This article addresses why biomaterials are a growing part of materials science. We consider two areas at two different scales. At the nanometer scale, enzymes are heterogeneous nanoparticles of extraordinary deformability; this property allows us to view biomolecules informed by concepts of materials science and nonlinear physics. A degree of universality in the mechanical behavior of the molecules appears in the ubiquitous softening transitions; some results obtained dynamically by nanorheology, and others obtained in equilibrium experiments through the method of the DNA springs are summarized. These soft molecules represent an opportunity for studies of dissipation at the atomic scale. At the mesoscopic scale, composite functional materials with biological components hold promise for applications such as low power, chemically driven, biodegradable devices. A concrete example, and a program for the future, is the artificial axon. It is a synthetic structure that supports action potentials based on the same physical mechanism as the voltage spikes in nerve cells. A network of such axons, which is yet to come, would constitute an artificial brain. Beyond device applications, the focus here is on the basic science, namely, a constructivist approach to cybernetics, algorithmic mathematics, and the brain.

The effects of grain refinement and phase composition on superplasticity and damping capacity of eutectic Zn–5Al and eutectoid Zn–22Al alloys were investigated. For grain refinement, equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) was applied to these alloys. ECAP completely eliminated the as-cast lamellar microstructures of both alloys and resulted in ultrafine-grained structures along with room temperature superplasticity. Furthermore, these microstructural changes with ECAP increased the damping capacity of both alloys in the dynamic hysteresis region, where damping arises from viscous sliding of phase/grain boundaries. Dynamic recrystallization at the surface and thermally activated viscous motion of grain/phase boundaries at the subsurface of the samples of both alloys were proposed as the damping mechanisms in the region where the alloys showed combined aspects of static/dynamic hysteresis damping behavior. Although the grain size is larger in Zn–5Al compared to Zn–22Al, it showed higher damping capacity due to the different sliding characteristics of its phase boundaries.

Ceramic fiber–matrix composites (CFMCs) are exciting materials for engineering applications in extreme environments. By integrating ceramic fibers within a ceramic matrix, CFMCs allow an intrinsically brittle material to exhibit sufficient structural toughness for use in gas turbines and nuclear reactors. Chemical stability under high temperature and irradiation coupled with high specific strength make these materials unique and increasingly popular in extreme settings. This paper first offers a review of the importance and growing body of research on fiber–matrix interfaces as they relate to composite toughening mechanisms. Second, micropillar compression is explored experimentally as a high-fidelity method for extracting interface properties compared with traditional fiber push-out testing. Three significant interface properties that govern composite toughening were extracted. For a 50-nm-pyrolytic carbon interface, the following were observed: a fracture energy release rate of ∼2.5 J/m2, an internal friction coefficient of 0.25 ± 0.04, and a debond shear strength of 266 ± 24 MPa. This research supports micromechanical evaluations as a unique bridge between theoretical physics models for microcrack propagation and empirically driven finite element models for bulk CFMCs.

Natural cane reeds (Latin name Arundo Donax L and here termed ADL) have been used on woodwind instruments for centuries with little change. The reed acts as a mechanical valve controlling the energy input into the musical instrument and it is the musician’s first option for altering the instrument’s sound and response characteristics. Despite this, their consistency, variable performance, durability and sensitivity to ambient conditions make it difficult for the musician to find and maintain a reed that responds to their liking. Thus it is desirable to examine the material, microstructural and anatomical properties of the reed and their contributions to vibrational performance with input from mechanical engineers, materials scientists and musicians.

