| Microplasticity is permanent deformation that occurs below the proportional limit of a material. For precision deployable optical spacecraft, it is unknown how microplasticity will affect the performance of the precision structure. An examination of the rolling of thin film optical reflectors indicates a strong dependence of the post-deployed shape on the strain hardening exponent of the material. However, confirmation of the valid extension of the constitutive model used to predict the deployed shape to microscopic strain regimes is necessary.; The primary objective of this thesis is threefold: determine the relationship between stress and strain at nano to microstrain levels for representative materials; determine if the relationship between microscopic and macroscopic plastic behavior can be accurately characterized by the Ramberg-Osgood strain hardening constitutive model with a single set of material parameters; and determine if dislocation motion is the root cause of microplastic behavior at room temperature.; The test apparatus, with a dynamic force range of 40,000 to 1, measures strains from 0.01 to 1000 parts per million (ppm) of cylindrical amorphous quartz and cold-worked and annealed tempered polycrystalline copper specimen. Elastic behavior in all three materials was consistent with typical values. However, plastic responses were larger than expected. Stresses on the order of 10 to 10,000 kPa (1.45 to 1450 psi) produced permanent strain in all three types of materials ranging from 0.01 to 1 ppm, some of which was attributable to a systematic error in the measurement. Extrapolating macroplastic behavior to lower stress and strain values underestimates the amount of microplasticity observed in the material. Therefore, material property characterization is required at all strain levels that are of concern for a particular application. The similarity in the levels of measured permanent strain for a given stress level between the as-drawn and annealed copper is consistent with the observed dislocation substructure of the two materials, which is also similar. This uniformity indicates that microplastic behavior at room temperature is driven by dislocation glide. |
