Effects of a porous boron nitride nanofiber on nano-mechanical properties in shallow surface of WC-Si3N4 composite

The nanoindentation technique has been applied to materials research for decades, such as WC, Si3N4, and other ceramics or composites. However, nano-mechanical properties in shallow surfaces were often unstable, especially for ceramics-based composites. In this paper, the mechanical properties of WC-10 wt.% Si3N4 without and with the addition of ultrafine porous boron nitride nanofiber were investigated by nanoindentation continuous stiffness measurement in this study. The effects of the porous fiber on elastic modulus and hardness were revealed, which led to more stable and regular profiles of the elastic modulus and hardness versus displacement curves. The curves were cut out and shown before the 30 nm displacement of the tip, which displayed the regularity of the profiles caused by the porous fiber more directly. The values were statistically analyzed at intervals of 10 nm after 30 nm displacement, and then lower standard deviations were observed. The different Si3N4 cracks made from Vickers indentation on the composites were photographed and associated with the regularity of the curves after the fiber addition. It’s considered that the regularity effects on mechanical properties of the porous boron nitride nanofiber on ceramics composites can be helpful in thin film studies, which are also in difficulties of mechanical properties scattering on the nanometer scale using continuous stiffness measurement.