Nanoindenter
Force Converting Stage
Team 15
Erick Camacho
James Caraballo
Patricia Wong
EML 4551 Ethics and Design Project Organization
FIU Department of Mechanical Engineering
Miami, Florida
Introduction to Nanoindenters
● Nanoindenter: Materials
characterization tool
● Materials testing
● Single compressive force
onto a material sample
● Nanomaterials
o Nanowires
o Biomaterials
TI-900 Nanoindenter
Problem Statement
● Convert vertical compressive force to tensile
force
● Nanoindenters test the hardness of a
nanomaterial by indenting it with a metal tip.
Design “Delta”
Design “Epsilon”
Prototypes
Flexures
● Allow for a Fail Safe Design
● A bearing system that allows motion through bending of
its hinge elements.
● Useful Features:
○ Light Weight
○ Low Cost
○ Very Low Friction (W/O Lubrication)
○ Maintenance free operaon
Materials
● 3D Printed
● For Testing: PLA
● For Final Design: nylon or other softer
plastics
● Base of stage made out of carbon steel
Testing
● 1 gram of material to simulate the force of
the nanoindentor on the stage
● Compare SolidWorks simulation platform
displacement with Nanoindenter testing
platform displacement
Engineering Standards
● Knoop and Vickers Hardness of Materials
-ASTM E384
● Instrumented Indentation testing
-ASTM E2546
● Defining standards
Multi-disciplinary Teamwork
Responsibilities / Titles
Research
Design Proposals
Academic Reports and
Presentations
Solidworks Specialist
( Design analysis)
Design Engineer
( Design considerations and global
impact )
Manufacturing Engineer
( Prototype construction & testing )
Erick Camacho
BS in Mechanical
Engineering
James Caraballo
BS in Mechanical
Engineering
Patricia Wong
BS in Mechanical
Engineering
Teamwork
Environmental and
Economical Aspect
• Our projects could solve many engineering issues
• 3D Printing leaves a small footprint compared to
other manufacturing techniques (PLA is Biocompatible)
• Applying for a patent
• Universal capabilities that influence all
industries
Global
Awareness/Perspective/Engagement
● Ability to perform unique tests, and
reproduce it anywere a nanoindenter is
available
● Materials Genome
● Materials research is essential to all
industries
Conclusions and Future Work
● Final design must have linear relationships
between applied load and tensile load on
material tested.
● Material selection for indenter insert must
account for deformation.
● Generic design for use with all nanoindenter
models.
● Materials define Ages
Nanoindenter
force converting stage
Team 13
Erick Camacho
James Caraballo
Patricia Wong
EML 4551 Ethics and Design Project Organization
FIU Department of Mechanical Engineering
Miami, Florida
Literature Survey
● Mechanical Engineering
and Materials Science
Department in Rice
University
Force on sample = 0.67 × Force applied by
indenter
Design Brainstorming
mechanism
- Indentor pushes
downwards
- Sliders move
horizontally, applying
tensile force
Design Iterations
Design Iterations
30 Degrees
Design Iterations
45 Degrees
Design Iterations
60 Degrees