A tension stress loading unit designed for characterizing indentation response of single crystal silicon under tension stress

In this paper, a tension stress loading unit is designed to provide tension stress for brittle materials by combining the piezo actuator and the flexible hinge. The structure of the tension stress loading unit is analyzed and discussed via the theoretical method and finite element simulations. Effects of holding time, the installed specimen and hysteresis of the piezo actuator on output performances of the tension stress loading unit are studied in detail. An experiment system is established by combing the indentation testing unit and the developed tension stress loading unit to characterize indentation response of single crystal silicon under tension stress. Experiment results indicate that tension stress leads to increasing of indentation displacement for the same inden-tation load of single crystal silicon. This paper provides a new tool for studying indentation response of brittle materials under tension stress.