Identifying Deformation and Strain Hardening Behaviors of Nanoscale Metallic Multilayers Through Nano-wear Testing

In complex loading conditions (e.g., sliding contact), mechanical properties, such as strain hardening and initial hardness, will dictate the long-term performance of materials systems. With this in mind, the strain hardening behaviors of Cu/Nb nanoscale metallic multilayer systems were examined by performing nanoindentation tests within nanoscratch wear boxes and undeformed regions (as-deposited). Both the architecture and substrate influence were examined by utilizing three different individual layer thicknesses (2, 20, and 100 nm) and two total film thicknesses (1 and 10 µm). After nano-wear deformation, multilayer systems with thinner layers showed less volume loss as measured by laser scanning microscopy. Additionally, the hardness of the deformed regions significantly rose with respect to the as-deposited measurements, which further increased with greater wear loads. Strain hardening exponents for multilayers with thinner layers (2 and 20 nm, n ≈ 0.018 and n ≈ 0.022, respectively) were less than that determined for 100 nm systems (n ≈ 0.041). These results suggest that single-dislocation-based deformation mechanisms observed for the thinner systems limit the extent of achievable strain hardening. This conclusion indicates that impacts of both architecture strengthening and strain hardening must be considered to accurately predict multilayer performance during sliding contact across varying length scales.