A New Methodology for Uniaxial Tensile Testing of Free-Standing Thin Films at High Strain-Rates

The investigation of strain-rate effects on the mechanical response and characteristics of thin free-standing films is crucial for the design and fabrication of more reliable MEMS devices. It is also of high interest from the scientific and materials engineering views. In this paper we present a novel apparatus and a procedure for tensile testing of thin free-standing films under a wide range of strain rates from quasistatic to high, almost comparable with those obtained in Hopkinson bar tests. To provide this capability, a unique displacement measurement method is applied and a micro device which meets several strict requirements is implemented. We describe recent results of quasistatic experiments performed on pure aluminum free-standing thin films. A high rate experiment which demonstrates the setup capabilities is also presented. The micro-device measured properties are compared with finite element analysis results.