A simple approach to determine five thermomechanical properties of thin ductile films on an elastic substrate

We present a simple approach to determine five thermomechanical properties of linear strain hardening thin films, namely, the Young's modulus, coefficient of thermal expansion, yield start stress, strain hardening, and Poisson's ratio. The approach is based on the conventional curvature test on bilayer structures upon temperature variation. Three tests, which result in three curvature versus temperature curves, are enough to determine the values of these properties. Both the closed-form solutions and estimations are obtained. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.