Writing Assignment #1
- Pralav Shetty
Summary:
Plastic yielding measurements of micron-sized single metallic crystals of Ni,
Ni3Al-Ta, and Ni superalloy have been reported in this manuscript. It was
found that reducing the external dimensions of the sample reduces internal
features available for plastic processes. This leads to dramatic size effects for
large scale samples in comparison to the micron-sized samples analyzed.
Consequently the importance of defining both the external geometry and
internal structure prior to characterizing the strength of a material has been
suggested.
Internal size-scale effects in metals have been well studied and exploited in
industry to enhance mechanical properties. However, the effect of changing
external dimensions has been overlooked. This study focusses on external
size effects on the nanometer to submillimeter regime where most
mechanisms that dictate plastic yielding like dislocation multiplication and
pinning lie. This helps in the functional design of modern day micron-sized
equipment through better property control.
The evolution of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) plays a key role
in understanding plastic strain gradients in a material. Previous studies have
failed to address fundamental deformation mechanisms associated with
reduction in the dimensions of the volume being deformed. It has been
proposed that a better understanding of this size-dependence may be
developed by minimizing deformation strain gradients by limiting the GND
density.
In this study a novel test method to explore size-scale effects in bulk
inorganic materials has been developed through the implementation of a FIB
and mechanical indenter. Compression samples of varying diameters and
aspect ratios were prepared for the three metals and tested at prescribed
strain rates.
In the Ni compression testing single slip was observed. The stress-strain
curve for 20-40 micron diameter samples displayed yield strength and work
hardening within 30% of millimeter specimens. 5 and 10 micron samples
showed a large strain burst in their stress-strain behavior. Further imaging of
the micron samples showed that they have fewer but more active slip bands.
This behavior was in between that of bulk materials and whiskers (no
dislocations).
Ni3Al-Ta displayed anomalous strength with temperature increase. It also
displayed a dramatic size effect with much higher flow stresses than bulk
materials. Ni superalloy 10 micron samples matched bulk behavior. This is
supposedly due to analogous hardening mechanisms present at both length
scales.
Relevance to class:
This paper helps build understanding on the change in mechanical properties
when both external dimensions and internal features of samples are reduced.
It also talks about GND reduction to better understand external size-scale
effects in materials. It gives a deeper insight into plastic yielding
mechanisms in micro-scale specimens. The paper also talks about the role of
dislocation motion and dislocation kinetics in anomalous strength behavior of
Ni3Al-Ta. Characteristic work-hardening effects observed in the stress-strain
curve for Ni3Al-Ta have also been discussed. It also emphasizes size
dependent strengthening analogous to Hall-Petch due to square root
relationship as discussed in class. Finally the Ni superalloy takes advantage
of solid-solution strengthening which has been extensively discussed.
Suggested improvements:
The authors could perform similar tension and bending tests to check for
validity of their results. They could also conduct micromechanical simulations
based on known geometry and structure to check for theoretical agreement.
Finally, providing more details on how stress-strain information was
measured would help to test the repeatability of this study.
Suggested future work:
The authors may study the effect of changing the sample processing (eg.
electrodeposition) on properties of the samples. They could also undertake
in-situ studies to better observe failure mechanisms. Finally testing
nanoscale samples could benefit the fabrication of next generation devices.
