Measurement of Mechanical Properties of MEMS Materials

微电子机械系统（MEMS）技术的迅速崛起,推动了所用材料微尺度力学性能测试技术的发展.首先按作用方式将实验分成压痕/划痕、弯曲、拉伸、扭转四大类,系统介绍检测MEMS材料微尺度力学性能的微型试样、测试方法及其实验结果.测试材料主要有硅、氧化硅、氮化硅和一些金属.实验结果主要包括基本的力学性能参数如弹性模量、残余应力、屈服强度、断裂强度和疲劳强度等.最后,简要分析了未来的发展需求.

Effects Analysis on the Mechanical Properties of Nanocrystalline Materials

Nanocrystalline materials are characterized by a typical grain size from 1 to 100nm. In order to study the nanocrystalline properties of nanocrystalline materials, we chose nanocrystalline coppers as the research object. The uniaxial tensile deformation of computer produced nanocrystalline coppers is simulated by using molecular dynamics with Finnis-Sinclair potential. The mean grain size of simulated nanocrystalline coppers is varied within the 5.38 to 1.79 nm range. The strength, Young's modulus and stress-strain are strongly depended on the grain size and nanocrystalline structure. The simulated nanocrystalline coppers show a reverse Hall-Petch effect.

Localized Solid-State Amorphization at Grain Boundaries in a Nanocrystalline Al Solid Solution Subjected to Surface Mechanical Attrition

Using high-resolution electron microscopy, localized solid-state amorphization (SSA) was observed in a nanocrystalline (NC) Al solid solution (weight per cent 4.2 Cu, 0.3 Mn, the rest being Al) subjected to a surface mechanical attrition treatment. It was found that the deformation-induced SSA may occur at the grain boundary (GB) where either the high density dislocations or dislocation complexes are present. It is suggested that lattice instability due to elastic distortion within the dislocation core region plays a significant role in the initiation of the localized SSA at defective sites. Meanwhile, the GB of severely deformed NC grains exhibits a continuously varying atomic structure in such a way that while most of the GB is ordered but reveals corrugated configurations, localized amorphization may occur along the same GB.

The Influence of Grain Size and Temperature on the mechanical Deformation of Nanocrystalline Materials: Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Nanocrystalline (nc) materials are characterized by a typical grain size of 1-100nm. The uniaxial tensile deformation of computer-generated nc samples, with several average grain sizes ranging from 5.38 to 1.79nm, is simulated by using molecular dynamics with the Finnis-Sinclair potential. The influence of grain size and temperature on the mechanical deformation is studied in this paper. The simulated nc samples show a reverse Hall-Petch effect. Grain boundary sliding and motion, as well as grain rotation are mainly responsible for the plastic deformation. At low temperatures, partial dislocation activities play a minor role during the deformation. This role begins to occur at the strain of 5%, and is progressively remarkable with increasing average grain size. However, at elevated temperatures no dislocation activity is detected, and the diffusion of grain boundaries may come into play.

Interfacial microstructure and mechanical behaviour in laser clad TiCp/Ni alloy coatings

Coatings of TiCp reinforced composite have been produced by laser cladding. Two kinds of coating with different TiCp origins were investigated, i.e. undissolved TiCp and in situ TiCp. For undissolved TiCp, epitaxial growth of TiC, precipitation of CrB, and a chemical reaction occur at phase interfaces, and nanoindentation loading curves show pop in marks caused by the plastic deformation associated with crack formation or debonding of TiCp from the matrix. As for in situ TiCp, no pop in mark appears. Meanwhile, in situ TiCp produces hardness and elastic modulus values that are higher than those produced by the coating that contains undissolved TiCp.

Stochastic Structural Model of Rock and Soil Aggregates by Continuum-Based Discrete Element Method

This paper first presents a stochastic structural model to describe the random geometrical features of rock and soil aggregates. The stochastic structural model uses mixture ratio, rock size and rock shape to construct the microstructures of aggregates,and introduces two types of structural elements (block element and jointed element) and three types of material elements (rock element, soil element, and weaker jointed element)for this microstructure. Then, continuum-based discrete element method is used to study the deformation and failure mechanism of rock and soil aggregate through a series of loading tests. It is found that the stress-strain curve of rock and soil aggregates is nonlinear, and the failure is usually initialized from weaker jointed elements. Finally, some factors such as mixture ratio, rock size and rock shape are studied in detail. The numerical results are in good agreement with in situ test. Therefore, current model is effective for simulating the mechanical behaviors of rock and soil aggregates.

Amorphous Coatings Deposited on Aluminum Alloy by Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation

Amorphous [Al-Si-O] coatings were deposited on aluminum alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO). The process parameters, composition, micrograph, and mechanical property of PEO amorphous coatings were investigated. It is found that the growth rate of PEO coatings reaches 4.44 mu m/min if the current density is 0.9 mA/mm(2). XRD results show that the PEO coatings are amorphous in the current density range of 0.3-0.9 mA/mm(2). EDS results show that the coatings are composed of O, Si and At elements. SEM results show that the coatings are porous. Nano indentation results show that the hardness of the coatings is about 3 - 4 times of that of the substrate, while the elastic modulus is about the same with the substrate. Furthermore, a formation mechanism of amorphous PEO coatings was proposed.

