Elastic constants of single crystal Cr3Si and Cr-Cr3Si lamellar eutectic composites:: a comparison of ultrasonic and nanoindentation measurements

The elastic constants of high quality single crystals of Cr3Si (cubic A 15 crystal structure) grown in an optical floating zone furnace were measured by ultrasonic methods and compared to the indentation modulus determined by nanoindentation techniques. The measured indentation moduli are within 5% of the Vlassak-Nix predictions for elastically anisotropic materials provided a correction is made for the triangular cross-section of the Berkovich indenter. The indentation moduli of individual lamellae in a directionally solidified Cr-Cr3Si lamellar eutectic composite were also measured to examine how well the procedures apply to small microstructural features. (C) 2004 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.