Determination of thin film's mechanical properties

The surface of industrial component may require treatment to enhance surface characteristic. Surface treatments that cause microstructure changes in the bulk material include heating and cooling/quenching through induction, flame, laser and electron beam techniques, or mechanical treatments. Boriding is one of the thermo chemical surface treatment processes which is extensively used for ferrous and nonferrous materials. In this study, characterization and mechanical properties of FeB and Fe2B phases, which were formed on surface of SAE 1020 and SAE 1040 quality steel by boriding technique, were investigated. The aim of this study was to obtain micro structural characteristics and investigate the mechanical properties such as hardness, young?s modulus and fracture toughness of the boride layer. The produced double layer (FeB and Fe2B) was extensively analyzed with respect to Xray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) including energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), microhardness and surface roughness. Mechanical properties of layers was examined by Shimadzu Dynamic Ultra-micro Hardness test machine for estimating young?s modulus due to load-unload sensing analysis, in addition to mechanical investigation hardness-depth curves of the layer was obtained. Fracture toughness properties of surface layer FeB was calculated by Vickers Fracture Toughness method with measuring crack length after loading stage is finished. Finite element modeling was performed to determine the yield stress and stress analysis of borided substrates.