Micro Materials

Are you wrangling with the issue of creep in high temperature nanoindentation testing?
For the latest practical advice, join our online seminar
on Thurs 12th Sept:

"What to do about creep in high temperature nanoindentation ?"
- speaker: Prof. Ben Beake, Micro Materials Ltd

Free to register now at https://my.demio.com/ref/K1JYKnV8HAm1aAjZ

Can't make the 12th Sept? - Please consider registering anyway, as all registrants will receive a link to enable them to view the seminar at a later time.

To find out more about the industry-leading high temperature capabilities of Micro Materials Ltd's instruments, please visit: https://www.micromaterials.co.uk

In our collaboration with Prof Tomasz Liskiewicz and his team at hashtag , our new random impact test is being used to design more erosion-resistant coatings by understanding how damage from multiple particle impacts accumulates in erosion of hard coatings. This AlCrN coating is susceptible to chipping extending far from individual impacts.

For more information on the randomised impact test technique, please visit https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/techniques/randomised-impact/

Micro Materials - we've been at the forefront of nanomechanics innovation since 1988 with

- the first commercial high temperature nanoindentation stage
- the first commercial nano-impact tester
- the first commercial liquid cell
- the first commercial instrument for high-vacuum, high-temperature nanomechanics

find out more by visiting https://www.micromaterials.co.uk

testing

Cream of the crop for CEAM! - Researchers from the Dongguan Centre of Excellence for Advanced Materials (hashtag ) and Paul Cooper, Engineering Manager at Micro Materials, are shown with the newly-installed hashtag Xtreme. It's the most multi-functional high temperature vacuum nanomechanical testing instrument Micro Materials has supplied to date - a particularly satisfying achievement for our engineering and commercial teams.
If your research requires test conditions that closely mimic real-world environments, including testing at temperatures upto and exceeding 1000 degrees C, with ultra-low thermal drift, you can find more information on the NanoTest Xtreme at https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/products/nanotest-xtreme/

The other photos in this post were taken by Paul during off-duty sightseeing visits, including to the impressive Terracotta Army figures, which date from 210 BCE.

So good they bought another! - one of the two Vantage instruments at the is shown following a recent move to a new lab within the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering.
Find out why the NanoTest Vantage is the preferred choice of materials researchers across the world by visiting https://www.micromaterials.co.uk

Coatings researchers - if you are interested in how to improve the fatigue life of your coatings – we recommend taking a look at this new paper published in Thin Solid Films, vol. 798, 15th June 024, 140369 describing work carried out by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) using the Micro Materials hashtag instrument.

The paper, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140369
describes a novel experimental approach for investigating the fatigue properties of thin TiN coatings on tool steel using cyclic micro-impact testing, generating quantitative maps of fatigue life over a wide range of impact energies to simulate low-cycle fatigue conditions.

For information on the micro-impact testing capabilities of the hashtag , please visit the micro impact page on our website at:
https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/techniques/micro-impact

Thanks to all those who visited the hashtag / hashtag stand at Nordtrib 2024 this week, where we presented the hashtag 's capabilities for tribology applications, including high temperature scratch and friction testing.

Explore these further at ➡ https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/techniques

On the basis of our excellent experience at this event, we're already looking forward to the next in the series, when tribologists from northern Europe and beyond will be meeting at Tampere University in Finland in June 2026

Micro Materials and our European distributor Quantum Design Europe will be exhibiting at the NORDTRIB 2024 event being held at DTU, Lyngby, Denmark 11th-14th June, presenting the NanoTest instrument - and showing how it can be used for industrial tribology applications across the temperature range.
For information, please visit: https://www.micromaterials.co.uk

Manning the Micro Materials stand at the LMP conference in Prague last week, Gerard Irwin and Artur Kulinczak were pleased to meet old and new contacts from the European nanoindentation community and update them on the latest developments with the NanoTest, including randomised impact testing, statistically-distributed scratch testing and recent work relating to high temperature creep resistance.
For more information, please visit https://www.micromaterials.co.uk

