Mechanical Loss Measurements Research Articles

Nondestructive analysis of solute carbon in the ferrite phase in dual-phase steels containing Mn or Si by mechanical loss measurements

As a development of an earlier attempt to determine the concentration of mobile carbon atoms in the ferrite phase in dual-phase (DP, ferrite + martensite) steels by means of mechanical loss measurements, which was made on binary Fe-C alloys [Honda et al., Solid State Phenom. 184 (2012) 87–91], we have investigated effects of Mn and Si on the mechanical loss profiles, aiming at establishing a method for quantitatively evaluating the distribution of carbon in practical DP steels. First we re-examined the effects of Mn and Si on the relation between the strength of the Snoek relaxation and the concentration of carbon in iron by measuring the mechanical loss of solution-treated, single-phase ferrite samples of dilute Fe-Mn-C and Fe-Si-C alloys. We then measured mechanical loss of ferrite + martensite two-phase alloys of various carbon contents, after equilibrating at a temperature where the material consists of ferrite and austenite, and then quenching. The concentrations of carbon in solution in the ferrite phase can be estimated from the observed magnitude of the Snoek relaxation peak, using the linear relation obtained in the first set of experiments, and correcting for the volume fraction of the ferrite phase. These estimates agree reasonably well with those expected from the compositions expected from the ternary phase diagrams, as in the previous case of simple Fe-C alloys. This renders the basis for determining the carbon concentration in the ferrite phase by measuring mechanical loss of DP steels with alloying elements. As another development, the properties of the characteristic mechanical loss due to the martensite phase have been studied. The mechanical loss, which steadily increase above room temperature, turned out to exhibit a maximum at 480–500 K. It is found to be a thermally activated relaxation, with the following parameters of the relaxation time: pre-exponential factor τ0 ≃ 10−14 s and activation energy E ≃ 1.2 eV. However, its magnitude does not show a simple linear relation with the carbon content, unlike the case of the Snoek relaxation in ferrite.

Structural tunability and origin of two-level systems in amorphous silicon

Amorphous silicon films prepared by electron beam evaporation have systematically and substantially greater atomic density for higher thickness, higher growth temperature, and slower deposition rate, reaching the density of crystalline Si when films of thickness greater than ~300 nm are grown at 425 $^{\circ}$C and at <1 $\r{A}$/sec. A combination of spectroscopic techniques provide insight into atomic disorder, local strains, dangling bonds, and nanovoids. Electron diffraction shows that the short-range order of the amorphous silicon is similar at all growth temperatures, but fluctuation electron microscopy shows that films grown above room-temperature show a form of medium-range order not previously observed in amorphous silicon. Atomic disorder and local strain obtained from Raman spectroscopy reduce with increasing growth temperature and show a non-monotonic dependence on thickness. Dangling bond density decreases with increasing growth temperature and is only mildly dependent on thickness. Positron annihilation Doppler broadening spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy show that nanovoids, and not density variations within the network, are responsible for reduced atomic density. Specific heat and mechanical loss measurements, which quantify the density of tunneling two-level systems, in combination with the structural data, suggest that two-level systems in amorphous silicon films are associated with nanovoids and their surroundings; which are in essence loosely bonded regions where atoms are less constrained.

A Methodology to Measure Power Losses of Rolling Element Bearings under Combined Radial and Axial Loading Conditions

In this study, an experimental methodology is presented for measuring power losses of rolling element bearings under combined radial and axial loading conditions. The setup developed for this purpose consists of a pair of test bearings and another pair of center bearings whose function is to transmit the radial load to the test bearings. The center bearings are isolated from any axial load that is carried by the test bearings. The proposed methodology relies on a family of separate measurements to (1) remove center bearing losses from the losses of the test bearings and (2) separate load-independent (spin) and load-dependent (mechanical) components of power losses of the test bearings. The setup includes a precise lubricant delivery system that controls flow rate and temperature of oil supplied to each test and center bearing individually. Because the bulk temperatures of bearings tested impact the measured power losses significantly, a heat management system is implemented to maintain the bearing bulk temperatures at the same value as the set levels of the oil inlet temperature. The methodology is demonstrated on two deep-groove ball bearings of different sizes, considering wide ranges of axial and radial forces, rotational speed, oil flow rate, and oil inlet temperature (oil viscosity). The influence of bearing bulk temperatures on power loss measurements is demonstrated as well as the repeatability of the proposed methodology. Furthermore, spin and mechanical loss measurements are compared to a widely used calculation method to assess their accuracy.