The current study is part of an on-going research project, and this paper presents preliminary results. In the present work raw samples of ADL obtained from a manufacturer in pre-cut form are sectioned into longitudinal and transverse specimens for mechanical characterization. Prior to testing, samples are conditioned using an incubation system to 37 degrees Celsius and 90% relative humidity, mimicking in-use conditions of the reed. Initial microstructure analysis of each specimen is completed using optical microscopy to quantify fiber spatial arrangement, size and the existence of micro-cracks along the fiber-matrix interface. X-ray diffraction is also used to quantify the fraction of crystalline cellulose present in each sample. Specimens are then excited over a specific frequency range similar to that of in-use reeds using pressure waves in a non-contact setup. Values of internal friction are obtained as logarithmic decrement values for frequency-dependent decay. One set of specimens is then subjected to cyclic mechanical loading at low frequency (< 1Hz) and stresses up to 15MPa. The other set is maintained at the given environmental conditions using the incubator and aged through temperature and humidity cycling. Comparisons of post-testing microstructure damage and internal friction measurements are then completed to delineate specific degradation mechanisms due to mechanical/fatigue deterioration and moisture cycling. Internal friction is found to be dependent on both frequency, moisture and cyclic loading. Furthermore, the existence of microstructural cracks contributes to increasing decrement values at high frequencies in both fatigued and moisture cycled samples. Statistically significant correlations are discovered between logarithmic decrement and vascular bundle orientation at 700 Hz and logarithmic decrement and parenchyma cell diameter at 1000 Hz. Reductions in internal friction below 400 Hz indicate a decreasing loss modulus (E’’) with increased moisture cycles, although this trend will be tested against a larger sample set in further work.

The mechanical properties and internal friction (damping capacity) of Mg–Zn–Y alloys with a long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) structure at different Y/Zn atomic ratios (2/1, 3/2 or 4/3) in cast and extrusion were investigated. It was found that the as-cast Mg–Zn–Y alloys with different Y/Zn atomic ratios possess a single LPSO phase with the same stable 18R-type structure. Among the three alloys, the alloy with 3/2 atomic ratio yields the highest damping capacity in low- and high-strain amplitude stages. Two damping peaks particularly P1 and P2 are detected in the Mg–Zn–Y alloy with 3/2 atomic ratio at approximately 108 and 220 °C, respectively. These results may be attributed to few solute atoms in Mg matrix and grain boundaries. In addition, the studied alloy with 3/2 atomic ratio exhibits excellent comprehensive properties in as-cast and as-extruded states; this alloy yields an ultimate tensile strength of 346 MPa and maintains a certain damping capacity (Q−1 > 0.01) in extrusion.

Diamond, because of its unique physical, chemical, and electrical properties and the feasibility of growing it in thin-film form, is an ideal choice as a material for the fabrication of reliable, long endurance, microelectromechanical/nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS). However, various practical challenges, including wafer-scale thickness uniformity, CMOS compatibility, surface micromachining, and, more importantly, controlling the internal stress of the diamond films, make this material more challenging for MEMS engineers. Recent advances in the growth of diamond films using chemical vapor deposition have changed this landscape since most technical hurdles have been overcome, enabling a new era of diamond-based MEMS and NEMS development. This article discusses a few examples of MEMS and NEMS devices that have been fabricated using mono-, nano-, and ultrananocrystalline diamond films as well as their performance.

In the last decades there was a growing interest in developing new light-weight intermetallic alloys, which are able to substitute the heavy superalloys at a certain temperature range. At present a new Ti-Al-Nb-Mo family, called TNM™ alloys, is being optimized to fulfill the challenging requirements. The aim of the present work was to study the microscopic mechanisms of defect mobility at high temperature in TNM alloys in order to contribute to the understanding of their influence on the mechanical properties and hence to promote the further optimization of these alloys. Mechanical spectroscopy has been used to study the internal friction and the dynamic modulus up to 1460 K of a TNM alloy under different thermal treatments. These measurements allow to follow the microstructural evolution during in-situ thermal treatments. A relaxation process has been observed at about 1050 K and was characterized as a function of temperature and frequency in order to obtain the activation parameters of the responsible mechanism. In particular, the activation enthalpy has been determined to be H= 3 eV. The results are discussed and an atomic mechanism is proposed to explain the observed relaxation process.

Nowadays, aeronautic and aerospace are the more demanding sectors for shape memory alloys (SMA) after the bio-medical one. In particular the interest has been recently focused on very high temperature SMA, which would be able of working as sensors and actuators in the hot areas of the engines and exaust devices.

In the present work we undertook a study of the Ru-Nb SMA Intermetallics, which undergo two succesive martensitic transformations around 1050 K and 1180 K respectively, depending on composition. This study has been focused on measurements of internal friction spectra and dynamic modulus variation up to 1700 K, which have been carried out in a sub-resonant torsion mechanical spectrometer.