Refractory High Entropy Alloys (R-HEAs) can potentially provide an exciting technical solution for applications requiring high creep-resistance at temperatures beyond the capabilities offered by conventional superalloys.
This new Technical Note includes a mini-case study of
high temperature nanoindentation performed using MML's instrument on a refractory high-entropy alloy (R-HEA) based on five principal elements (Mo, Nb, Ta, V, and W) to investigate the effect of temperature on hardness, modulus and creep resistance. Read more here:https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/HT-creep-resistance-4-page-v4.pdf

Find out more about Micro Materials and why we are the preferred choice for materials researchers around the world ➡️ https://www.micromaterials.co.uk

Will you be at in San Diego today, Mon 20th May? Make sure you add this key talk to your afternoon schedule:
Prof Ben Beake, Micro Materials Director of Materials Development
"Elevated Temperature Micro-Scale Impact Testing of Thermal Barrier Coatings for Erosion Simulation "
Monday May 20th 2:40pm - 3:00pm in Room Palm 5-6, session MA2-1-MoA

Visit us on 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟯𝟭𝟴 at ICMCTF to learn about MML’s latest product developments in high temperature nanoindentation, including high temperature creep testing, randomised impact testing and statistically-distributed scratch testing

On behalf of our distributor, Honoprof Beijing, we would like to thank to all those who visited the stand at the National Academic Surface Engineering conference in Ningbo, China last week.
If, like the visitors to the stand, you would like to find out more about the very high temperature capabilities of our NanoTest Xtreme instrument, please visit https:www.micromaterials.co.uk/environment/testing1000/

ICMCTF 2024

Micro Materials will be exhibiting on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd May at the 50th anniversary of the International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films (ICMCTF) 2024 in San Diego.

ICMCTF is the premier international conference in the field of thin film deposition, characterization, and advanced surface engineering and promotes a global exchange of ideas and information among scientists, technologists, and manufacturers.

Visit us on Stand 318 to learn about MML’s latest product developments, including the new “random impact” module, a revolutionary nano-impact testing method for simulating erosive wear, and our NanoTest Xtreme instrument, which provides a high-vacuum environment for testing at high temperatures upto and exceeding 1000ºC and down to cold temperatures of -40ºC and below. For more information, please visit https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/environment/testing1000/ or
https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/environment/low-temperature

For more information and to register for the event visit: icmctf2024.avs.org

We look forward to seeing you on Stand 318!

Do you need to know more about nanoindentation testing at extreme temperatures?
In the latest in our series of free, online seminars, Dr Hannah Zhang of NPL will give an overview of instrumented indentation tests on hard metals, glasses and thin coatings carried out at various temperatures - from cryogenic to elevated.

Register here: https://my.demio.com/ref/CwZ91KzLnNKYbB3H

Can't make the 30th May? Please consider registering anyway, as all registrants will receive a link to enable them to view the event at a later time.

Multi-technique and multi-scale nanomechanics Dr Hannah Zhang will give an overview of Instrumented indentation-related tests.

NEW Case study -
The study describes how a series of micro-impact tests was carried out by researchers at CranfieldUniversity during a project to develop new, sustainable erosion-resistant coatings. The tests also included the randomised impact test pioneered by MML.
For more information on this novel technique, please visit https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/techniques/randomised-impact/

When used by manufacturers of aerospace engines, for example, the new coatings will reduce costs and also reduce the environmental impact of the engines.