Origin of mechanical and dielectric losses from two-level systems in amorphous silicon

Amorphous silicon contains tunneling two-level systems, which are the dominant energy loss mechanisms for amorphous solids at low temperatures. These two-level systems affect both mechanical and electromagnetic oscillators and are believed to produce thermal and electromagnetic noise and energy loss. However, it is unclear whether the two-level systems that dominate mechanical and dielectric losses are the same; the former relies on phonon-TLS coupling, with an elastic field coupling constant, $\gamma$, while the latter depends on a TLS dipole moment, $p_0$, which couples to the electromagnetic field. Mechanical and dielectric loss measurements as well as structural characterization were performed on amorphous silicon thin films grown by electron beam deposition with a range of growth parameters. Samples grown at 425 $^{\circ}$C show a large reduction of mechanical loss (34 times) and a far smaller reduction of dielectric loss (2.3 times) compared to those grown at room temperature. Additionally, mechanical loss shows lower loss per unit volume for thicker films, while dielectric loss shows lower loss per unit volume for thinner films. Analysis of these results indicate that mechanical loss correlates with atomic density, while dielectric loss correlates with dangling bond density, suggesting a different origin for these two energy dissipation processes in amorphous silicon.

Influence of organic UV absorber on the accelerated weathering stability of UV curing coating based on acrylate urethane resin

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the photoprotective efficiency of organic UV absorber Tinuvin 384 (T384) on the photocurable acrylate urethane coating under the accelerated weathering condition. The coatings without and with 2 wt.% T384 were examined by UV/CON accelerated weathering testing device. The aging of the coatings was assessed by IR and FE‐SEM analysis as well as the measurement of mechanical and weight loss. The obtained results showed that due to the photoprotection of T384, the urethane acrylate coating was stable under the effect of accelerated weathering factors. After 48 cycles of aging, the CH and CNH groups, the abrasion resistance and the weight of the paint films containing 2 wt.% T384 were slightly decreased. Its surface was damaged just a little, while that of the coating without T384 was severely degraded.

Measurement of mechanical losses in the carbon nanotube black coating of silicon wafers

The successful detection of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources carried out by the laser interferometric detectors LIGO and Virgo have stimulated scientists to develop a new generation of more sensitive gravitational wave detectors. In the proposed upgrade called LIGO Voyager, silicon test masses will be cooled to cryogenic temperatures. To provide heat removal from the test masses when they absorb the laser light one can increase their thermal emissivity using a special black coating. We have studied mechanical losses in a carbon nanotube black coating deposited on silicon wafers. The additional thermal noise associated with mechanical loss in this coating was calculated using a value of the product of the coating Young’s modulus and the coating mechanical loss angle determined from the measurements. It was found that at temperatures of about 123 K, the additional thermal noise of the LIGO Voyager test mass caused by the carbon nanotube black coating deposited on its barrel is less than the noise associated with the Acktar Black coating and is 20 times less than the noise due to the optical high reflective (HR) coating of the test mass.

Fabrication of SiO2 microcantilever arrays for mechanical loss measurements

The sensitivity of high-precision measurements is crucially affected by the mechanical losses of the involved materials. In systems incorporating highly reflective elements based on amorphous Bragg reflectors, the mechanical losses of the coating materials have to be minimized. In this contribution, we report on the detailed fabrication of SiO2 microcantilever arrays to study such mechanical losses. The fabrication steps, consisting of pattern transfer, anisotropic and isotropic dry etching, have been optimized to be employed on both thermally grown and sputtered SiO2 samples. The cantilevers released from the Si substrate show a deviation of only 2% from the design, confirming a high selectivity of the etching processes. The mechanical loss measurements of the cantilevers are carried out using a laser-based optical setup, revealing a mechanical loss of 1.2 × 10−3.

Measurement of Mechanical Loss in Linear Compressor

Measurement of Mechanical Loss in Linear Compressor

Measurement of mechanical loss in the Acktar Black coating of silicon wafers

Some proposed interferometric gravitational wave detectors of the next generation are designed to use silicon test masses cooled to cryogenic temperatures. The test masses will need to be partially coated with high emissivity coating to provide sufficient cooling when they absorb the laser light. The mechanical loss of the Acktar Black coating is determined based on the measurements of the Q-factors of the bending vibration modes of coated and uncoated commercial silicon wafers. The Young's modulus of the coating material is determined using nanoindentation. We use this information to calculate thermal noise of the silicon test masses associated with a high emissivity coating on its lateral side (barrel). It is found that such a coating results in a less than 9% increase of the total strain noise of LIGO Voyager design for a future cryogenic gravitational wave detector.

Order, disorder and mixing: The atomic structure of amorphous mixtures of titania and tantala

The atomic structure of mixtures of titania (TiO2) and tantala (Ta2O5) ion-beam sputtered amorphous thin film coatings at various post-deposition annealing temperatures have been studied using Ta LIII and Ti K edge Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS). The results indicate that post-deposition annealing produces subtle changes in the short range order (<1nm) for samples which remain amorphous. We also show that titania–tantala mixtures maintain a structure similar to that of pure tantala, with the titanium atoms preferring to sit at the second shell distance, which is similar to the Ta–Ta distance seen in the pure tantala structure. A discussion is also included on interpretation of the general trends identified in the EXAFS data and how this relates to previous and ongoing studies of the structure and mechanical loss measurements of titania–tantala coatings.

