Nanovea offers new indentation yield strength test

July 15, 2011—Nanovea, Irvine, Calif., recently introduced a patent-pending method of reliably acquiring yield strength through indentation, which the company said ultimately would replace the traditional tensile-testing machine for yield strength measurement.

Acquiring yield strength through indentation.

Traditionally yield strength has been tested by using a tensile-testing machine, a large instrument requiring enormous strength to pull apart metal, plastic and other materials. The yield strength (also known as yield point) of a material in engineering (and or materials science) is the point of stress that a material starts to deform plastically. Before reaching the yield point a material will deform elastically but return to its original shape when stress is removed—a crucial material property for nano- and micro-related materials found in advancing industries such as biomedical, microelectronics, energy and many others. Until now the most reliable way took large machine effort, sample preparation, and or was impossible to perform on small samples and localized areas.

By using Nanovea’s Mechanical Tester in indentation mode with a cylindrical flat tip, yield strength data can be easily obtained, according to the company. Nanovea’s method gives yield strength directly comparable to what is measured by traditional means. It is believed that the load per surface area at which the cylindrical flat tip penetrates, at increased speed, is directly linked to the load versus surface area at which the material starts flowing in a tensile mode test. Therefore, reliable yield strength results on an endless list of materials has never been as obtainable as it is now.

"This is just another addition on a long and growing list of what can be tested with our Mechanical Tester," said Pierre Leroux, Nanovea’s CEO.

For more information, download this PDF file for application notes: Breakthrough Indentation Yield Strength Testing.