A NEW PUSH-PULL SAMPLE DESIGN FOR MICROSCALE MODE 1 FRACTURE TOUGHNESS MEASUREMENTS UNDER UNIAXIAL TENSION

摘要

The miniaturization of microelectronic devices and the use of thin hard coatings have led to an increased demand for knowledge on the fracture behaviour of microscopic structures. A new geometry called Micro-SENT is proposed in this work that allows performing experiments in uniaxial tension on the microscale using a standard flat punch indenter by making use of a symmetric push-pull sample design. This enables the measurement of mode 1 fracture toughness under uniform tensional far-field loading as opposed to current state of the art approaches based on cantilever bending or micropillar splitting.