Abstract
Fracture of Ti/TiN multilayer specimens was studied in situ inside a transmission electron microscope. Fracture toughness for cracks propagating perpendicular to the multilayers is found to be thickness dependent, varying from 1.45 to 2.45 MPa-m0.5 as the specimen thickness increased from 150 to 300 nm. Single-mode crack renucleation was observed in the metals layers, which is anomalous to the continuum-based elastic-plastic multilayer fracture model predictions. This is explained by the ultrafine columnar grain structure in the metal layers.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 196-199 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Scripta Materialia |
| Volume | 63 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2010 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering
- Metals and Alloys