Glancing angle deposition (GLAD) is a powerful technique to control the morphology and microstructure of thin film prepared by physical vapor deposition. Chromium (Cr) thin films were deposited on a polymer substrate by a sputtering technique using GLAD. The change in thickness and Vickers microhardness for the samples was observed with a change in the glancing angle. The adhesion properties of the critical load (Lc) by a scratch tester for the samples were also measured with varying the glancing angle. The critical load, thickness and Vickers microhardness for the samples decreased with an increase in the glancing angle. However, the thickness of the Cr thin film prepared at a 90o glancing angle showed a relatively large value of 50 % compared to that of the sample prepared at 0o. The results of X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that the effect of GLAD on the microstructure of samples prepared by sputter technique was not as remarkable as the samples prepared by evaporation technique. The relatively small change in thickness and microstructure of the Cr thin film is due to the superior step-coverage properties of the sputter technique.

In this study, the effects of cryogenic treatment cycles on the residual stress and mechanical properties of 7075 aluminum alloy (Al7075) samples, in the form of a tube-shaped product with a diameter of 500 nm, were investigated. Samples were first subjected to solution treatment at 470˚C, followed by cryogenic treatment and aging treatment. The residual stress and mechanical properties of the samples were systematically characterized. Residual stress was measured with a cutting method using strain gauges attached on the surface of the samples; in addition, tensile strength and Vickers hardness tests were performed. The detailed microstructure of the samples was investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Results showed that samples with 85 % relief in residual stress and 8% increase in tensile strength were achieved after undergoing three cycles of cryogenic treatments; this is in contrast to the samples processed by conventional solution treatment and natural aging (T4). The major reasons for the smaller residual stress and relatively high tensile strength for the samples fabricated by cryogenic treatment are the formation of very small-sized precipitates and the relaxation of residual stress during the low temperature process in uphill quenching. In addition, samples subjected to three cycles of cryogenic treatment demonstrated much lower residual stress than, and similar tensile strength compared to, those samples subjected to one cycle of cryogenic treatment or artificial aging treatment.

For heat exchanger applications, 2-ply clad materials were fabricated by rolling of aluminum (Al) and mild steel sheets. Effects of annealing temperature on interface properties, especially on inter-layer formation and softening of strain hardened mild-steel, for Al/mild steel clad materials, were investigated. To obtain optimum annealing conditions for the Al/mild steel clad materials, annealing temperature was varied from room temperature to 600˚C. At the annealing temperature about 450˚C, an inter-layer was formed in an island-shape at the interface of the Al/mild steel clad materials; this island expanded along the interface at higher temperature. By analyzing the X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks and the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) results, it was determined that the exact chemical stoichiometry for the inter-layer was that of Fe2Al5. In some samples, an X-layer was formed between the Al and the inter-layer of Fe2Al5 at high annealing temperature of around 550˚C. The existence of an X-layer enhanced the growth of the inter-layer, which resulted in the delamination of the Al/mild-steel clad materials. Hardness tests were also performed to examine the influence of the annealing temperature on the cold deformability, which is a very important property for the deep drawing process of clad materials. The hardness value of mild steel gradually decreased with increasing annealing temperature. Especially, the value of hardness sharply decreased in the temperature range between 525˚C and 550˚C. From these results, we can conclude that the optimum annealing temperature is around 550˚C under condition of there being no X-layer creation.