Fracture mechanics analysis on Smart-Cut~technology.Part 2:Effect of bonding flaws

In Part 2 of the paper on the Smart-Cut process, the effects of bonding flaws characterized by the size and internal pressure before and after splitting are studied by using fracture mechanics models. It is found that the bonding flaws with large size are prone to cause severe deviation of defect growth, leading to a non-transferred area of thin layer when splitting. In a practical Smart-Cut process where the internal pressure of bonding flaws is very small, large interfacial defects always promote defect growth in the splitting process. Meanwhile, increasing the internal pressure of the bonding flaws decreases the defect growth and its deviation before splitting. The mechanism of relaxation of stiffener constraint is proposed to clarify the effect of bonding flaws. Moreover, the progress of the splitting process is analyzed when bonding flaws are present. After splitting, those bonding flaws with large size and high internal pressure are vulnerable for the blistering of the thin film during high-temperature annealing.

Editorial: Recent advances in fracture research

Fracture is a leading subject full of revolutionary and discipline penetration in a diversity of fields, e.g., mechanics, materials science, physics, medicine, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, astronautics and aeronautics. Fracture research concerns various fracture accidents in real life, and provides important theoretical supports for preventing catastrophic accidents. Investigations on damage, fracture,

SURFACE STRESS EFFECT IN MECHANICS OF NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS

This review article summarizes the advances in the surface stress effect in mechanics of nanostructured elements, including nanoparticles, nanowires, nanobeams, and nanofilms, and heterogeneous materials containing nanoscale inhomogeneities. It begins with the fundamental formulations of surface mechanics of solids, including the definition of surface stress as a surface excess quantity, the surface constitutive relations, and the surface equilibrium equations. Then, it depicts some theoretical and experimental studies of the mechanical properties of nanostructured elements, as well as the static and dynamic behaviour of cantilever sensors caused by the surface stress which is influenced by adsorption. Afterwards, the article gives a summary of the analytical elasto-static and dynamic solutions of a single as well as multiple inhomogeneities embedded in a matrix with the interface stress prevailing. The effect of surface elasticity on the diffraction of elastic waves is elucidated. Due to the difficulties in the analytical solution of inhomogeneities of complex shapes and configurations, finite element approaches have been developed for heterogeneous materials with the surface stress. Surface stress and surface energy are inherently related to crack propagation and the stress field in the vicinity of crack tips. The solutions of crack prob- lems taking into account surface stress effects are also included. Predicting the effective elastic and plastic responses of heterogeneous materials while taking into account surface and interface stresses has received much attention. The advances in this topic are inevitably delineated. Mechanics of rough surfaces appears to deserve special attention due to its theoretical and practical implications. Some most recent work is reviewed. Finally, some challenges are pointed out. They include the characterization of surfaces and interfaces of real nanomaterials, experimental mea- surements and verification of mechanical parameters of complex surfaces, and the effects of the physical and chemical processes on the surface properties, etc.

Effective elastic moduli and interface effects of nano-crystalline materials

Many properties of nanocrystalline materials are associated with interface effects. Based on their micro-structural features, the influence of interfaces on the effective elastic property of nanocrystalline materials is investigated. First, the Mori-Tanaka method is employed to determine the overall effective elastic moduli by considering a nanocrystalline material as a binary composite solid consisting of a crystal or inclusion phase with regular lattice connected by an amorphous-like interface or matrix phase. The effects of strain gradients are then examined on the effective elastic property by using the strain gradient theory to analyze a representative unit cell. Two interface mechanisms are elucidated that influence the effective stiffness and other mechanical properties of materials. One is the softening effect due to the distorted atomic structures and the increased atomic spacings in interface regions, and the other is the baffling effect due to the existence of boundary layers near interfaces.

Experimental analysis for thermal stress in functionallygradient material

Studies of displacement fields and stress concentration, due to uniform temperature change in a functionally gradient material (FGM) specimen and bimaterial (NFGM) specimen, have been made by Moire interferometry and finite element method. Results show that the thermal stresses concentration has been effectively reduced, and the distribution of the thermal deformations and thermal strains have also been relaxed and improved by transition layer of FGM.