Installation and Commissioning of a High Temperature Ultra Nanoindentation Tester

Abstract

The Institute for Energy and Transport (IET) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) has purchased a modular Nanoindentation Test System for testing the physical properties of metallic, ceramic and composite materials at small length scales. The instrument allows the measurements of nanoindentation hardness and Young's modulus, creep, fracture toughness and ductile-to-brittle transition temperature at nano length scales from cryogenic to high temperatures (-150 °C ~ 700 °C). Measurements can be applied to characterize the properties of hard coatings, single or multi-layer films, bulk soft materials, polymer films and multi-phase alloys.