Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T03:30:05.959Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Experimental determination of the fracture toughness via microscratch tests: Application to polymers, ceramics, and metals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2012

Ange-Therese Akono ,
Nicholas X. Randall  and
Franz-Josef Ulm
Ange-Therese Akono
Affiliation:
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
Nicholas X. Randall
Affiliation:
CSM Instruments, Needham, Massachusetts 02494
Franz-Josef Ulm*
Affiliation:
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This article presents a novel microscratch technique for the determination of the fracture toughness of materials from scratch data. While acoustic emission and optical imaging devices provide quantitative evidence of fracture processes during scratch tests, the technique proposed here provides a quantitative means to assess the fracture toughness from the recorded forces and depth of penetration. We apply the proposed method to a large range of materials, from soft (polymers) to hard (metal), spanning fracture toughness values over more than two orders of magnitude. The fracture toughness values so obtained are in excellent agreement with toughness values obtained for the same materials by conventional fracture tests. The fact that the proposed microscratch technique is highly reproducible, almost nondestructive, and requires only small material volumes makes this technique a powerful tool for the assessment of fracture properties for microscale materials science and engineering applications.

Keywords

FractureToughnessNanoindentation
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , 28 January 2012 , pp. 485 - 493
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Anunmana, C., Anusavice, K.J., and Mecholsky, J.J. Jr.: Residual stress in glass: Indentation crack and fractography approaches. Dent. Mater. 25, 1453 (2009).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Harding, D.S., Oliver, W.C., and Pharr, G.M.: Cracking during nano indentation and its use in the measurement of fracture toughness. Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 356, 663 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Quinn, G.D. and Bradt, R.C.: On the Vickers indentation fracture toughness test. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 90, 673 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Widjaja, S., Yip, T.H., and Limarga, A.M.: Measurement of creep-induced localized residual stress in soda-lime glass using nano-indentation technique. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 318, 211 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.ASTM C1624-05, Standard Test Method for Adhesion Strength and Mechanical Failure Modes of Ceramic Coatings by Quantitative Single Point Scratch Testing.Google Scholar
6.Ollendorf, H. and Schneider, D.: A comparative study of adhesion test methods for hard coatings. Surf. Coat. Technol. 113, 86 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Wredenberg, F. and Larsson, P.L.: Scratch testing of metals and polymers: Experiments and numerics. Wear 266, 76 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.ASTM G-171 03, Standard Test Method for Scratch Hardness of Materials Using a Diamond Stylus.Google Scholar
9.Bard, R. and Ulm, F-J.: Scratch hardness strength solutions for cohesive–frictional materials. Int. J. Numer. Anal. Methods Geomech. (2010)., doi: 10.1002/nag.1008.Google Scholar
10.Barenblatt, G.I.: The mathematical theory of equilibrium cracks in brittle fracture. Adv. Appl. Mech. 7, 55 (1962).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Akono, A-T., Reis, P.M., and Ulm, F-J.: Scratching as a fracture process: From butter to steel. Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 204302 (2011).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Akono, A-T. and Ulm, F-J.: Fracture scaling relations for scratch tests of axisymmetric shape. J. Mech. Phys. Solids (2012). In press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Miller, M., Bobko, C., Vandamme, M., and Ulm, F-J.: Surface roughness criteria for cement paste nanoindentation. Cem. Concr. Res. 38, 467 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Randall, N.X., Favaro, G., and Frankel, C.H.: The effect of intrinsic parameters on the critical load as measured with the scratch test method. Surf. Coat. Technol. 137, 146 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Briscoe, B.J., Fiori, L., and Pelillo, E.: Nano-indentation of polymeric surfaces. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 31, 2395 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.VanLandingham, M.R., Juliano, T.F., and Hagon, M.J.: Measuring tip shape for instrumented indentation using atomic force microscopy. Meas. Sci. Technol. 16, 2173 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Hertzberg, R.W., Skibo, M.D., and Manson, J.A.: Fatigue crack propagation in polyacetal. J. Mater. Sci. 13, 1038 (1978).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Hill, A.J. and Agrawal, C.M.: Positron lifetime spectroscopy characterization of thermal history effects on polycarbonate. J. Mater. Sci. 25, 5036 (1990).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Bauccio, M.L.: ASM Metals Reference Book, 3rd ed.ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 1993).Google Scholar
20.Matthews, W.T.: Data Handbook for Metals (AMMRC MS73-6, U.S. Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center, Watertown, MA, 1973).Google Scholar
21.Akono, A-T. and Ulm, F-J.: Scratch test model for the determination of fracture toughness. Eng. Fract. Mech. 78, 334 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar