A method for measuring the contact area in instrumented indentation testing by tip scanning probe microscopy imaging

The determination of the contact area is a key step to derive mechanical properties such as hardness or an elastic modulus by instrumented indentation testing. Two families of procedures are dedicated to extracting this area: on the one hand, post mortem measurements that require residual imprint imaging, and on the other hand, direct methods that only rely on the load vs. the penetration depth curve. With the development of built-in scanning probe microscopy imaging capabilities such as atomic force microscopy and indentation tip scanning probe microscopy, last generation indentation devices have made systematic residual imprint imaging much faster and more reliable. In this paper, a new post mortem method is introduced and further compared to three existing classical direct methods by means of a numerical and experimental benchmark covering a large range of materials. It is shown that the new method systematically leads to lower error levels regardless of the type of material. Pros and cons of the new method vs. direct methods are also discussed, demonstrating its efficiency in easily extracting mechanical properties with an enhanced confidence

On the deformation morphology of bulk metallic glasses underneath a Vickers indentation

16th International Symposium on Metastable, Amorphous and Nanostructured Materials, Beijing, PEOPLES R CHINA, JUL 05-09, 2009International audienceThe techniques commonly used for observing the deformation mechanisms underneath a Vickers indentation in metallic glasses (chemical etching, bonded interface) induce artefacts such as cracks or semi-circular shear-bands. We propose an alternative technique based on the propagation of indentation corner cracks through a pre-existing imprint, which is possible in metallic glasses such as iron-based compositions. With this procedure, only radial shear-bands are observed. Comparisons between the chemical etching or the bonded interface techniques and the new technique are made. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Pressure sensitivity of plasticity in metallic glasses below glass transition: a literature review

International audienceThis paper deals with the pressure dependence of plasticity in metallic glasses below glass transition. Recent results indicate that some metallic glasses have such a dependence and that it increases with temperature (Keryvin et al., Phil. Mag., 88, 1773, 2008). We investigate the possibility that such a situation could be a common feature for all metallic glasses by performing a literature review. Results indicate that it is not straightforward to draw decisive conclusions

Approche expérimentale et numérique de la plasticité des verres métalliques massifs

Les verres métalliques massifs (VMM) sont de nouveaux matériaux qui possèdent des propriétés mécaniques exceptionnelles, comme leur résistance mécanique, leur résilience, leur dureté ou leur ténacité ainsi qu’une grande déformation élastique. Pour concevoir de nouvelles compositions de verres métalliques plus résistants et plus ductiles, une parfaite compréhension des mécanismes de déformation, d’endommagement et de rupture est nécessaire. La prédiction numérique du comportement de ces matériaux nécessite une modélisation avancée. L’étude de la déformation plastique (sous forme de bandes de cisaillement localisées), la prise en compte des effets de la température, de la vitesse et de la pression sont des paramètres nécessaires. Dans les travaux présentés ici, des essais multiaxiaux et hétérogènes sont utilisés pour étudier la plasticité dans les verres métalliques massifs. Les essais de compression diamétrale et d'indentation réalisés permettent d'obtenir des trajets de chargement et des taux de triaxialité très différents. En plus des informations de force et de déplacement sur ces essais, l'attention a été portée sur l'obtention des champs de déplacement dans la zone d'intérêt pour l'essai de compression diamétrale, en utilisant un dispositif de corrélation d'images. Pour reproduire le comportement des VMM, plusieurs modèles constitutifs sont étudiés : les modèles de Mises (plasticité déviatorique) et Drucker Prager (dépendance à la pression) ainsi que les modèles de Gao et Anand et Su (dédiés aux métaux amorphes). Ces modèles sont utilisés dans le code de calcul par éléments finis Abaqus. A travers de multiples identifications sur les coefficients décrivant la plasticité des VMM, les performances de ces modèles sont évaluées et ils sont alors comparés aux résultats expérimentaux obtenus

High temperature elasticity and viscosity of GexSe1-x glasses in the transition range

