Observing High-Cycle Fatigue Damage in Freestanding Gold Thin Films with Bulge Testing and Intermittent Transmission Electron Microscopy Imaging

Krapf A, Merle B, Gebhart DD, Reiter M, Lassnig A, Göken M, Cordill MJ, Gammer C (2024)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2024

Journal

Advanced Engineering Materials Wiley

DOI: 10.1002/adem.202400216

Abstract

Bulge testing is a potent technique for measuring the mechanical properties of freestanding thin films, but in situ imaging is only possible in limited experimental configurations. This poses a serious limitation for unraveling nanoscale failure mechanisms, such as the deformation mechanisms induced by cyclic loading in freestanding gold thin films of 150 nm thickness. Herein, a new experimental workflow combining standalone bulge cyclic testing with intermittent high-resolution imaging by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) at specific positions of interest is introduced. The observed low dislocation activity in planar areas of the thin films is consistent with the slow strain accumulation during high-cycle fatigue testing. In contrast, notches in the films lead to localized plasticity with sustained dislocation activity, but also grain growth and subgrain formation. At a more advanced stage, cracks proceed along grain boundaries, with crack bridging seemingly slowing down their propagation. The presented setup can be used with a number of TEM-based characterization techniques and has the potential to reveal cyclic deformation mechanisms in several thin-film systems.

Authors with CRIS profile

Anna Krapf Lehrstuhl für Werkstoffwissenschaften (Allgemeine Werkstoffeigenschaften) Mathias Göken Lehrstuhl für Werkstoffwissenschaften (Allgemeine Werkstoffeigenschaften)

Involved external institutions

Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science of the Austrian Academy of Sciences AT Austria (AT) Universität Kassel DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Krapf, A., Merle, B., Gebhart, D.D., Reiter, M., Lassnig, A., Göken, M.,... Gammer, C. (2024). Observing High-Cycle Fatigue Damage in Freestanding Gold Thin Films with Bulge Testing and Intermittent Transmission Electron Microscopy Imaging. Advanced Engineering Materials. https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202400216

MLA:

Krapf, Anna, et al. "Observing High-Cycle Fatigue Damage in Freestanding Gold Thin Films with Bulge Testing and Intermittent Transmission Electron Microscopy Imaging." Advanced Engineering Materials (2024).

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