Mechanical properties of ultrananocrystalline diamond thin films relevant to MEMS/NEMS devices

The mechanical properties of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) thin films were measured using microcantilever deflection and membrane deflection techniques. Bending tests on several free-standing UNCD cantilevers, 0.5 μm thick, 20 μm wide and 80 μm long, yielded elastic modulus values of 916–959 GPa. The tests showed good reproducibility by repeated testing on the same cantilever and by testing several cantilevers of different lengths. The largest source of error in the method was accurate measurement of film thickness. Elastic modulus measurements performed with the novel membrane deflection experiment (MDE), developed by Espinosa and co-workers, gave results similar to those from the microcantilever-based tests. Tests were performed on UNCD specimens grown by both micro and nano wafer-seeding techniques. The elastic modulus was measured to be between 930–970 GPa for the microseeding and between 945–963 GPa for the nanoseeding technique. The MDE test also provided the fracture strength, which for UNCD was found to vary from 0.89 to 2.42 GPa for the microseeded samples and from 3.95 to 5.03 for the nanoseeded samples. The narrowing of the elastic modulus variation and major increase in fracture strength is believed to result from a reduction in surface roughness, less stress concentration, when employing the nanoseeding technique. Although both methods yielded reliable values of elastic modulus, the MDE was found to be more versatile since it yielded additional information about the structure and material properties, such as strength and initial stress state.     

Rheological properties of peanut butter

The rheological properties of two types of commercial peanut butter have been studied. Both products are concentrated suspensions, and differ by the presence of additives. The first type, referred to as “100% peanuts,” is an unstabilized suspension consisting of solid peanut particles in peanut oil which is a Newtonian fluid. The second type, referred to as “smooth,” consists of the same suspension stabilized with a vegetable oil and contains other ingredients such as salt and sugar in very small quantities. A mean volume particle diameter of 6.6 μm has been determined, the particle diameter distribution was found to be narrow, and the solids volume fraction was estimated to be 0.6. Slip encountered in rheometry was greatly reduced by gluing sandpaper to the parallel plates of the rheometer. Both samples behaved like plastic materials and apparent yield stresses of 24 Pa and 370 Pa have been determined for the unstabilized and the stabilized suspensions, respectively. No linear domain was found for both suspensions and the non-linearity was confirmed by deformed Lissajous curves and higher odd harmonics in the output signal of small amplitude oscillatory shear experiments. The stabilized suspension behaved more like a solid, the elastic modulus being larger than the loss modulus and almost independent of the frequency. This solid-like behavior is supposedly caused by strong repulsive (steric) forces induced by the stabilizing agent. Received: 29 September 1999 Accepted: 9 August 2000     

A rheological approach to the stability of humic acid/clay colloidal suspensions

Steady-state, oscillatory, and transient rheological determinations were used to assess the stability of homoionic sodium montmorillonite (NaMt) suspensions at constant ionic strength (10^–2 mol/l NaCl) and different pH values, after adsorption of humic acid (HA) on the particles. The adsorption of the latter was first spectrophotometrically determined, at pH 3 and 9. While at pH 9 adsorption saturation was observed, at pH 3 the adsorption density continued to grow up to the maximum equilibrium HA concentration reached (∼200 mg/l). Considering the similarity between the structure of edge surfaces of NaMt particles and the surfaces of silica and alumina, the adsorption of HA was also investigated on the latter solids. The results suggest that at pH 3 humic acids adsorb preferentially on edge surfaces, mainly through electrostatic attraction with positively charged aluminol groups. This hypothesis is indirectly confirmed by zeta potential, ζ, values: while HA concentration has little effect on ζ for silica, the addition of HA yields the zeta potential of alumina increasingly negative for all pH values. Using shear stress vs shear rate plots, the yield stress of NaMt was determined as a function of particle concentration, C, for pH 3, 5, 7, and 9, with and without addition of 50 mg/l HA. The yield stress, σ_y, was fitted with a power law σ_y∝C ⁿ ; it was found that n values as high as 12 are characteristic of NaMt suspensions at pH 9 in the presence of HA. This indicates a strong stabilizing effect of humic acid. This stabilization was confirmed by oscillometric measurements, as the storage modulus G′ in the viscoelastic linear region also scales with C, displaying large n values at neutral and basic pHs in the presence of HA. The modulus (in the viscoelastic linear region, for a frequency ν=1 Hz) was found to increase with time, but G′ was lower at any time when HA was added, a consequence of the stabilization provided by HA. Similarly, creep-recovery experiments demonstrated that NaMt suspensions containing HA displayed a less elastic behavior, and a permanent deformation. Modeling the results as a Kelvin-Voigt model allowed one to establish a new scaling law of the reciprocal instantaneous deformation with C. As before, high values of n were found for suspensions at pH 9 in the presence of HA.     