A Numerical Study for Turbulent Flow and Thermal Influence Over Inhomogenous Canopy of Roughness Elements

A large-eddy simulation with transitional structure function(TSF) subgrid model we previously proposed was performed to investigate the turbulent flow with thermal influence over an inhomogeneous canopy, which was represented as alternative large and small roughness elements. The aerodynamic and thermodynamic effects of the presence of a layer of large roughness elements were modelled by adding a drag term to the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations and a heat source/sink term to the scalar equation, respectively. The layer of small roughness elements was simply treated using the method as described in paper (Moeng 1984, J. Atmos Sci. 41, 2052-2062) for homogeneous rough surface. The horizontally averaged statistics such as mean vertical profiles of wind velocity, air temperature, et al., are in reasonable agreement with Gao et al.(1989, Boundary layer meteorol. 47, 349-377) field observation (homogeneous canopy). Not surprisingly, the calculated instantaneous velocity and temperature fields show that the roughness elements considerably changed the turbulent structure within the canopy. The adjustment of the mean vertical profiles of velocity and temperature was studied, which was found qualitatively comparable with Belcher et al. (2003, J Fluid Mech. 488, 369-398)'s theoretical results. The urban heat island(UHI) was investigated imposing heat source in the region of large roughness elements. An elevated inversion layer, a phenomenon often observed in the urban area (Sang et al., J Wind Eng. Ind. Aesodyn. 87, 243-258)'s was successfully simulated above the canopy. The cool island(CI) was also investigated imposing heat sink to simply model the evaporation of plant canopy. An inversion layer was found very stable and robust within the canopy.

Gamma -> Epsilon Martensite Transformation and Twinning Deformation in fcc Cobalt During Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment

The deformation microstructure of face-centered cubic cobalt subjected to surface mechanical attrition treatment was studied as a function of strain levels. Strain-induced gamma --> epsilon transformation and twinning deformation were evidenced by transmission electron microscopy and were found to progress continuously in ultrafine and nanocrystalline grains as the strain increased.

3D thermo-electro-mechanical simulations of gas sensors based on SOI membranes

3D thermo-electro-mechanical device simulations are presented of a novel fully CMOS-compatible MOSFET gas sensor operating in a SOI membrane. A comprehensive stress analysis of a Si-SiO2-based multilayer membrane has been performed to ensure a high degree of mechanical reliability at a high operating temperature (e.g. up to 400°C). Moreover, optimisation of the layout dimensions of the SOI membrane, in particular the aspect ratio between the membrane length and membrane thickness, has been carried out to find the best trade-off between minimal device power consumption and acceptable mechanical stress.

Design and coupled-effect simulations of CMOS micro gas-sensors built on SOI thin membranes

This paper describes coupled-effect simulations of smart micro gas-sensors based on standard BiCMOS technology. The smart sensor features very low power consumption, high sensitivity and potential low fabrication cost achieved through full CMOS integration. For the first time the micro heaters are made of active CMOS elements (i.e. MOSFET transistors) and embedded in a thin SOI membrane consisting of Si and SiO2 thin layers. Micro gas-sensors such as chemoresistive, microcalorimeteric and Pd/polymer gate FET sensors can be made using this technology. Full numerical analyses including 3D electro-thermo-mechanical simulations, in particular stress and deflection studies on the SOI membranes are presented. The transducer circuit design and the post-CMOS fabrication process, which includes single sided back-etching, are also reported.

Multiscale Coupling in Complex Mechanical Systems

Multiscale coupling attracts broad interests from mechanics, physics and chemistry to biology. The diversity and coupling of physics at different scales are two essential features of multiscale problems in far-from-equilibrium systems. The two features present fundamental difficulties and are great challenges to multiscale modeling and simulation. The theory of dynamical system and statistical mechanics provide fundamental tools for the multiscale coupling problems. The paper presents some closed multiscale formulations, e.g., the mapping closure approximation, multiscale large-eddy simulation and statistical mesoscopic damage mechanics, for two typical multiscale coupling problems in mechanics, that is, turbulence in fluids and failure in solids. It is pointed that developing a tractable, closed nonequilibrium statistical theory may be an effective approach to deal with the multiscale coupling problems. Some common characteristics of the statistical theory are discussed.

Relationships Between Initial Unloading Slope, Contact Depth, and Mechanical Properties for Conical Indentation in Linear Viscoelastic Solids

Using analytical and finite element modeling, we examine the relationships between initial unloading slope, contact depth, and mechanical properties for spherical indentation in viscoelastic solids with either displacement or load as the independent variable. We then investigate whether the Oliver-Pharr method for determining the contact depth and contact radius, originally proposed for indentation in elastic and elastic-plastic solids, is applicable to spherical indentation in viscoelastic solids. Finally, the analytical and numerical results are used to answer questions raised in recent literature about measuring viscoelastic properties from instrumented spherical indentation experiments.