The role of creep deformation on the fatigue behavior of evaporated gold thin films
摘要
This study investigated the cyclic behavior of freestanding evaporated Au films across a broad range of stress ratios. Mechanical properties obtained from creep and fatigue experiments were analyzed to elucidate the fatigue characteristics of Au films. Under sinusoidal loading at identical maximum stress, the fatigue life remained consistent regardless of the stress ratio; however, fracture strain showed notable variation. Fatigue strain and cyclic creep analyses indicate that deformation under cyclic loading is predominantly creep-driven, with the creep contribution increasing at higher stress ratios. Post-mortem microstructural analysis reveals variations in grain boundary grooving and slip band characteristics depending on loading conditions, supporting the proposed fatigue mechanisms.