Thermomechanical method in application to measurement of changes in stress states in substrate-PVD coating systems

Abstract

Thermomechanical test methods with temperature modulation (MT TMA) are increasingly used to measure a number of useful properties of materials, e.g. rheological properties of polymers. This is due to the possibility of measuring thermal effects with very high resolution. The article describes and verifies a new possibility of implementing, using this method, diagnostic task, consisting in the measurement of changes in mechanical stress states in PVD thin-film systems under the influence of thermal energy. The present paper provides a description of the measurement method and a set of results of diagnostic test, performed with its use, for the thermal stability of stresses in the substrate-coating system samples. The obtained results were also compared with the results of tests carried out using other “traditional” methods and with the results of operational tests of tools with modified, involving the same coatings, working surfaces. The results document a complete applicability of the method developed.