A nano material testing apparatus includes a main frame; a testing unit including an actuator and a load cell connected to the actuator; a jig unit configured to be connected to the testing unit and including an upper jig that clamps one side of an upper portion of the nano material specimen and a lower jig that is located below the upper jig and clamps one side of a lower portion of the nano material specimen; a stage unit configured to be connected to the lower jig; a first alignment unit configured to be located to be spaced apart from a front surface of the nano material specimen; a second alignment unit configured to be located to be spaced apart from side surfaces of the nano material specimen; and a controller.

A rock sample is nano-indented from a surface of the rock sample to a specified depth less than a thickness of the rock sample. While nano-indenting, multiple depths from the surface to the specified depth and multiple loads applied to the sample are measured. From the multiple loads and the multiple depths, a change in load over a specified depth is determined, using which an energy associated with nano-indenting rock sample is determined. From a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image of the nano-indented rock sample, an indentation volume is determined responsive to nano-indenting, and, using the volume, an energy density is determined. It is determined that the energy density associated with the rock sample is substantially equal to energy density of a portion of a subterranean zone in a hydrocarbon reservoir. In response, the physical properties of the rock sample are assigned to the portion of the subterranean zone.

Surface measurement probe comprising: a hollow probe body extending along a longitudinal axis and comprising a proximal end adapted to be mounted to a test apparatus and a distal end; a retaining arrangement situated inside the probe body and extending along said longitudinal axis, the retaining arrangement being arranged to maintain the surface measurement probe in an assembled state; a probe tip supported at the distal end of the probe body and arranged to contact a sample; a bead situated inside the probe body and interposed between the probe tip and the retaining arrangement, the bead comprising a thermally-insulating material.

A heating system for use in mechanical testing at scales of microns or less includes a stage heater. The stage heater having a stage plane, and a stage heating element distributed across the stage plane. Two or more support mounts are on opposed sides of the stage plane. A first bridge extends from the stage plane to a first mount of the two or more support mounts, and a second bridge extends from the stage plane to a second mount of the two or more support mounts. The first and second bridges provide a plurality of supports between the stage plane and two or more support mounts to accordingly support the stage plane. In another example, the heating system includes a probe heater configured to heat a probe as part of mechanical testing.

A multimode ultrasonic probe tip and transducer integrated into a micro tool, such as a nano indenter or a nano indenter interfaced with a Scanning Probe Microscope (SPM) is described. The tip component may be utilized to determine mechanical properties or characteristics of a sample, including for example, complex elastic modulus, hardness, friction coefficient, and strain and stress at nanometer scales and high frequencies. The tip component is configured to operate at multi-resonant frequencies providing sub-nanometer vertical resolution. The tip component may be quasi-statistically calibrated and contact mechanics constitutive equations may be utilized to derive mechanical properties of a sample. Contact mechanical impedance and acoustic impedance may also be compared.

A method for indentation of physical items may include forming, via an indenter, a plurality of first indents in a first surface of a first physical item, and validating a first material of the first physical item based at least in part on the first indents. The first indents may be disposed within a first defined region of the first surface and arranged in a first encoded pattern corresponding to a first item-specific serialization code for the first physical item.

A method and computer product program for determining Young's modulus. The method includes placing a probe in contact with a surface of a material on a substrate and, with an initial force of 800 nano newtons or less; determining the location of the surface relative to an initial indentation depth for the initial force; increasing the force on the probe from the initial force to a maximum force greater than the initial force to generate a load curve; decreasing the force on the probe from the maximum force to the initial force to generate an unload curve, the maximum force selected such that the unload curve is independent of the presence of the substrate; and using the unload curve, determining a relationship between (i) the reduced modulus of the sample material and (ii) the ratio of probe penetration depth and the thickness of the layer.

A sub-micron scale property testing apparatus including a test subject holder and heating assembly. The assembly includes a holder base configured to couple with a sub-micron mechanical testing instrument and electro-mechanical transducer assembly. The assembly further includes a test subject stage coupled with the holder base. The test subject stage is thermally isolated from the holder base. The test subject stage includes a stage subject surface configured to receive a test subject, and a stage plate bracing the stage subject surface. The stage plate is under the stage subject surface. The test subject stage further includes a heating element adjacent to the stage subject surface, the heating element is configured to generate heat at the stage subject surface.

The present invention relates to a test system and method capable of simultaneously carrying out a high-throughput test of mechanical properties for miniature specimens. The system comprises one workstation (17) and a plurality of specimen test modules (16) installed horizontally or vertically on a workbench (15), wherein the workstation (17) comprises an operation interface, a data processing unit and a load output unit; each specimen test module (16) comprises a drive unit (5), an interchangeable clamp unit (8), a displacement sensor (2), and a load sensor (14); the workstation (17) controls the drive unit (5) of the specimen test module (16) and receives detection data of the displacement sensor (2) and the load sensor (14); each specimen test module (16) optionally performs mechanical property testing independently; and the workstation (17) controls simultaneously started testing of a plurality of specimens (9). The present invention can achieve tensile, bending, compression bending, stress-rupture, relaxation, and fatigue strength tests on a plurality of specimens at the same time.

A low-cost, magnetically-driven device that enables visualization and quantification of dynamic changes in cell behavior during mechanical stretch. Using this device, it was observed that nuclei of mouse embryonic skin fibroblasts underwent rapid but divergent responses to strain magnitude, showing nuclear area increase and chromatin decompaction during 5% (low) strain, but nuclear area decrease and chromatin condensation during 20% (high) strain. Only responses to low strain were dependent on calcium, while actin inhibition abrogated any nuclear response and increased stretch-induced DNA damage. Stretch-activation revealed a shift in actin filaments away from (low strain) or towards (high strain) the nuclear periphery. The findings suggest that different pathways control strain level-dependent cell behavior and that mechanical confinement of nuclei through actin may be a protective mechanism during high strain loads.