International audienceThe viscous-flow behavior and temperature dependence of the elastic moduli of chalcogenide glasses from the germanium-selenium system were studied by means of homemade high-temperature indentation setup and resonant-frequency technique (1-10 kHz), respectively, for temperatures between 0.8 and 1.2×Tg. The softening rates, both in the elastic and in the viscous-flow regimes, were correlated to network destructuration or reorganization events in the light of previously reported high-temperature neutron-scattering data. The concomitant change of Poisson's ratio (ν) and the thermodynamic parameters of the thermally activated viscous-flow process were characterized and provide a new basis for the understanding of the sources for the softening in the transition range. The temperature dependence of ν suggests weak changes of the network cross-linking degree at large Ge contents. On the contrary, in the case of a-Se, a steep fragmentation of the structural units is inferred from the ν(T) data, and the flow process is accompanied by a huge entropy change (activation entropy at saddle point). The entropy contribution at Tg (Tg ×dSa) represents more than 50% of the activation enthalpy for flow (dHa) and increases with the selenium content. Hence the free activation energy (dGa) is much smaller than apparent activation energy as derived from viscosity data

Elastic properties and surface damage resistance of nitrogen-rich (Ca,Sr)-Si-O-N glasses

International audienceCa and Sr-based oxynitride glasses with very high nitrogen content have been synthesized using metal hydrides as primary precursors. Values of Young's modulus, shear modulus, bulk modulus and Poisson's ratio were determined by means of ultrasonic echography. Vickers micro-indentation has been used to characterize hardness and indentation fracture toughness behaviour. Elastic moduli were found to increase linearly with nitrogen content, with the highest value of Young's modulus at 135 GPa, for a Ca-glass with 58 e/o of nitrogen. The Sr-glasses exhibit lower elastic moduli than Ca glasses. Poisson's ratio, hardness, indentation fracture toughness, crack initiation load and surface damage resistance were found to increase with increasing nitrogen content for both glass series. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Multi-mechanism modeling of amorphous polymers

International audienceThe paper is devoted to a multi-mechanism (MM) model for the mechanical behavior of amorphous glassy polymers. A finite strain formulation through updated Lagrangian formalisms is used. In the proposed phenomenological model, three mechanisms are respectively associated to three physical regimes of plastic deformation. The model was successful in describing the stress-strain behavior of glassy polymers for different strain rates and range of temperatures. The description of the three regions observed in the monotonic stress-strain curves is obtained through a coupling matrix between the isotropic hardening variables. A modular strategy based on the determination of the material parameters in three steps is proposed

Photoinduced fluidity in chalcogenide glasses at low and high intensities: A model accounting for photon efficiency

International audienceDetailed measurements of photoinduced fluidity in Ge-Se glasses were performed using a novel shear relaxation test in torsion mode. It is shown that photofluidity is significant even at a very low intensity and that there is no apparent threshold for activating the photostructural processes. Instead, the mechanism of photofluidity is described as a cumulative process involving photoinduced motions of every atom within the irradiated volume. Based on this assumption, a model is proposed, which is shown to accurately predict the power and wavelength dependence of photofluidity using a single fitting parameter n. The factor n represents the photon efficiency for inducing an atomic motion. Photofluidity experiments performed on glass fibers of various mean coordination number indicate that the process is rapidly reduced in overconstrained glasses. The values of n obtained for these glasses correlate remarkably well with the mean coordination dependence of other photostructural changes (photodarkening, photoexpansion). This indicates that the model is physically sound. Moreover, the model is shown to quantitatively describe photofluidity data from other glass systems from literature, therefore suggesting that it could be universally applied to all chalcogenide glasses

A relationship between non-exponential stress relaxation and delayed elasticity in the viscoelastic process in amorphous solids: Illustration on a chalcogenide glass

International audienceInorganic glasses are viscoelastic materials since they exhibit, below as well as above their glass transition temperature, a viscoelas-tic deformation under stress, which can be decomposed into a sum of an elastic part, an inelastic (or viscous) part and a delayed elastic part. The delayed elastic part is responsible for the non-linear primary creep stage observed during creep tests. During a stress relaxation test, the strain, imposed, is initially fully elastic, but is transformed, as the stress relaxes, into an inelastic and a delayed elastic strains. For linear viscoelastic materials, if the stress relaxation function can be fitted by a stretched exponential function, the evolution of each part of the strain can be predicted using the Boltzmann superposition principle. We develop here the equations of these evolutions, and we illustrate their accuracy by comparing them with experimental evolutions measured on GeSe 9 glass fibers. We illustrate also, by simple equations, the relationship between any kind of relaxation function based on additive contribution of different relaxation processes and the delayed elastic contribution to stress relaxation: the delayed elasticity is directly correlated to the dispersion of relaxations times of the processes involved during relaxation