Nanomechanical testing system

• Subject Area: Materials Engineering
• Term: Funded in 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 522119324

Nanoindentation enables the determination of microscopic material properties via miniaturized indentation tests. Coupled with lateral specimen movements, it is thus also possible to detect properties such as hardness, Young's modulus, coefficients of friction, fatigue behavior, wear resistance, etc. for individual phases of a material; in contrast to classical test methods such as tensile testing, hardness testing, etc., which can only provide information about the macroscopic material properties. A link between atomistic material structure and resulting macroscopic material properties as a function of the interfacial properties between individual phases can thus be established. This coupling and its understanding is of particular importance for the development, characterization, processing as well as the prediction of the operational behavior of multi-material systems. As the focus of research at the Clausthal Center of Materials Technology (CZM), such multi-material systems are naturally composed of a wide variety of, sometimes incompatible, phases or layers of different materials. Conversely, nanoindentation is an ideal tool for the targeted development of new multi-material systems with specific property profiles. In addition, nanoindentation provides important new insights into the precise phenomenological interactions in the generation and use of multi-material systems. The material groups of metals, non-metallic materials and polymers will be addressed via conventional and additive manufacturing routes. Due to the envisaged temperature support up to 600°C, the nanoindenter technology covers new extensive application areas for multi-material systems, but also measurement applications with regard to many thermal processes in manufacturing processes themselves are feasible. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary research approach pursued at CZM represents a unique characteristic. Working groups from the engineering and natural sciences will work in partly interdisciplinary projects with the large-scale research facility applied for. In particular, new findings in the field of nanoindentation itself can be expected through the connection with other highly sensitive analysis and preparation techniques such as scanning-electron-microscopy, scanning-transmission-electron-microscopy, electron-backscatter-diffraction, nano-Computer-tomography, atomic-force-microscopy, X-ray-photoelectron-spectroscopy, atomic-emission-spectrophotometry, physical-vapour-deposition, focused-ion-beam-analytics, etc., which are within the reach of the CZM surface analysis and functionalization working group.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Nanomechanisches Prüfsystem
• Instrumentation Group: 2930 Härteprüfmaschinen, Reibungs- und Verschleiß-Prüfmaschinen
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Clausthal
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Volker Wesling