Evaluation of Mechnical Properties of Hard Coatings for University of Nottingham

A number of tests were carried out on the Universal Nano+Micro Tester mod. UNMT-1. The general appearance of the tester is shown in Figure 1. It is a highly precision instrument for nano and micro mechanical and tribological testing of practically all types of thin films and coatings, including metals, ceramics, composites, polymers, etc. It provides a combination of rotary and linear, including reciprocating, motions in both vertical and horizontal directions, and measures numerous parameters such as normal and lateral forces and torques, wear and deformation, contact acoustic emission, contact electrical resistance, temperature, etc. An optional nano-indentation head measures nano-hardness and elastic modulus of thin films. The unique modular design provides the capability of fast switching between multiple testing modes (such as friction, wear, micro-scratch, nano-indentation, AFM imaging, etc.) by simply swapping the easily-replaceable drive stages and sensors. A high-frequency multi-channel data-acquisition system, with data samp领 at thousands times per second, allows for detection of almost instantaneous tiny sub-micro-contact and sub-micro-failure events in sophisticated test sequences. Integrated optical microscopy allows for precision sample micropositioning, digital video of the in-situ dynamics of surface failure, and micro-images of wear tracks, indents and scratches. Optional integrated atomic force microscope provides nanoimaging of test surfaces, wear tracks, indents and scratches, both periodically during testing and post-test.