Abstract
Because of a lack of available miniaturized multiaxial load sensors to measure the normal load and the lateral load simultaneously, quantitative in situ scratch devices inside scanning electron microscopes and the transmission electron microscopes have barely been developed up to now. A novel two-axis load sensor was designed in this paper. With an I-shaped structure, the sensor has the function of measuring the lateral load and the normal load simultaneously, and at the same time it has compact dimensions. Finite element simulations were carried out to evaluate stiffness and modal characteristics. A decoupling algorithm was proposed to resolve the cross-coupling between the two-axis loads. Natural frequency of the sensor was tested. Linearity and decoupling parameters were obtained from the calibration experiments, which indicate that the sensor has good linearity and the cross-coupling between the two axes is not strong. Via the decoupling algorithm and the corresponding decoupling parameters, simultaneous measurement of the lateral load and the normal load can be realized via the developed two-axis load sensor. Preliminary applications of the load sensor for scratch testing indicate that the load sensor can work well during the scratch testing. Taking advantage of the compact structure, it has the potential ability for applications in quantitative in situ scratch testing inside SEMs.
Highlights
In recent years, indentation testing and scratch testing have been very important methods to characterize the mechanical properties of materials, especially for micro/nano materials and structures, thin films and coatings, and they have been widely used in the fields of material science, semiconductors, nanotechnology, biomechanics and so on [1,2,3,4,5]
A decoupling algorithm was proposed to resolve the cross-coupling between the two axes
Reasons may be as follows: (1) the manufacturing error leads to dimensional errors between the analysis model and the prototype; (2) parameters used for simulation may be different from the actual materials; (3) the additional mass coming from the acceleration sensor and electrical wires is relatively large compared with the mass of the two-axis load sensor
Summary
Indentation testing and scratch testing have been very important methods to characterize the mechanical properties of materials, especially for micro/nano materials and structures, thin films and coatings, and they have been widely used in the fields of material science, semiconductors, nanotechnology, biomechanics and so on [1,2,3,4,5]. By applying normal loads on the surface of materials, indentation testing is mainly used to evaluate mechanical properties of materials such as hardness and elastic modulus [6]. Quantitative in situ SEM and TEM indentation devices have been presented by researchers and some of them can carry out in situ scratch testing inside the SEM qualitatively [14,18]. The quantitative in situ scratch device inside the SEM and TEM is seldom discussed because of a lack of available miniaturized multiaxial load sensors to measure the normal load and the lateral load synchronously. The sensor has the potential application for in situ scratch testing inside the SEM because of the compact structure
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