REU/RET Projects

Brian Root
University: Lafayette College
Mentor in UCF: Dr. R. Vaidyanathan – AMPAC, and Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering

Characterization of Novel Materials Using Nanoindentation

This paper outlines the advantages of ‘depth sensing” or “instrumented” nanoindentation, the basic components of the indenter machine (Nanotest-600), and several key methods for extracting mechanical properties from the indentation response curve. Nanoindentation was used to characterize the mechanical properties of three classes of novel materials. These materials were aluminum-alumina nanoparticles, SiCN with carbon nanotubes, and NiTiFe. In each system, the effect of composition on the indentation response was studied.