To view the case study, please visit: https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/literature/user-profiles/

Micro Materials Ltd is exhibiting at ROMTRIB 2024 in Bucharest this week. Pictured today on the stand is Artur Kulinczak, sales channel manager for Eastern Europe. For further information on the range of tribological techniques available on the MML NanoTest instrument, including tribology at high temperatures, please visit
https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/environment/hightemperature/

Interested in nanoindentation on high entropy alloys?
Register NOW for our free, online seminar 2nd May 2024

https://my.demio.com/ref/nXTXWoVCoFtABbjZ

Speaker: Dr Abheepsit Raturi, IIT Kanpur

Refractory HEAs with BCC structure are promising structural materials for power, aerospace, and nuclear applications, However, the mechanisms governing their strength at high temperature are not fully understood. Traditional methods for determining the elastic modulus and strength at elevated temperatures require large samples and expensive setups. The nanoindentation offers a novel approach to predict hardness and modulus values at different temperatures. Therefore, In this webinar Dr Raturi will
• present measured nanoindentation hardness and modulus data of refractory HEAs over a temperature range of 298-1173 K, exploring the softening trends in hardness and modulus with increasing temperature.
• conduct a comparison between the measured nanoindentation elastic modulus and strength properties and the corresponding values estimates by Ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations.

Micro Materials has recently led a project to make industrial coatings that can resist erosion at higher temperatures than was possible until now. The coatings will be used in jet engines and concentrated solar power plants, enabling them to operate more efficiently. This could help save aviation fuel and generate more renewable energy, contributing to net zero targets.

Our partners in the project were Cranfield University and the specialist coatings company Thin Metal Films. The university’s role was to develop a coating for jet engines, while Thin Metal Films produced a coating for concentrated solar power plants. Micro Materials, as a specialist nanomechanical testing company, designed tools to test the coatings.

Dr Ben Beake, the project’s Principal Investigator and Director of Materials Research at Micro Materials, said:
" We developed the tools that enabled the other partners to produce damage-tolerant coating systems for these harsh environments. In this case, the environments can cause damage through contact with particles like dust and sand, and intense heat. Materials performance typically drops at these high temperatures, things don’t stay as hard as they should be and they’re more easily damaged."

The results were encouraging -
Higher temperature performance was achieved in impact (850⁰C versus 600⁰C previously) and in nano-indentation (tests were conducted successfully at 1,080⁰C versus a previous maximum of 1,000⁰C).
Ben said:
"We had hoped to achieve temperatures of 1200⁰C, and we did manage to do that with individual components, breaking previous records. We believe we could still achieve our goal for the whole test instrument in the near future. The project successfully increased the maximum temperatures our instruments can test at, leading to increased sales revenue and additional manufacturing jobs as we’ll need more people to build them.

Potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions -
These results could have significant impact beyond the laboratory. For example, if the new coatings could increase jet engine operating temperatures from 1,270⁰C to 1,300⁰C there could be an 8% saving on fuel, with a corresponding reduction in greenhouse gas emissions."

The project received funding of £390,229 from Innovate UK’s Smart Grants programme.
Ben said:
"For a company like ours having this kind of funding is very useful. The project has improved our knowledge about the aerospace and solar markets, and we have developed our technology to better meet their needs. We anticipate follow-on projects to improve coating abrasion resistance in those sectors."

Micro Materials is pleased to present an excellent new resource for materials researchers in high temperature nanoindenation.
To access the link to this new resource, please visit
https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/environment/hightemperature/

Micro Materials is pleased to partner with Surface Ventures Ltd for this keynote seminar. The speaker will be
Prof Robert Ian Taylor of The University of Central Lancashire - UCLan
Register here: https://my.demio.com/ref/FFi1yqm8KyklZeUZ
Can't attend live? Please register anyway and you will receive a link to view the recording of the event at a later time.

Attending TMS 2024 in Orlando?
The MML team is ready and waiting on stand #320 to discuss what's new in high temperature nanoindentation, including high temperature creep testing.

Micro Materials will be exhibiting at the TMS conference in Orlando, Florida, which will take place March 3rd - 7th 2024. We're looking forward to meeting you on stand #320. Come find out about what we're doing in high temperature nanoindentation, high temperature creep testing and how our newly developed techniques randomised impact testing and statistically-distributed scratch testing can speed up your materials research.

