Abstract
For both single-phase and multiphase metallic materials, it is necessary to understand the mechanical behavior on the grain-size scale in detail to get information that is not obtainable from macro-scale mechanical characterizations. This paper presents a methodology for uniaxial tensile testing of micro-specimens isolated from a bulk material. The proposed concept of multiple parallel micro-tensile specimens at the tip of a macro-sized wedge reduces the alignment work and offers an easy way for specimen handling. The selection of site-specific specimens is based on detailed microstructural and crystallographic characterization. Three kinds of representative specimens are presented to illustrate the wide range of application of the methodology for a variety of materials. Accurate, reproducible measurement of force (2.5 μN resolution) and displacement (~10 nm resolution) is demonstrated, while accurate alignment (in-plane rotational and out-of-plane tilt misalignment of <0.2°) limits the stress due to bending to <0.2% of the imposed uni-axial stress. Combined with detailed material characterization on both sides of the micro-specimens, this method yields detailed insights into the micro-mechanics of bulk materials which is hard to obtain from traditional macro-mechanical tests.
Highlights
Multiphase materials are increasingly used in industry because the combination of different phases can yield a material with mechanical properties that exceed those of the individual phases, as e.g. typical for steels
The phases often influence each other during the fabrication process or even during storage and usage for some materials, which makes that the micro-mechanical behavior of the constituents different from that of a bulk material made of a single phase
Starting from the bulk material, first a wedge is prepared with a tip that ends in a straight knife edge
Summary
Multiphase materials are increasingly used in industry because the combination of different phases can yield a material with mechanical properties that exceed those of the individual phases, as e.g. typical for steels. The presence of multiple phases improves the overall mechanical response of materials for applications where traditionally conflicting properties are required, for example, high strength combined with good formability. The phases often influence each other during the fabrication process or even during storage and usage for some materials, which makes that the micro-mechanical behavior of the constituents different from that of a bulk material made of a single phase. The measured mechanical behavior of a macroscale specimen of a single phase material does not directly apply to the corresponding phase in the composite, which
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