On the interaction of cubically nonlinear transverse plane waves in an elastic material

The paper presents theoretical results on the interaction of cubically nonlinear harmonic elastic plane waves in a nonlinear material described by the Murnaghan potential. The interaction of two harmonic transverse waves is studied using the method of slowly varying amplitude. Reduced and evolution equations and the Manley-Rowe relations are derived. An analysis is made of the mechanism of energy transfer from the strong pumping wave, which has frequency ω, to the weak signal wave, which has frequency 3ω because of this interaction. A switching mechanism for hypersonic waves in a nonlinear elastic material is described, which is similar to the switching mechanism observed in transistors __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 61–70, June 2006.     

On a Fluid-Structure Model in Which the Dynamics of the Structure Involves the Shear Stress Due to the Fluid

In this paper we consider a model for fluid-structure interaction. The hybrid system describes the interaction between an incompressible fluid in a three-dimensional container with interior a fixed domain and a thin elastic plate, the interface, which coincides with a flexible flat part of the surface of the vessel containing the fluid. The motion of the fluid is described by the linearized Navier–Stokes equations and the deformation of the plate by the classical plate equations for in-plane motions, modified to include the viscous shear stress which the fluid exerts on the plate as well as damping of Kelvin–Voigt type. We establish the existence of a unique weak solution of the interactive system of partial differential equations by considering an appropriate variational formulation. Uniform stability of the energy associated with the model is shown under the assumption that the potential plate energy is dominated by the dissipation induced by the viscosity of the fluid. The retention of the physical parameters in the problem is an a priori requirement in this physical condition.      

Boundary film shear elastic modulus effect in hydrodynamic contact. Part I: theoretical analysis and typical solution

Boundary film shear elastic modulus effect is analyzed in a hydrodynamic contact. The contact is one-dimensional composed of two parallel plane surfaces, which are, respectively, rough rigid with rectangular micro projections in profile periodically distributed on the surface and ideally smooth rigid. The whole contact is consisted of cavitated area and hydrodynamic area. The hydrodynamic area consists of many micro Raleigh bearings which are discontinuously and periodically distributed in the contact. Analysis is thus carried out for a micro Raleigh bearing in this contact. The hydrodynamic contact in this micro Raleigh bearing consists of boundary film area and fluid film area which, respectively, occur in the outlet and inlet zones. In boundary film area, the film slips at the upper contact surface due to the limited shear stress capacity of the film–contact interface, while the film does not slip at the lower contact surface due to the shear stress capacity large enough at the film–contact interface. In boundary film area, the viscosity, density and shear elastic modulus of the film are varied across the film thickness due to the film–contact interactions, and their effective values are used in modeling, which depend on the film thickness. The analytical approach proposed by Zhang (J Mol Liq 128:60–64, 2006) and Zhang et al. (Int J Fluid Mech Res 30:542–557, 2003) is used for boundary film area. In fluid film area, the film does not slip at either of the contact surfaces, and the shear elastic modulus of the film is neglected. Conventional hydrodynamic analysis is used for fluid film area. The present paper presents the theoretical analysis and a typical solution. It is found that for the simulated case the boundary film shear elastic modulus effects on the mass flow through the contact, the overall film thickness of the contact and the carried load of the contact are negligible but the boundary film shear elastic modulus effect on the local film thickness of the contact may be significant when the boundary film thickness is on the 1 nm scale and the contact surfaces are elastic. In Part II will be presented detailed results showing boundary film shear elastic modulus effects in different operating conditions.

