In-Situ Mechanics of Steel, Superalloys and Bond Coating at -130^oC to 1000^oC

High-strength structural materials such as Steel, Ni-based superalloys and diffusion bond coats are widely used in challenging environments with exposure to mechanical fatigue, particle impact, and erosion at elevated temperatures. Diffusion aluminide bond coats are an example of compositionally and microstructurally graded coatings with significant variation in engineered mechanical properties across the cross-section. Nanoindentation, pillar compression and cantilever bending, particularly <i>in situ,</i> can be considered as a well-suited technique for measuring the properties of such complex microstructural materials as the deformation volume can be carefully controlled to probe different precipitates and microstructural zones. In this study, an SEM nanomechanical instrument with integrated high-temperature and cryogenic stages was used to conduct pillar compression and cantilever bending experiments at -130^oC and up to 1000^oC.