Jicheng Gong

Four sizes (1, 2, 5 and 10 µm wide) of single-crystal α-Ti micro-cantilevers were manufactured from polycrystalline commercially pure Ti samples using a focussed ion beam. A nanoindenter was used to conduct micro-bending tests. The crystal orientation and alignment of the micro-cantilever beams were selected so as to activate only ⟨a⟩ slip on prism planes. A crystal plasticity finite element model was used to simulate the deflection behaviour of the cantilevers. The critical resolved shear stresses (CRSS) were determined via a reverse process of fitting the simulation results to the experimental load–displacement curves. The CRSS increased from 144 MPa for the 10 µm wide cantilevers to 566 MPa for the 1 µm wide cantilevers.

Single-crystal α-Ti microcantilevers, with various pre-selected crystal orientations, have been manufactured from a polycrystalline commercially pure Ti sample using a focused ion beam. A nanoindenter was used to conduct microbending tests. Relatively small deflections of ∼500 nm were used to measure the stiffness of the beams. Young's modulus along the beam's length direction was determined from the measured compliance by means of both simple beam theory and finite-element analysis. The results show that when the effects of flexure at the ‘fixed’ end were accounted for, by finite-element modelling, the values of Young's modulus were in excellent agreement with available macroscopic data.