We have extracted stress-strain field (SSF) gradient and divergence representations from nanoindentation data sets of bulk solids often used as thin film substrates: bearing and tooling steels, silicon, glasses, and fused silica. Oscillations of the stress-strain field gradient and divergence induced in the subsurface layer by the nanoindentation have been revealed. The oscillations are especially prominent in single indentation tests at shallow penetration depths, h<100 nm, whereas they are concealed in the averaged datasets of 10 and more single tests. The amplitude of the SSF divergence oscillations decays as a sublinear power-law when the indenter approaches deeper atomic layers, with an exponent -0.9 for the steel and -0.8 for the fused silica. The oscillations are interpreted as alternating strain hardening-softening plastic deformation cycles induced in the subsurface layer under the indenter load.
Nanoindentation is a widely-used method for sensitive exploration of the mechanical properties of micromechanical systems. We derive a simple empirical analysis technique to extract stress-strain field (SSF) gradient and divergence representations from nanoindentation data sets. Using this approach, local SSF gradients and structural heterogeneities can be discovered to obtain more detail about the sample's microstructure, thus enhancing the analytic capacity of the nanoindentation technique. We demonstrate the application of the SSF gradient-divergence analysis approach to nanoindentation measurements of bulk silicon.
Ceramic Nanostructured Superlattice Coatings (NSC) have broad applicability to improve the parts’ and assemblies’ tribological and mechanical properties for the needs of the automotive and aerospace industries. Improving the material properties using nanocoatings for such a widely used material as, for example, bearing steel 100Cr6 makes it possible to improve the service life of machine parts. In this paper, the correlation dependence between tribological and mechanical properties of the NSC and its surface texture are considered to determine how much surface texture will affect the tribological performance of the coated workpieces, as well as the measuring and evaluation procedure of the nanocoatings, are presented. Three different NSC described by a general empirical formula {TiMe1Me2-CN/TiAlSi-N}n and based on the modified carbonitride/nitride non-stoichiometric chemical composition were created, and their tribological and mechanical properties measured and analyzed in the context with surface texture. NSC deposited by the advanced PVD (Physical vapor deposition) technique demonstrated significantly higher wear resistance (up to 28 times), reasonably lower friction coefficient (CoF) (up to 4 times), and significantly higher hardness of the coated workpieces (up to 7 times) versus substrate material. A strong correlation between the steady-state dry sliding friction, CoF, and the amplitude and functional surface texture parameters of tribo-track were observed. The first results of the initiated research regarding the correlation analysis of the tribological and mechanical properties, on the one hand, and surface texture, on the other hand, of the NSC are reported here.
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