We are pleased to invite you to our latest online seminar:
"Pushing the limits in nanomechanical testing"
Speaker: Dr James Gibson, UKAEA
Tuesday 12th March, starting at 4pm GMT
Register here:
https://my.demio.com/ref/X1CXjq2yiFROmJoK

From this seminar, you will learn:
• Some of the technical challenges of high temperature nanoindentation - and how to overcome them.
• Some fundamental issues when conducting indentation at very high strain rates.
• How electrical currents can be used to alter the deformation mechanisms in complex crystals

Materials researchers using the nano-impact test: - take a look at
this new paper published in the Journal of Materials Science & Technology
Co-authored by Ben Beake in collaboration with researchers from SouthEast University, Nanjing and Xi'an Jiatong University, the paper is entitled "Probing the small-scale impact deformation mechanism in an aluminium single-crystal", and is free to access until 13th March by following this link: https://lnkd.in/e-nkX5bT
- once again demonstrating Micro Materials' leadership in the field of high end nanomechanical testing research

Micro Materials is pleased to announce the publication of a new paper featuring the Statistically distributed nano-scratch test technique.
Co-authored by Ben Beake, Stephen Goodes, Vladimir M. Vishnyakov, Azadeh Taher Rahmati , the paper was published in JVST:A (Vol 42, Issue1) 2024. https://lnkd.in/eRAg43sX
The paper describes how statistically distributed nano-scratch testing was carried out on high entropy alloys and nanocomposite thin films on silicon, providing a more direct measure of abrasion resistance than standard nano-scratch tests.

The paper was published in a Special Collection honouring the major contributions of Professor Joe Greene, University of Illinois, to the understanding of of the physics, chemistry and materials science of thin films.

The development of the statistically distributed nano-scratch technique by Micro Materials received support from Innovate UK KTN, through a Knowledge Transfer Project, on which Ben and Stephen worked in collaboration with researchers Vladimir Vishnyakov (University of Huddersfield) and Azadeh Taher Rahmati (Manchester Metropolitan University)

- Thanks to Dr James Gibson, Department of Materials, University of Oxford for your feedback on our NanoTest Xtreme instrument.

" As a researcher in nuclear fusion, measuring the properties of our next-generation materials at operational temperature is critical for their design and development. The MicroMaterials NanoTest Xtreme allows me to reliably measure mechanical properties as a function of temperature, free from the influence of thermal drift or oxidation. I particularly appreciate the flexibility the instrument offers in terms of accommodating samples of varying sizes and geometries, allowing me to spend more time performing measurements and less time on sample preparation" -
Dr James Gibson, Research Fellow, Department of Materials, University of Oxford

For more information on the NanoTest Xtreme, please visit
https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/products/nanotest-xtreme/

Micro Materials Ltd, represented by Prof Ben Beake and Adrian Harris, took part in the Oxford Nanomech event, held this week at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
Talks given at the meeting covered advanced developments in techniques and analysis methods, across a range of applications including friction and wear, the effect of chemical environment on mechanical properties, and the mechanical behaviour of soft matter.
To find out more about MML’s own latest advanced development – a novel test to assess erosive wear resistance, please visit:
https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/techniques/randomised-impact/

Merry Christmas from Micro Materials!

When designing coatings which will be subject to high temperatures, it is important that they maintain high wear resistance at their operating temperatures. The NanoTest Vantage is a unique tool for testing coating wear resistance under these conditions. Micro Materials Ltd is currently working with a UK government agency on an exciting project in this area and we're looking forward to unveiling the results as soon as we are allowed to. In the meantime, the depth data and the SEM image below, both obtained during the same high temperature repetitive micro-scratch test on a PVC AlCrN coating at 500 C are representative of how we established MML's expertise in this area.
Curious about our recent developments in high temperature scratch and impact testing? Please follow the link to find out more:https://www.micromaterials.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/HT-SCR-IMP-Tech-Note-v1f.pdf

For over 30 years, Micro Materials has been a leading innovator in the highly specialised world of nanomechanics – constantly developing and refining equipment that has consistently set new benchmarks for performance and adaptability.

Find out more about Micro Materials and why we are the preferred choice for materials researchers around the world ➡️ micromaterials.co.uk