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William Mong Distinguished Lecture - Smaller is Stronger? – Exploring the Strange New World of Small-Scale Mechanical Behavior with Nanoindentation

by Professor George M. Pharr
Oct 29, 2014

Professor George M. Pharr, gave a lecture on October 29, 2014 titled “Smaller is Stronger? – Exploring the Strange New World of Small-Scale Mechanical Behavior with Nanoindentation".

Since its development on the mid-1980's, nanoindentation has proven an important tool for exploring and characterizing the small-scale mechanical behavior of a wide variety of materials. Some of these materials are quite unusual, either because the materials themselves are out-of-the-ordinary or because their mechanical behavior at the micro- and nano-scales is very different from that of the bulk. For example, small pillars of pure metals with diameters less than 1 micrometer can have strengths 10 to 100 times greater than their macroscopic counterparts. In this presentation, a series of examples are used to illustrate some of the unusual mechanical properties observed at small scales along with the scientific reasons for them. The examples are taken from a diverse set of disciplines including materials science, biology, geology, and medicine, all of which have benefited enormously from recent advances in nanomechanical testing.

William Mong Distinguished Lecture by Professor George M. Pharr