Abstract
The development of nanoindentation test systems with high data collection speeds has made possible a novel type of indentation creep test: broadband nanoindentation creep (BNC). Using the high density of data points generated and analysis techniques that can model the instantaneous projected indent area at all times during a constant-load indentation experiment, BNC can reveal materials properties across a range of strain rates spanning up to five decades (10−4–10 s−1). BNC experiments aimed at measuring activation parameters for plasticity were conducted on three systems: two Zr-based bulk metallic glasses and poly-(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The results give insight into the operation of the deformation mechanisms present in the test materials, including the dependence of the deformation rate on the hydrostatic component of the stress for PMMA and the form of the activation energy function for the metallic glasses.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M.R. VanLandingham: Review of instrumented indentation. J. Res. Nat. Inst. Stand. Technol. 108, 249 (2003).
D. Newey, M.A. Wilkins, and H.M. Pollock: An ultra-low-load penetration hardness tester. J. Phys. E: Sci. Instrurn. 15, 119 (1982).
J.B. Pethica, R. Hutchings, and W.C. Oliver: Hardness measurement at penetration depths as small as 20 nm. Philos. Mag. A 48, 593 (1983).
S.-P. Hannula, D. Stone, and C.-Y. Li: Determination of time-dependent plastic properties by indentation load relaxation techniques, in Electronic Packaging Materials Science, edited by E.A. Giess, K-N. Tu, and D.R. Uhlmann (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 40, Pittsburgh, PA, 1985), pp. 217–224.
P.M. Sargent and M.F. Ashby: Indentation creep. Mater. Sci. Technol. 8, 594 (1992).
W.B. Li and R. Warren: A model for nanoindentation creep. Acta Metall. Mater. 41, 3065 (1993).
A.F. Bower, N.A. Fleck, A. Needleman, and N. Ogbonna: Indentation of a power law creeping solid. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 441, 97 (1993).
D.S. Stone and K.B. Yoder: Division of the hardness of molybdenum into rate-dependent and rate-independent parts. J. Mater. Res. 9, 2524 (1994).
S. Yang, Y-W. Zhang, and K. Zeng: Analysis of nanoindentation creep for polymeric materials. J. Appl. Phys. 95, 3655 (2003).
A.C. Fischer-Cripps: A simple phenomenological approach to nanoindentation creep. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 385, 74 (2004).
D.L. Goldsby, A. Rar, G.M. Pharr, and T.E. Tullis: Nanoindentation creep of quartz, with implications for rate- and state-variable friction laws relevant to earthquake mechanics. J. Mater. Res. 19, 357 (2004).
M.F. Ashby and H.J. Frost: The kinetics of plastic deformation above 0°K, in Constitutive Equations in Plasticity, edited by A.S. Argon (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1975), p. 119.
P. Haasen: Physical Metallurgy, 3rd ed., translated by Janet Mordike (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1996), pp. 289–292.
W.L. Johnson and K. Samwer: A universal criterion for plastic yielding of metallic glasses with a T/Tg2/3 temperature dependence. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 195501 (2005).
G.M. Swallowe and S.F. Lee: A study of the mechanical properties of PMMA and PS at strain rates of 10−4 to 103 over the temperature range 293–363 K. J. Phys. IV 110, 33 (2003).
J.W. Christian: The Theory of Transformations in Metals and Alloys, 2nd ed. (Pergamon Press, Oxford, UK, 1975), p. 81.
F. Spaepen: Defects in amorphous metals, in Les Houches Lectures XXXV: Physics of Defects, R. Balian (North Holland Press, Amsterdam, 1981), p. 133.
C.A. Schuh, T.C. Hufnagel, and U. Ramamurty: Mechanical behavior of amorphous alloys. Acta Mater. 55, 4067 (2007).
A.S. Argon: Plastic deformation in metallic glasses. Acta Metall. 27, 47 (1979).
M.L. Falk and J.S. Langer: Dynamics of viscoplastic deformation in amorphous solids. Phys. Rev. E 57, 7192 (1998).
J.D. Eshelby: The determination of the elastic field of an ellipsoidal inclusion, and related problems. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 241, 376 (1957).
B.E. Read: Dynamic mechanical and creep studies of PMMA in the α- and β-relaxation regions. Physical ageing effects and non-linear behaviour, in Lecture Notes in Physics, Vol. 277: Molecular Dynamics and Relaxation Phenomena in Glasses, edited by T. Dorfmüller and G. Williams (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1987), p. 61.
