Yonggang Meng

Mechanical properties and fracture toughness of multilayer hard coatings using nanoindentation

Abstract The nanoindentation fracture of multilayer hard coatings of TiN/Ti(C,N)/TiC, Al 2 O 3 /TiC/Ti(C,N)/TiC, TiN/Ti(C,N)/TiC/Ti(C,N)/TiC and TiN/Ti(C,N)/TiC/Ti(C,N)/TiC/Ti(C,N)/TiC, deposited on cemented carbide using a CVD technique was studied. Based on an analysis of the energy released in cracking, the calculated fracture toughness values of these coatings were 2.18, 1.74, 3.40 and 3.90 MPa m 1/2 , respectively. Both load–penetration depth and load–penetration depth squared plots have been demonstrated to be necessary if a more complete understanding of the coating system behaviour is to be gained. The interfacial failure and the critical load of interfacial failure of these coatings were also discussed. A step was found in the force–displacement curves at the onset of coating fracture. A straight line segment in the load–penetration depth squared curves was discussed. The hardness, fracture toughness and anti-wearability of these coatings were compared. The results show that the fracture toughness and anti-wearability are getting higher with the layers increasing.

Structure parameter of electrorheological fluids in shear flow.

A structure parameter, Sn = η(c)γ/τ(E), is proposed to represent the increase of effective viscosity due to the introduction of particles into a viscous liquid and to analyze the shear behavior of electrorheological (ER) fluids. Sn can divide the shear curves of ER fluids, τ/E(2) versus Sn, into three regimes, with two critical values Sn(c) of about 10(-4) and 10(-2), respectively. The two critical Sn(c) are applicable to ER fluids with different particle volume fractions φ in a wide range of shear rate γ and electric field E. When Sn < 10(-4), the shear behavior of ER fluids is mainly dominated by E and by shear rate when Sn > 10(-2). The electric current of ER fluids under E varied with shear stress in the same or the opposite trend in different shear rate ranges. Sn(c) also separates the conductivity variation of ER fluids into three regimes, corresponding to different structure evolutions. The change of Sn with particle volume fraction and E has also been discussed. The shear thickening in ER fluids can be characterized by Sn(c)(L) and Sn(c)(H) with a critical value about 10(-6). As an analogy to friction, the correspondence between τ/E(2) and friction coefficient, Sn and bearing numbers, as well as the similarity between the shear curve of ER fluids and the Stribeck curve of friction, indicate a possible friction origin in ER effect.

Tunable negative permeability in an isotropic dielectric composite

A tunable isotropic negative effective permeability is experimentally demonstrated in a three-dimensional (3D) dielectric composite consisting of dielectric ceramic cube arrays by temperature changing. It shows that a strong subwavelength magnetic resonance can be excited in dielectric cubes corresponding to the first Mie resonance mode and can be continuously and reversibly adjusted from 13.65to19.28GHz with the temperature changing from −15to35°C. Accordingly, negative permeability can be performed in the frequency range of about 6GHz by adjusting the temperature. It provides a convenient route to design adaptive metamaterials and 3D invisible cloak.

Direct Observation of Cavitation Phenomenon and Hydrodynamic Lubrication Analysis of Textured Surfaces

When a textured ring rotates relatively against the other texture-free ring in a parallel thrust bearing, cavitation of liquid lubricant may occur in the divergent zones of the dimples or grooves on the textured surface due to local pressure drops. The Reynolds and Jakobsson–Floberg–Olsson (JFO) models are two widely used cavitation models in hydrodynamic lubrication theory, where the former lacks mass conservation while the latter enforces it. In order to investigate the applicability of the two models to the hydrodynamic lubrication analysis of parallel thrust bearings with surface textures, comparison between experiment and simulation results has been carried out on parallel thrust bearings in terms of cavitation zone morphology in a groove, friction coefficient, and bearing clearance. The results have shown that the observed cavitation morphology in steady state is more similar to the prediction from the JFO model than that from the Reynolds model.

A shear thickening phenomenon in magnetic field controlled-dipolar suspensions

A shear thickening phenomenon in dipolar suspensions of magnetorheological (MR) fluid is reported. The stress of the MR fluid abruptly decreases when the applied magnetic field increases to above a critical value under a small constant shear rate. It abruptly increases when the shear rate is higher than a critical value under a constant magnetic field, accompanied by a change in normal stress during shear thickening or unshear thickening processes. A shear-thickened structure is important for an MR fluid to obtain a high yield stress, which is beyond the prediction of a traditional dipole or multipole interaction model.