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The rheological behaviour of Ca(OH)2 suspensions

The rheological behaviour of Ca(OH)₂ suspensions is investigated, predominantly at a solid volume fraction of 0.25. The influence of standing without being subject to shear (“contact time”) is distinguished from that of being sheared (“shearing time”). The results are interpreted on the basis of the “elastic floc” model of energy dissipation during flow, with a view to the problem whether, in addition to an energy dissipation term related to the viscous drag experienced by particles moving within flocs, there should be an independent energy dissipation term related to fluid movement in the flocs when they change volume or shape. It appears that this additional energy dissipation term is not necessary, if the increase in viscous friction, experienced by two particles which are close together, is taken into account. Paper, presented at the First Conference of European Rheologists at Graz, April 14–16, 1982. A short version has been published in [18].     

Experiments on the unsteady nature of vortex breakdown over delta wings

 Vortex breakdown location over delta wings is not steady and exhibits fluctuations along the axis of the vortices. Experiments on the nature and source of these fluctuations were carried out. Spectral analysis and other statistical concepts were used to quantify the unsteady behaviour of vortex breakdown location obtained from flow visualization. The fluctuations consist of quasi-periodic oscillations and high-frequency low amplitude displacements. The quasi-periodic oscillations are due to an interaction between the vortices, which cause the antisymmetric motion of breakdown locations for left and right vortices. The oscillations are larger and more coherent as the time-averaged breakdown locations get closer to each other as angle of attack or sweep angle is varied. The frequency of this organized motion is much smaller than the frequency of any other known instabilities. On the other hand, the most probable frequency for the high-frequency small-amplitude fluctuations of breakdown location is in the same range as the frequency of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability of the separated shear layer. A mechanism for the interaction between the vortices causing the oscillations of breakdown location was proposed. When a splitter plate was placed in the symmetry plane of the wing, the large amplitude quasi-periodic oscillations of breakdown location were suppressed. Received: 10 March 1998 / Accepted: 27 October 1998     

Asymptotic Analysis of High-Contrast Phononic Crystals and a Criterion for the Band-Gap Opening

We investigate the band-gap structure of the frequency spectrum for elastic waves in a high-contrast, two-component periodic elastic medium. We consider two-dimensional phononic crystals consisting of a background medium which is perforated by an array of holes periodic along each of the two orthogonal coordinate axes. In this paper we establish a full asymptotic formula for dispersion relations of phononic band structures as the contrast of the shear modulus and that of the density become large. The main ingredients are integral equation formulations of the solutions to the harmonic oscillatory linear elastic equation and several theorems concerning the characteristic values of meromorphic operator-valued functions in the complex plane, such as the generalized Rouché’s theorem. We establish a connection between the band structures and the Dirichlet eigenvalue problem on the elementary hole. We also provide a criterion for exhibiting gaps in the band structure which shows that smaller the density of the matrix is, the wider the band-gap is, provided that the criterion is fulfilled. This phenomenon was reported by Economou and Sigalas (J Acoust Soc Am 95:1734–1740, 1994) who observed that periodic elastic composites whose matrix has lower density and higher shear modulus compared to those of inclusions yield better open gaps. Our analysis in this paper agrees with this experimental finding.     

Asymptotic models of contact interaction among elliptic punches on a semiclassical foundation

Consideration is given to the contact without friction among an arbitrary number of elliptic punches or punches in the form of an elliptic paraboloid and an elastic half-space with Young's modulus as a power-law function of the distance from the edge. Asymptotic models of contact interaction are designed assuming that the distance between punches is large compared with their dimensions __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 78–96, January 2006.     

Effect of poly(ethylene oxide) on the rheological behavior of silica suspensions

The steady-shear viscosity, dynamic viscoelasticity, and sedimentation behavior were measured for silica suspensions dispersed in aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). For suspensions prepared with polymer solutions in which the transient network is developed by entanglements, the viscosity at a given shear rate decreases, shows a minimum, and then increases with increasing particle concentration. Because the suspensions are sterically stabilized under the conditions where the particle surfaces are fully covered with by a thick layer of adsorbed polymer, the viscosity decrease can be attributed to the reduction of network density in solution. But under the low coverage conditions, the particles are flocculated by bridging and this leads to a viscosity increase with shear-thinning profiles. The polymer chains with high molecular weights form flexible bridges between particles. The stress-dependent curve of storage modulus measured by a stress amplitude sweep shows an increase prior to a drastic drop due to structural breakdown. The increase in elastic responses may arise from the restoring forces of extended bridges with high deformability. The effect of PEO on the rheological behavior of silica suspensions can be explained by a combination of concentration reduction of polymer in solution and flocculation by bridging.     

