Nanomechanical Testing in Materials Research and Development V

Memo

About This Conference



Intriguing size effects on mechanical properties of materials have recently triggered an intense research effort worldwide. Because most of the physical laws of deformation have been established at a macroscopic level, testing materials at very small length scales revealed behaviors that were not anticipated: brittle to ductile transitions, extension of elastic domains, anelasticity, phase transformation….



Production of small samples has enormously benefited from Focused Ion Beam (FIB) nanomachining. But because of ion-induced surface modification that may impact the mechanical behavior of the smallest objects, alternative fabrication processes like template growth, lithography or chemical etching have also emerged.



The technical instruments needed to achieve investigations at the micron and nanometer scale are in rapid evolution: micropillar compression, nanowire tensile tests, bulge testing of thin films, and of course nanoindentation. Also, most of these techniques may now be combined with in situ characterization (X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, optical spectroscopy, …).



In parallel, the downsizing of tested object offers an unprecedented opportunity for modeling. Discrete dislocation dynamics, molecular dynamics or crystal plasticity finite element simulations provide meaningful and quantitative insights into the deformation processes around nanoindentations and in small crystalline volumes.



Applications of these nano- and micromechanical testing methods become more and more important in all fields of materials research like metals, ceramics, glasses, polymers, coatings, composites, and biomaterials. Temperature dependence and other environmental parameters such as humidity are therefore of great interest. The development of materials and designs based on their local mechanical properties will benefit from these nano- and micromechanical testing techniques.



This conference will bring together people working in the field of nano- and micromechanical testing in materials research. It is a follow-up meeting to the ECI conferences on Instrumented Indentation Testing (Fodele Beach, Crete, October 2005), Nanomechanical Testing (Barga – Tuscany, Italy from October 2009) Nano- and Micromechanical Testing in Materials Research and Development III (Canary Islands, Spain, October 2011), and IV (Olhao, Portugal, October 2013).