Electrorheology of a zeolite/silicone oil suspension under dc fields

The electrorheology of electrorheological (ER) fluids based on zeolite and silicone oil under dc fields was investigated at room temperature. ER fluids with volume fractions of 27% and 30% were prepared and tested. When a 5 kV/mm dc field was applied, shear yield stress of 26.7 kPa was obtained for the latter. The ER fluid with a higher volume fraction of zeolite had a higher current density and a higher shear yield stress under the same electric field. Compared with other ER fluids based on zeolite particles with low shear yield stress, the zeolite employed by us was found to have high dielectric constant and conductivity. The high permittivity mismatch and the high conductivity mismatch of the components of the fluids were considered responsible for the high shear yield stress.

Specimen size effect on mechanical properties of polysilicon microcantilever beams measured by deflection using a nanoindenter

Abstract The validity of a novel, direct and convenient method for micromechanical property measurements by beam bending using a nanoindenter has been demonstrated. In the deflection of microbeams, the influence of the indenter tip pushing into the top of the microbeams and the curvature across its width must be considered. The elastic deflection of a polysilicon microcantilever beam will vary linearly with the force. Thus, Youngs modulus of the beam determined from the slope of this linear relation is 156 Gpa±2.9–6.3%. The size effects of the manufactured component on Youngs modulus and strength of polysilicon microcantilever beams were measured. This result shows that the rupture strengths of polysilicon beams show size effect on the effective volume and surface area of the specimens. The rupture strength of each sample decreased with increasing the specimen effective volume and surface area, but increased with increasing the surface-to-volume ratio. The defect that initiates fracture is often on the surface of the specimen. In such cases the size effect can be traced back to a surface-to-volume ratio as the governing parameter.

Experimental Study of Head-Disk Interface Flyability and Durability at Sub-1-nm Clearance

As dynamic fly-height (DFH) sliders with active flying-height (FH) control using local thermal expansion caused by a heating element were introduced in hard disk drives recently, the minimum clearance between the head and disk has been reduced to sub-3-nm. To achieve a higher recording density, the clearance will have to become even smaller, which will make the slider more likely to contact the disk and thus may cause head-disk interface (HDI) instability and slider/disk wear. This paper describes a test to study the flyability and durability of the DFH sliders at sub-1-nm clearance. The test involves the DFH sliders flying for a series of durations at 1 and 0.5 nm clearances. The sub-1-nm clearance was achieved by making the pole-tip protrusion back off 1 or 0.5 nm immediately after an initial touchdown. During flying, the acoustic emission and friction signals were monitored to investigate the slider flyability. The HDI durability was evaluated by inspecting the lube pickup on the slider air-bearing surface, carbon wear of the sliders and disks, and lubricant modulation/depletion using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and an optical surface analyzer, respectively, after each test. Finally, the possibility of stable on-track flying of the optimized DFH sliders at 1-nm clearance was demonstrated.

Controllable Interfacial Adhesion Applied to Transfer Light and Fragile Objects by Using Gecko Inspired Mushroom-Shaped Pillar Surface

Gecko-inspired surfaces are smart dry adhesive surfaces that have attracted much attention because of their wide range of potential applications. However, strong frictional force, rather than adhesive force, is frequently targeted in most of research in this area. In this study, the interfacial adhesive and frictional properties of a gecko-inspired mushroom-shaped polyurethane pillar array surface have been systematically characterized to design and control the interfacial adhesion of the surface by considering the nanoscale interfacial adhesion, the microscale structural compliance and deformation, and the macro-scale actuation. Matching the movement of the leg springs and the interfacial adhesive characteristics between the pillar array surfaces and substrates, a three-legged clamp prototype has been designed and fabricated to successfully pick up and release light and fragile objects with a smooth upper surface, such as a silicon wafer. These results provide a new insight into not only the theoretical understanding of the integrating adhesion mechanisms, but also the practical applications of utilizing and controlling the adhesive and frictional forces of gecko-inspired surfaces.

Theoretical study of the sticking of a membrane strip in MEMS under the Casimir effect

Mechanical stability and sticking are troublesome problems in microfabrication and operation processes when the separations of components in microelectromechanical systems are in the sub-micrometre regime. Some hitherto neglected mechanical effects, including the quantum mechanical effect, should be taken into account for solving the problems. The magnitude of the Casimir force is significant when the membranes work in vacuum without the effect of capillary forces. In this paper, an analysis is presented of the influence of the Casimir effect with surface roughness, conductivity and temperature corrected on the deformation of a membrane strip structure. With nothing other than the Casimir force loading the strip, a stable static equilibrium state and an unstable static equilibrium state exist, depending on the value of a dimensionless constant K. The membrane strip will collapse if the value of K is larger than the critical value of KC. The critical value of KC varies with the value of w0. This provides a way to check if a system with given dimensions and material properties will be in a stable equilibrium. This also provides a way of designing a membrane strip with high resistance to collapse.