J. Richeton, S. Ahzi, K.S. Vecchio, F.C. Jiang, and R.R. Adharapurapu: Influence of temperature and strain rate on the mechanical behavior of three amorphous polymers: Characterization and modeling of the compressive yield stress. Int. J. Solids Struct. 43, 2318 (2006).
J.J. Gilman: Flow via dislocations in ideal glass. J. Appl. Phys. 44. 675 (1973).
J.D. Eshelby: The continuum theory of lattice defects. Solid State Phys. 3, 79 (1956).
A.A. Elmustafa, S. Kose, and D.S. Stone: The strain-rate sensitivity of the hardness in indentation creep. J. Mater. Res. 22, 926 (2007).
D.S. Stone and A.A. Elmustafa: Analysis of indentation creep, in Fundamentals of Nanoindentation and Nanotribology IV, edited by E. Le Bourhis, D.J. Morris, M.L. Oyen, R. Schwaiger, and T. Staedler (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 1049, Warrendale, PA, 2008), pp. 163, 1049-AA10–02.
H. Cao, D. Ma, K-C. Hsieh, L. Ding, W.G. Stratton, P.M. Voyles, Y. Pan, M. Cai, J.T. Dickinson, and Y.A. Chang: Computational thermodynamics to identify Zr-Ti-Ni-Cu-Al alloys with high glass-forming ability. Acta Mater. 54, 2975 (2006).
J. Hwang and P.M. Voyles: unpublished.
J.E. Jakes, C.R. Frihart, J.F. Beecher, R.J. Moon, and D.S. Stone: Experimental method to account for structural compliance in nanoindentation measurements. J. Mater. Res. 23, 1113 (2008).
A.H.W. Ngan and B. Tang: Viscoelastic effects during unloading in depth-sensing indentation. J. Mater. Res. 17, 2604 (2002).
D. Jang and M. Atzmon: Grain-size dependence of plastic deformation in nanocrystalline Fe. J. Appl. Phys. 93, 9282 (2003).
F. Wang, P. Huang, and K.W. Xu: Time dependent plasticity at real nanoscale deformation. Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 161921 (2007).
M.F. Doerner and W.D. Nix: A method for interpreting the data from depth-sensing indentation instruments. J. Mater. Res. 1, 601 (1986).
A.A. Elmustafa and D.S. Stone: Nanoindentation and the indentation size effect: Kinetics of deformation and strain gradient plasticity. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 51, 357 (2003).
C.A. Schuh and T.G. Nieh: A nanoindentation study of serrated flow in bulk metallic glasses. Acta Mater. 51, 87 (2003).
W.H. Li, T.H. Zhang, D.M. Xing, B.C. Wei, Y.R. Wang, and Y.D. Dong: Instrumented indentation study of plastic deformation in bulk metallic glasses. J. Mater. Res. 21, 75 (2006).
B. Yang and T.G. Nieh: Effect of the nanoindentation rate on the shear band formation in an Au-based bulk metallic glass. Acta Mater. 55, 295 (2007).
C.A. Schuh, A.C. Lund, and T.G. Nieh: New regime of homogeneous flow in the deformation map of metallic glasses: Elevated temperature nanoindentation experiments and mechanistic modeling. Acta Mater. 52, 5879 (2004).
K.L. Johnson: Contact Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1987), pp. 153–241.
A.A. Elmustafa and D.S. Stone: Strain rate sensitivity in the nanoindentation creep of hard materials. J. Mater. Res. 22, 2912 (2007).
L.A. Davis and C.A. Pampillo: Deformation of polyethylene at high pressure. J. Appl. Phys. 42, 4659 (1971).
L.A. Davis and C.A. Pampillo: Kinetics of deformation of PTFE at high pressure. J. Appl. Phys. 43, 4285 (1972).
C.A. Schuh and T.G. Nieh: A survey of instrumented indentation studies on metallic glasses. J. Mater. Res. 19, 46 (2004).
K.E. Prasad, R. Raghavan, and U. Ramamurty: Temperature dependence of pressure sensitivity in a metallic glass. Scr. Mater. 57, 121 (2007).
M. Heggen, F. Spaepen, and M. Feuerbacher: Creation and annihilation of free volume during homogeneous flow of a metallic glass. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 1186375–377, (2004).
B. Yang, J. Wadsworth, and T.G. Nieh: Thermal activation in Au-based bulk metallic glass characterized by high-temperature nanoindentation. Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 061911 (2007).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Puthoff, J.B., Jakes, J.E., Cao, H. et al. Investigation of thermally activated deformation in amorphous PMMA and Zr-Cu-Al bulk metallic glasses with broadband nanoindentation creep. Journal of Materials Research 24, 1279–1290 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2009.0145
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2009.0145