Mechanical Spectroscopy Of Bearing Steel

Abstract This study presents mechanical spectroscopy of bearing steel subjected to different heat treatments. A non-thermally activated maximum, P1, was found at 130°C, in quenched martensitic samples, which were austenitized at 1050°C and 860°C, and presented twin martensite microstructures. It is suggested that the mechanism of the P1 maximum, observed on the low-temperature side of Snoek-Köster peak, is related to the change of defect configurations in twinned martensite assisted with high mobility of the solute carbon atoms under an external harmonic stress field applied during mechanical loss measurements.

Development Of High-Resolution Mechanical Spectroscopy, HRMS: Status And Perspectives. HRMS Coupled With A Laser Dilatometer

Abstract Recent achievements in the development of low-frequency high-resolution mechanical spectroscopy (HRMS) are briefly reported. It is demonstrated that extremely low values of the loss angle, ϕ, (tanϕb = 1×10−5) can be measured as a function of frequency, and the precision in estimation of the dynamic modulus is better than 1×10−5 in arbitrary units. Three conditions must be fulfilled to obtain high resolution in subresonant and resonant mechanical loss measurements: (1) noise in stress and elastic strain signals must be lower than 70 dB, (2) high quality of stress and strain signals must be tested both in the frequency- and time-domains, and (3) the estimation of the mechanical loss and modulus must be verified by at least two different computing methods operating in the frequency- and time-domains. It is concluded that phase measurements in the subresonant domain are no longer determined by precision in estimation of the loss angle. Recent developments in high-resolution resonant mechanical loss measurements stem from the application of advanced nonparametric and parametric computing methods and algorithms to estimate the logarithmic decrement and the elastic modulus from exponentially damped free decaying oscillations embedded in experimental noise. It is emphasized that HRMS takes into account the presence of noise in the stress and strain signals, which has not yet been addressed in the literature. The coupling of a low-frequency mechanical spectrometer with an in-situ laser dilatometer is suggested as a new perspective research area in Materials Science.

Hilbert-Twin – A Novel Hilbert Transform-Based Method To Compute Envelope Of Free Decaying Oscillations Embedded In Noise, And The Logarithmic Decrement In High-Resolution Mechanical Spectroscopy HRMS

Abstract In this work, we present a novel Hilbert-twin method to compute an envelope and the logarithmic decrement, δ, from exponentially damped time-invariant harmonic strain signals embedded in noise. The results obtained from five computing methods: (1) the parametric OMI (Optimization in Multiple Intervals) method, two interpolated discrete Fourier transform-based (IpDFT) methods: (2) the Yoshida-Magalas (YM) method and (3) the classic Yoshida (Y) method, (4) the novel Hilbert-twin (H-twin) method based on the Hilbert transform, and (5) the conventional Hilbert transform (HT) method are analyzed and compared. The fundamental feature of the Hilbert-twin method is the efficient elimination of intrinsic asymmetrical oscillations of the envelope, aHT (t), obtained from the discrete Hilbert transform of analyzed signals. Excellent performance in estimation of the logarithmic decrement from the Hilbert-twin method is comparable to that of the OMI and YM for the low- and high-damping levels. The Hilbert-twin method proved to be robust and effective in computing the logarithmic decrement and the resonant frequency of exponentially damped free decaying signals embedded in experimental noise. The Hilbert-twin method is also appropriate to detect nonlinearities in mechanical loss measurements of metals and alloys.

Grain boundary relaxation in yellow gold bi-crystals

The mechanical loss spectrum of a yellow gold bi-crystal is presented and analyzed in detail. The relaxation strength is monitored as a function of several geometrical parameters such as sample width, length and thickness. It is found that the relaxation strength is proportional to the GB density (the inverse width), whereas it depends linearly on the sample thickness. The experimental findings are compared to finite elements (FE) simulations, where the material can glide frictionless along the grain boundary. The simulations show the same dependencies as the mechanical loss measurements. The relaxation peak in the loss spectrum can be interpreted as due to GB sliding accommodated by the elastic deformation of the grains.