Rheological and mechanical properties of silica colloids: from Newtonian liquid to brittle behaviour

Rheological and mechanical properties of aqueous mono-disperse silica suspensions (Ludox? HS40) are investigated as a function of particle volume fraction (ϕ _p ranging from 0.22 to 0.51) and water content, using shear rate tests, oscillatory methods, indentation and an ultrasonic technique. As the samples are progressively dried, four regimes are identified; they are related to the increasing particle content and the existence and behaviour of the electrical double layer (EDL) around each particle. For 0.22 ≤ ϕ _p ≤ 0.30), the suspensions are stable due to the strong electrostatic repulsion between particles and show Newtonian behaviour (I). As water is removed, the solution pH decreases and the ionic strength increases. The EDL thickness therefore slowly decreases, and screening of the electrostatic repulsion increases. For 0.31 ≤ ϕ _p ≤ 0.35, the suspensions become turbid and exhibit viscoelastic (VE) shear thinning behaviour (II), as they progressively flocculate. For 0.35 ≤ ϕ _p ≤ 0.47, the suspensions turn transparent again and paste-like, with VE shear thinning behaviour and high elastic modulus (III). At higher particle concentration, the suspensions undergo a glass transition and behave as an elastic brittle solid (IV, ϕ _p = 0.51).     

On the propagation of elastic waves through composite media II

Summary The propagation of elastic waves (both longitudinal and transverse) through polyurethane rubbers filled with different amounts of sodium chloride particles was studied at 0.8 MHz and 5 MHz. At a constant filler concentration (∼10% by volume), the velocity of these waves appeared to be independent of filler size. On the other hand, both velocities were found to increase with filler content. From the wave velocities, the effective modulus for longitudinal waves, L, bulk modulus, K, and shear modulus, G, were calculated according to the relations for a homogeneous isotropic material. All three moduli appear to be monotonically increasing functions of filler content, c, over the whole experimentally accessible temperature range (−80°C to +80°C for L and K; −80°C to about −30°C for G) and they, moreover, reflect the glass-rubber transition of the binder. Poissons ratio, μ, was found to decrease with increasing filler content and shows a rise at about −30°C as a result of the approach of the glass-rubber transition. The attenuation of the elastic waves was also measured in the temperature ranges mentioned. For filler particles beyond a critical size both tan δ_L and tan δ_G in the hard region are independent of the filler content within the accuracy of the measurements. The critical size depends on the type of wave and on its frequency. In the rubbery region, however, tan δ_L increases with particle size (at a constant content of 10% by volume) and even shows an enhancement with the smallest particles (1–5 μ) at 0.8 MHz. Moreover, it is found that for the same filler size tan δ_L increases with filler content. In some cases an anomalous damping behaviour was found, such that in the rubbery region the attenuation rises indefinitely with temperature. For filler particles larger than the above-mentioned critical size, tan δ_G and tan δ_L increase in the hard region as well. Finally, the experimental results are compared with existing theories on the elastic properties of and wave propagation through composite media.     

Boundary film shear elastic modulus effect in hydrodynamic contact. Part II: influence of operational parameters

