2018 Volume 59 Issue 5 Pages 771-778
Deformation microstructure that developed during nanoindentation of a MAX phase Ti2AlC was characterized by the scanning probe microscopy and the transmission electron microscopy. To investigate the plastic anisotropy, nanoindentation measurements were made on grains with the normal parallel to ‹3362›, ‹0001›, and ‹1120›. The basal slip, {0001} ‹1120›, was found to be predominant as the deformation mechanism for all the indentation directions. It was also indicated that, upon nanoindentation along ‹0001› and ‹1120›, non-basal slips occurred underneath the indenter. The slip system of the non-basal dislocations was identified to be (1216)[1211] by analyzing the dislocations. Furthermore, fine-scaled kink-bands were found to form underneath the residual impression. The formation of the kink-band was accompanied by delamination, i.e., micro-cracking along the basal plane, suggesting that the delamination plays an important role for kink-band formation in Ti2AlC.