The internal friction and dynamic modulus have been studied as a function of the heating-cooling rate and the frequency in order to compare experimental behaviour with theoretical models for martensitic transformations. In addition to the internal friction peaks linked to both martensitic transformations we have also observed a complex relaxation process around 950 K, which seems to be linked to the interaction of the martensite interfaces with structural defects. An analysis and discusion of the potential microscopic mechanisms are also presented.

Elastic modulus and internal friction of Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (BSCF) and La0.58Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ (LSCF) were determined from resonance frequencies and damping behavior, respectively, using an impulse excitation method. An elastic anomaly for BSCF around 476 K, with a corresponding peak in the internal friction, is attributed to the experimentally confirmed spin transition of Co3+. LSCF is in a ferromagnetic state below ∼220 K and in a paramagnetic state above ∼250 K. The elastic modulus of LSCF exhibits an anomaly between 473 and 1113 K, which is attributed to a transition from rhombohedral to cubic symmetry.

New advanced multi-phase γ-TiAl based alloys (TiAl-Nb-Mo), so called TNM alloys, have been developed to promote hot workability and to allow easier processing by conventional forging. However, to control and stabilize the final microstructure, specific processing and further thermal treatments are required. In the present work we used mechanical spectroscopy techniques to obtain a better understanding of the microstructural mechanisms taking place at high temperature applying two different heat treatments. Internal friction spectra and dynamic modulus evolution have been measured in an inverted torsion pendulum up to 1220 K. A stable relaxation peak was observed in both cases at about 1050 K for 1 Hz. Spectra acquired at several frequencies between 0.01 Hz and 3 Hz allow us to measure the activation parameters of this peak. In addition, a high temperature background (HTB) has been observed. This HTB, which has been found to be dependent on thermal treatments, has been analyzed to obtain the apparent activation enthalpy, which seems to be correlated to the creep behavior. Finally, we discuss the relaxation peak and the HTB in terms of the microstructural evolution during thermal treatments.

Quantifying the effects of thin metallic coatings on the damping factors of micro- and nanomechanical resonators is important for the design of high-performance devices for sensing and communications. This study presents experimental results for the increase in damping caused by aluminum films coated on cantilevered single-crystal silicon beams. The monolithic silicon beams (100 to 125 microns thick) can operate at the ultimate limits of dissipation established by thermoelastic damping with quality factors ranging from 104 to 105. However, coating these beams with 60 to 100 nm of aluminum can increase the damping by factors of three to five. These results provide guidelines for designing composite micromechanical resonators, and establish the foundation of a new approach for accurate measurement of internal friction in substrate-bonded thin films.

The design of microresonators with high natural frequencies (1 MHz to 1 GHz) and low structural damping is essential for devices used for applications in communications. Here, we report experimental measurements of damping at low pressure and ambient temperature in electrostatically-actuated, metallized silicon carbide microresonators. Comparison of the measured values with the predictions of a model for thermoelastic damping indicates that the contribution of this mechanism to the measured damping ranges from 10% to 50% over a broad frequency range (3 MHz to 30 MHz).

Two different types of metallic glasses, a metal-metal-based and a metal-metalloid-based one, in both bulk and ribbon form (i.e., produced with very different quenching rates) are compared with respect to their structural relaxation behavior during continuous heating (2 K/min) in a vibrating-reed set-up (frequencies 0.2–5 kHz). The variation of damping as a function of temperature, time, and strain amplitude is shown as a measure of the content of structural relaxation centers, whose nature is studied by means of artificially introduced irregularities into the amorphous structure (i.e., by cold rolling and by hydrogen charging). The results indicate that the hydrogen damping peak, which is only observed in the Zr-based glass, is more probably due to hydrogen reorientation jumps than due to reorientation of hydrogen-related, dislocation-like distortion fields although the latter cannot be ruled out. A pronounced deformation damping peak could not be found in contrast to earlier results in the literature, probably owing to the selected degrees of deformation.

Thermoelastic damping (TED) represents the lower limit of material damping in flexural mode micro- and nanoresonators. Current predictive models of TED calculate damping due to thermoelastic temperature gradients along the beam thickness only. In this work, we develop a two dimensional (2D) model by considering temperature gradients along the thickness and the length of the beam. The Green's function approach is shown to be a robust means of solving the coupled heat conduction equation in one and two dimensions. In the 1D model, curvature information is lost and, hence, the effects of structural boundary conditions and mode shapes on TED are not captured. In contrast, the 2D model retains curvature information in the expression for TED and can account for beam end conditions and higher order modes. The differences between the 1D and 2D models are systematically explored over a range of beam aspect ratios, frequencies, boundary conditions, and flexural mode shapes.

