Experimental Investigation of Plastic Strain Recovery and Creep in Nanocrystalline Copper Thin Films

Abstract

Nanocrystalline metals exhibit a phenomenon called plastic strain recovery whereby plastic strain introduced through a load cycle is gradually recovered under no external loading over a time period of hours and days. In this study, we experimentally explore the diffusive mechanisms and the strain rates for nanocrystalline thin films of copper with an average grain size of about 35 nm during plastic strain recovery and creep. The experiments are performed via the plane strain bulge test and the thin film samples are deposited using thermal evaporation and sputtering. The specimens recover their residual strain in a period of time with two characteristic strain rates, a transient strain recovery rate of the order of 10−7/s and a steady-state strain recovery rate of the order of 10−9/s and there is a characteristic time at which the transition occurs between the two rates. The results suggest that a diffusive mechanism in conjunction with voids within the nanocrystalline material can explain the two plastic strain recovery rates and the transition between the two.