Investigation of mechanical properties of ε-zirconium hydride using micro- and nano-indentation techniques

Mechanical properties of metal hydrides are difficult to measure because of the difficulties in making flaw-free macro-size specimens. Nano-indentation and micro-indentation techniques were used in this report to study mechanical properties of zirconium hydrides (ZrH1.83). Hardness, apparent Youngʹs modulus, yield stress and fracture toughness of zirconium hydrides were measured and compared to the values for a zirconium sample.