soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering practice; however, its applicability to unsaturated soils is still under debate. The appropriate selection of stress state variables is essential for the construction of constitutive models for unsaturated soils. Owing to the complexity of unsaturated soils, it is difficult to determine the deformation and strength behaviors of unsaturated soils uniquely with the previous single-effective-stress variable theory and two-effective-stress-variable theory in all the situations. In this paper, based on the porous media theory, the specific expression of work is proposed, and the effective stress of unsaturated soils conjugated with the displacement of the soil skeleton is further derived. In the derived work and energy balance equations, the energy dissipation in unsaturated soils is taken into account. According to the derived work and energy balance equations, all of the three generalized stresses and the conjugated strains have effects on the deformation of unsaturated soils. For considering these effects, a principle of generalized effective stress to describe the behaviors of unsaturated soils is proposed. The proposed principle of generalized effective stress may reduce to the previous effective stress theory of single-stress variable or the two-stress variables under certain conditions. This principle provides a helpful reference for the development of constitutive models for unsaturated soils.

High refractive index TiO2 film deposited by electron beam evaporation

The well known 'crystal seed' theory is first applied in this work to prepare TiO2 film: a high refractive index rutile TiO2 film is grown by electron beam evaporation on the rutile seed formed by 1100 degrees C annealing. The average n is larger than 2.4, by far the highest in all the authors' TiO2 films. The films are characterised by optical properties, microstructure and surface morphologies. It is found that the refractive index shows positive relation with the crystal structure, grain size, and packing density and roughness of the film. The film has lower density of granularity and nodule defects on the surface than those of the film deposited by magnetron sputtering. The result shows attractive application in complex filter and laser coatings.

Vitrification of Yunnan Yellow Cattle oocytes: work in progress

The objective of this study was to provide a simple cryopreservation method for oocytes from Yunnan Yellow Cattle and facilitate preservation efforts in this native Chinese breed, which is threatened by agricultural modernization. Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were collected from slaughterhouse ovaries and matured in vitro for 22-24 h, then selected for cryopreservation. Vitrification in open pulled straws (OPS) or in microdrops on a cooled metal surface (solid surface vitrification, SSV) was compared. The OPS vitrification solution consisted of 20% ethylene glycol (EG) and 20% DMSO. The SSV solution was a mixture of 35% EG, 5% polyvinyl-pyrrolidon (PVP) and 0.4 M trehalose. Vitrified and warmed oocytes were either fertilized in vitro or parthenogenetically activated. The rates of cleavage and development to blastocysts of fertilized oocytes following OPS versus SSV were not statistically different (38.3 and 12.5% versus 35.8 and 6.0%, respectively). The corresponding rates of parthenogenetic development to blastocysts were also not different (8.2 versus 3.5%, respectively). Development to blastocysts of non-vitrified controls following fertilization was significantly higher than that of the vitrified oocytes (22.6%, P < 0.05). These results demonstrate for the first time, that although both OPS and SSV procedures reduced embryonic development, Yunnan Yellow Cattle oocytes are capable of developing to blastocysts following cryopreservation. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Au@Si-n: Growth behavior, stability and electronic structure

The configurations, stability, and electronic structure of AuSin (n = 1-16) clusters have been investigated within the framework of the density functional theory at the B3PW91/LanL2DZ and PW91/DNP levels. The results show that the Au atom begins to occupy the interior site for cages as small as Si-11 and for Si-12 the Au atom completely falls into the interior site forming Au@Si-12 cage. A relatively large embedding energy and small HOMO-LUMO gap are also found for this Au@Si-12 structure indicating enhanced chemical activity and good electronic transfer properties. All these make Au@Si-12 attractive for cluster-assembled materials.

Role of interface dipole in metal gate/high-k effective work function modulation by aluminum incorporation

The interface dipole and its role in the effective work function (EWF) modulation by Al incorporation are investigated. Our study shows that the interface dipole located at the high-k/SiO2 interface causes an electrostatic potential difference across the metal/high-k interface, which significantly shifts the band alignment between the metal and high-k, consequently modulating the EWF. The electrochemical potential equalization and electrostatic potential methods are used to evaluate the interface dipole and its contribution. The calculated EWF modulation agrees with experimental data and can provide insight to the control of EWF in future pMOS technology.