We have measured the internal friction (Q-1) of amorphous silicon nitride (a-Si3Nx) films prepared by a variety of methods, including low-pressure chemical-vapor deposition (LPCVD), plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition (PECVD), and hot-wire chemical-vapor deposition (HWCVD) from 0.5 K to room temperature. The measurements are made by depositing the films onto extremely high-Q silicon double paddle oscillator substrates with a resonant frequency of ~5500 Hz. We find the elastic properties of these a-Si3N4 films resemble those of amorphous silicon (a-Si), demonstrating considerable variation, depending on the film growth methods and post deposition annealing. The internal friction for most of the films shows a broad temperature-independent plateau below 30 K, characteristic of amorphous solids. The values of Q-1, however, vary from film to film in this plateau region by more than one order of magnitude. This is typical for tetrehedrally bonded amorphous thin films, like a-Si, a-Ge, and a-C. The PECVD films have the highest Q-1 just like an ordinary amorphous solid, while LPCVD films have an internal friction more than one order of magnitude lower. All the films show a reduction of Q-1 after annealing at 800°C, even for the LPCVD films which were prepared at 850°C. This can be viewed as a reduction of structural disorder.

Composites with negative stiffness constituents can exhibit material properties that exceed conventional bounds. Composites with VO2 as negative stiffness inclusions and tin as the stabilizing matrix were prepared via powder metallurgy. Specimens were tested over a range of temperature in torsion using broadband viscoelastic spectroscopy. Composites processed via powder metallurgy exhibited internal friction anomalies over a broad range of temperatures, in contrast to the single, sharp anomalies reported previously from cast specimens. The detailed material behavior encompassed a variety of responses, which were also dependent on the number of thermal cycles. Composite theory predictions assuming a distribution of negative shear moduli can account for peak broadening.

The internal friction of a silicon nitride with a sintering aid of yttrium oxide was measured from room temperature to 1400 °C. A mechanical loss peak was typically observed at 1000 °C on heating the as-sintered specimen; however, it disappeared on cooling. Also, the peak was not observed upon heating a specimen that had been heated above 1400 °C. When we carried out thermal cycling, raising terminal temperatures from 1050 to 1400 °C, the integrated intensity of the peak gradually decreased due to the progressive crystallization of a grain-boundary amorphous phase.

The contact resistances investigated in this study of anisotropic conductive adhesive film joints using Au/Ni bumps and flexible substrates are found to be increased by the drop impact energy and also by the combined effect of heat/humidity and the impact energy. The samples humidified at 85 °C/85% RH for 384 h, on which impact energy of 50 J was induced, exhibit the most severe results. The contact resistance increases by 700%, which had been about 0.062 Ω in the as-bonded condition. The samples without humidification showed a sluggish and gentle increase in contact resistance with induced drop impact energy. The contact resistance was found to be increased by 400% after absorbing 90 J energy. Scanning electron microscopy images show particle deformation due to abrasion and friction between the contacting surfaces resulting from the sudden impact. Joints are also observed with no connections, which signify open circuits. Almost 25% of circuits were found open in the samples (after 384 h in a humid environment), which have suffered severe mechanical shock. Breaking of the conductive layer of the particle and exposing the underlying polymeric portion was also observed.

Under certain circumstances, decreasing the dimensions of a material may lead to elastic or anelastic properties that diverge from bulk behavior. A distinction is made between elastic deformation, for which bond rearrangements are not required, and anelastic behavior, which involves reversible deformation due to defect motion. Elastic deformation (due to bond stretching) remains structure-insensitive down to near-atomic length scales, and only small deviations are expected (of the order of 10%). More significant deviations can be observed in special cases, which are described in the article. However, elastic moduli that are much lower than expected are sometimes seen, even in careful experiments. It now appears that this behavior may be explainable by time-dependent anelastic relaxation mechanisms. In contrast to purely elastic behavior, anelastic behavior is very sensitive to microstructure and is found to be common and often significant when things become small.