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Analysis of the Elastic Modulus of a Thin Polymer Film
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
Abstract
This paper discusses the interaction between mechanical properties of a thin layer and those of its substrate. The underlined questions are: how the substrate's mechanical properties affect those of the film; how the layer's thickness affects its mechanical properties. Nanoindentation tests were performed on polymer films of different thicknesses deposited onto a silica substrate. The mechanical response of such a system is known to be a composite response (film+substrate). Our aim is to understand the elastic behavior of the film inside this structure.
Model was used to estimate the elastic modulus of the film from the global measured value. For thin and “compliant” polymer layers deposited on “hard” substrates, an increase of the film elastic modulus was observed along indentation. We attribute this increase to the “anvil effect”: the bulk elastic modulus increases with the hydrostatic pressure which results from the compression of the film. In conclusion, one first interpretation is proposed to understand specific behavior of thin soft polymer layers on rigid substrates.
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- Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002
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