High temperature internal friction measurements of 3YTZP zirconia polycrystals. High temperature background and creep

Abstract This work focuses on the high-temperature mechanic properties of a 3 mol% yttria zirconia polycrystals (3YTZP), fabricated by hot-pressureless sintering. Systematic measurements of mechanical loss as a function of temperature and frequency were performed. An analytical method, based on the generalized Maxwell rheological model, has been used to analyze the high temperature internal friction background (HTB). This method has been previously applied to intermetallic compounds but never to ceramics, except in a preliminary study performed on fine grain and nano-crystalline zirconia. The HTB increases exponentially and its analysis provides an apparent activation enthalpy which correlates well with that obtained from creep experiments. This fact shows on the one hand the plausibility of applying the generalized Maxwell model to ceramics, and on the other hand indicates the possibility of using mechanical spectroscopy as a complementary helpful technique to investigate the high temperature deformation mechanism of materials.

Measurements of mechanical thermal noise and energy dissipation in optical dielectric coatings

In recent years, an increasing number of devices and experiments are shown to be limited by mechanical thermal noise. In particular, subhertz laser frequency stabilization and gravitational wave detectors that are able to measure fluctuations of ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}18}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{m}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ or less are being limited by thermal noise in the dielectric coatings deposited on mirrors. In this paper, we present a new measurement of thermal noise in low absorption dielectric coatings deposited on microcantilevers, and we compare it with the results obtained from the mechanical loss measurements. The coating thermal noise is measured on the widest range of frequencies with the highest signal-to-noise ratio ever achieved. In addition, we present a novel technique to deduce the coating mechanical losses from the measurement of the mechanical quality factor which does not rely on the knowledge of the coating and substrate Young's moduli. The dielectric coatings are deposited by ion beam sputtering. The results presented here give a frequency-independent loss angle of $(4.7\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$ with a Young's modulus of 118 GPa for annealed tantala from 10 Hz to 20 kHz. For as-deposited silica, a weak frequency dependence ($\ensuremath{\propto}{f}^{\ensuremath{-}0.025}$) is observed in this frequency range, with a Young's modulus of 70 GPa and an internal damping of $(6.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$ at 16 kHz, but this value decreases by one order of magnitude after annealing, and the frequency dependence disappears.

Enhanced characteristics of fused silica fibers using laser polishing

The search for gravitational wave signals from astrophysical sources has led to the current work to upgrade the two largest of the long-baseline laser interferometers, the LIGO detectors. The first fused silica mirror suspensions for the Advanced LIGO gravitational wave detectors have been installed at the LIGO Hanford and Livingston sites. These quadruple pendulums use synthetic fused silica fibers produced using a CO2 laser pulling machine to reduce thermal noise in the final suspension stage. The suspension thermal noise in Advanced LIGO is predicted to be limited by internal damping in the surface layer of the fibers, damping in the weld regions, and the strength of the fibers. We present here a new method for increasing the fracture strength of fused silica fibers by laser polishing of the stock material from which they are produced. We also show measurements of mechanical loss in laser polished fibers, showing a reduction of 30% in internal damping in the surface layer.

Cryogenic measurements of mechanical loss of high-reflectivity coating and estimation of thermal noise

We report on low-frequency measurements of the mechanical loss of a high-quality (transmissivity T<5 ppm at λ(0)=1064 nm, absorption loss <0.5 ppm) multilayer dielectric coating of ion-beam-sputtered fused silica and titanium-doped tantala in the 10-300 K temperature range. A useful parameter for the computation of coating thermal noise on different substrates is derived as a function of temperature and frequency.

Quantitative Analysis of Carbon in Ferrite in Dual-Phase Steels by Mechanical Loss Measurements

To establish the method for determining the amount of carbon in the ferrite phase in ferrite + martensite dual-phase low-alloy steels, mechanical loss measurements have been performed on a series of Fe–C alloys with varying constitution. The observed mechanical loss spectra of two-phase alloys turned out to be simple superposition of those of single phase alloys, of ferrite and of martensite. The concentrations of carbon in solution evaluated from the magnitude of the Snoek relaxation in the two-phase alloys agree well with those expected from the Fe–C phase diagram. It is thus possible to selectively analyse the carbon dissolved in the ferrite phase in the complex structure, at least in simple binary alloys.

Cryogenic mechanical loss measurements of heat-treated hafnium dioxide

Low mechanical loss, high index-of-refraction thin-film coating materials are of particular interest to the gravitational wave detection community, where reduced mirror coating thermal noise in gravitational wave detectors is desirable. Current studies are focused on understanding the loss of amorphous metal oxides such as SiO2, Ta2O5 and HfO2. Here, we report recent measurements of the temperature dependence of the mechanical loss of ion-beam sputtered hafnium dioxide (HfO2) coatings that have undergone heat treatment. The results indicate that, even when partially crystallized, these coatings have lower loss than amorphous Ta2O5 films below ∼100 K and that their loss exhibits some features which are heat-treatment dependent in the temperature range of ∼100–200 K, with higher heat treatment yielding lower mechanical loss. The potential for using silica doping of hafnia coatings to prevent crystallization is discussed.