The present paper is the subsequent research of the first part (Theor Comput Fluid Dyn, 2009). It investigates the boundary film shear elastic modulus effect in a hydrodynamic contact in different operating conditions. The hydrodynamic contact is one-dimensional, composed of two parallel plane surfaces, which are respectively rough rigid with rectangular micro projections in profile periodically distributed on the surface and ideally smooth rigid. The whole contact consists of cavitated area and hydrodynamic area. The hydrodynamic area consists of many micro Raleigh bearings which are discontinuously and periodically distributed in the contact. The hydrodynamic contact in a micro Raleigh bearing consists of boundary film area and fluid film area which, respectively, occur in the outlet and inlet zones. In boundary film area, the film slips at the upper contact surface due to the limited shear stress capacity of the film–contact interface, while the film does not slip at the lower contact surface due to the shear stress capacity of the film–contact interface large enough. In boundary film area, the viscosity, density, and shear elastic modulus of the film are varied across the film thickness due to the film–contact interactions, and their effective values are used in modeling which depends on the film thickness. In fluid film area, the film does not slip at either of the contact surfaces, and the shear elastic modulus of the film is neglected. It is found from the simulation results that the boundary film shear elastic modulus influences are normally negligible on the mass flow through the contact, the carried load of the contact and the overall film thickness of the contact, and the boundary film shear elastic modulus would normally influence the local film thickness in an elastic contact when the local film thickness is on the film molecule diameter scale. It is also found that the boundary film shear elastic modulus effect has the tendency of being increased with the reduction of the width of a micro contact. It is increased with the reduction of the boundary film–contact interfacial shear strength or with the increase of the critical boundary film thickness, while it is strongest at certain values of the contact surface roughness, the width ratio of fluid film area to boundary film area, and the lubricant film shear elastic modulus.

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Rheology of poly(methyl methacrylate-<Emphasis Type="Italic">co</Emphasis>-styrene) particles suspended in water: effects of electrostatic surface layer

 Linear and nonlinear viscoelastic properties were examined for aqueous suspensions of monodisperse poly(methyl methacrylate-co-styrene) (MS) particles having the radius a ₀ =45 nm and the volume fractions φ=0.428−0.448. These particles had surface charges and the resulting electrostatic surface layer (electric double layer) had a thickness of t_s=5.7 nm. At low frequencies in the linear viscoelastic regime, the MS particles behaved approximately as the Brownian hard particles having an effective radius a _eff=a ₀ + t_s, and the dependence of their zero-shear viscosity η₀ on an effective volume fraction φ_eff (={a _eff/a ₀}³φ) agreed with the φ dependence of η₀ of ideal hard-core silica suspensions. In a range of φ_eff < 0.63, this φ_eff dependence was well described by the Brady theory. However, the φ_eff dependence of the high-frequency plateau modulus was weaker and the terminal relaxation mode distribution was narrower for the MS suspensions than for the hard-core suspensions. This result suggested that the electrostatic surface layer of the MS particles was soft and penetrable (at high frequencies). In fact, this “softness” was more clearly observed in the nonlinear regime: the nonlinear damping against step strain was weaker and the thinning under steady shear was less significant for the MS suspension than for the hard-core silica suspensions having the same φ_eff. These weaker nonlinearities of the concentrated MS particles with φ_eff∼ 0.63 (maximum volume fraction for random packing) suggested that the surface layers of those particles were mutually penetrating to provide the particles with a rather large mobility. Received: 10 July 2001 Accepted: 2 November 2001     

Extension of an elastic space with a rigid bar

An asymptotic model for deformation of an elastic space with a rigid thin reinforcing bar is constructed. The elastic modulus of the fiber far exceeds the elastic modulus of the matrix. The shape optimization problem for the reinforcing bar is solved on the basis of the uniform strength condition. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 120–128, January–February, 2008.     

Dynamic simulation of non-spherical particulate suspensions

Particle-level simulation has been employed to investigate rheology and microstructure of non-spherical particulate suspensions in a simple shear flow. Non-spherical particles in Newtonian fluids are modeled as three-dimensional clusters of neutrally buoyant, non-Brownian spheres linked together by Hookean-type constraint force. Rotne–Prager correction to velocity disturbance has been employed to account for far-field hydrodynamic interactions. An isolated rod-like particle in simple shear flow exhibits a periodic orientation distribution, commonly referred to as Jeffery orbit. Lubrication-like repulsive potential between clusters have been included in simulation of rod-like suspensions at various aspect ratios over dilute to semi-dilute volume fractions. Shear viscosity evaluated by orientation distribution qualitatively agrees with one obtained by direct computation of shear stress.     

