Abstract
Nanoindentation combined with atomic force microscopy was applied to measure the fracture toughness of polystyrene/glass interfaces. Film delamination occurs when the inelastic penetration depth approximately equals or exceeds the film thickness. The delamination size was accurately measured using atomic force microscopy. Using multilayer indentation and annular-plate analyses, the interfacial fracture toughness was then assessed. The values obtained from the two analyses are in good agreement with the fracture toughness of the interface being approximately 350 mJ/m2. By appropriate fracture surface characterization, it was shown that fracture occurs along the polystyrene/glass interface. Crack arrest marks were observed, and their possible cause discussed. On the basis of the morphology of the fracture surface, the fracture toughness was also evaluated using a process zone analysis. The result agrees well with those obtained from the other two analyses.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3378-3388 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Journal of Materials Research |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2001 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors acknowledge the initial financial support of the Center for Interfacial Engineering which was an National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center (NSF ERC) and subsequent support was from the Industrial Partnership for Research in Interfacial and Materials Engineering at the University of Minnesota. The instruments used in this work are part of the Characterization Facility at the University of Minnesota. M.L. acknowledges useful discussions with Phillip J. Cole.