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Nanoindentation of thin films: Simulations and experiments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Arun K. Nair ,
M.J. Cordill ,
Diana Farkas  and
W.W. Gerberich
Arun K. Nair
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
M.J. Cordill
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering/Materials Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
Diana Farkas*
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
W.W. Gerberich
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering/Materials Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
*
c) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: diana@vt.edu
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Abstract

Atomistic simulations of nanoindentation of a 20-nm-thick Ni thin film oriented in the [111] direction were carried out to study the effects of indenter velocity and radii, interatomic potentials, and the boundary conditions used to represent the substrate. The simulation results were compared directly with experimental results of Ni thin film of the same thickness and orientation. It was found that the high indenter velocity does not affect the hardness value significantly. Different radii used for indentation also have negligible effects on the hardness value. Two different interatomic potentials were tested, giving significantly different hardness values but both within 20% of the experimental result. Different boundary conditions used to represent the substrate have a significant effect for relatively deep indentation simulations.

Keywords

HardnessNanoindentationSimulation
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , March 2009 , pp. 1135 - 1141
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2009

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