Fragile networks and rheology of concentrated suspensions

Suspensions consisting of particles of colloidal dimensions have been reported to form connected structures. When attractive forces act between particles in suspension they may flocculate and, depending on particle concentration, shear history and other parameters, flocs may build-up in a three-dimensional network which spans the suspension sample. In this paper a floc network model is introduced to interpret the elastic behavior of flocculated suspensions at small deformations. Elastic percolation concepts are used to explain the variation of the elastic modulus with concentration. Data taken from the suspension rheology literature, and new results with suspensions of magnetic -Fe₂O₃ and non-magnetic -Fe₂O₃ particles in mineral oil are interpreted with the model proposed.Non-zero elastic modulus appeared at threshold particle concentrations of about 0.7 vol.% and 0.4 vol.% of the magnetic and non-magnetic suspensions, respectively. The difference is attributed to the denser flocs formed by magnetic suspensions. The volume fraction of particles in the flocs was estimated from the threshold particle concentration by transforming this concentration into a critical volume concentration of flocs, and identifying this critical concentration with the theoretical percolation threshold of three-dimensional networks of different coordination numbers. The results obtained indicate that the flocs are low-density structures, in agreement with cryo-scanning electron micrographs. Above the critical concentration the dynamic elastic modulus G was found to follow a scaling law of the type G ( _f - _f ^c ) ^f , where _f is the volume fraction of flocs in suspension, and _f ^c is its threshold value. For magnetic suspensions the exponent f was found to rise from a low value of about 1.0 to a value of 2.26 as particle concentration was increased. For the non-magnetic a similar change in f was observed; f changed from 0.95 to 3.6. Two other flocculated suspension systems taken from the literature showed a similar change in exponent. This suggests the possibility of a change in the mechanism of stress transport in the suspension as concentration increases, i.e., from a floc-floc bond-bending force mechanism to a rigidity percolation mechanism.     

Rice Local Phase Angle Study for a Delamination Problem Between a Shape Memory Alloy and an Elastic Material

The present study is an extension of a recent paper of Freed et al. (J Mech Phys Solids 56:3003–3020, 2008). The final aim is to describe the transformation toughening behavior of a static crack along an interface between a shape memory alloy (SMA) and a linear elastic isotropic material. With an SMA as an equivalent Huber–Von Mises stress model (hypothesis of symmetric behavior between tension and compression), Freed et al. determine the initiation (ending) phase transformation yield surfaces in terms of the local phase angle introduced by Rice et al. (Metal ceramic interfaces, Pergamon Press, New York, pp 269–294, 1990). In this paper we give the general framework to determine this angle for a model integrating the asymmetry between tension and compression (experimentally measured: Vacher and Lexcellent in Proc ICM 6:231–236, 1991; Orgéas and Favier in Acta Mater 46(15):5579–5591, 2000), the Huber–Von Mises model being only a particular case. We demonstrate the local phase angle existence in an appropriate framing domain and give a sufficient hypothesis for its uniqueness and an algorithm to obtain it. Estimates are obtained in terms of physical quantities such as the Young modulus ratio, the bimaterial Poisson modulus values and also the choice of the yield loading functions. Finally, we illustrate this theoretical study by an application linking the asymmetry intensity on the width and the shape on predicted phase transformation surfaces and by a comparison with the symmetric case.     

Seismic Wave Propagation in Composite Elastic Media

It has been known since the time of Biot–Gassman theory (Biot, J Acoust Soc Am 28:168–178, 1956, Gassmann, Naturf Ges Zurich 96:1–24, 1951) that additional seismic waves are predicted by a multicomponent theory. It is shown in this article that if the second or third phase is also an elastic medium then multiple p and s waves are predicted. Futhermore, since viscous dissipation no longer appears as an attenuation mechanism and the media are perfectly elastic, these waves propagate without attenuation. As well, these additional elastic waves contain information about the coupling of the elastic solids at the pore scale. Attempts to model such a medium as a single elastic solid causes this additional information to be misinterpreted. In the limit as the shear modulus of one of the solids tends to zero, it is shown that the equations of motion become identical to the equations of motion for a fluid filled porous medium when the viscosity of the fluid becomes zero. In this limit, an additional dilatational wave is predicted, which moves the fluid though the porous matrix much similar to a heart pumping blood through a body. This allows for a connection with studies which have been done on fluid-filled porous media (Spanos, 2002).