J. Much. Phys. Solids, Vol. 44, No. 9, pp. 141 I-1428.

1996
Copyright 0 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd
Pergamon Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
0022- 5096/96 $15.00 + 0.00
PI1 SOO22-5096(96)00042-7

CRACKING OF THIN FILMS BONDED TO ELASTIC-

PLASTIC SUBSTRATES

J. L. BEUTH and N. W. KLINGBEIL

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, U.S.A

(Received 28 August 1995 ; in renised,fovm 4 March 1996)

ABSTRACT
Thin bonded films have many applications. In information storage and processing systems, for example,
conducting, semiconducting and insulating fihns are used in integrated circuits, and thin magnetic films are
used in disk storage systems. In many cases, thin bonded films are in a state of residual tension, which can
lead to film cracking. Because cracking can alter desired film properties, methods for predicting it are
needed. The geometry considered in this work is one in which cracks or flaws oriented normal to the filmy
substrate interface propagate (or channel) across the film. It is assumed that the film is brittle and the
substrate is ductile. Plane strain fracture analyses are used to investigate the channel cracking of elastic
thin films in residual tension in the presence of yielding in the substrate material. Although crack channeling
induces yielding in the substrate, channel crack extension in the brittle film occurs under small scale yielding
conditions. The case of an elastic film bonded to an elastic substrate has been considered in earlier work,
and is used as the basis for the current study. A numerical model is used to extend the results from the
fully elastic problem so that plastic yielding of the substrate is allowed. Results are presented for an elastic
perfectly plastic substrate and for substrates Iexhibiting strain hardening. A simple shear lag model of the
problem without hardening in the substrate is discussed, which gives reasonable predictions for the
dependence of dimensionless fracture quantities on the normalized loading over a wide range of material
mismatches. In addition, a method is presented by which shear lag modeling can be extended to cases in
which the substrate exhibits strain hardening. Copyright 0 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd

Keywords: A. crack tip plasticity, A. fracture, B. elastic-plastic material. B. residual stress, C. finite
elements.

INTRODUCTION

Thin bonded films have many diverse applications. For example, optical thin film
coatings are used in optical filters and mirrors for precision devices such as telescopes.
Thin films can serve as protective coatings such as anti-corrosion coatings applied to
metallic parts. Magnetic films are used as the storage medium for computer hard
disks. Conductor, insulator and semiconductor films are used in the manufacture
of integrated circuits. Continuing demands for increases in computer performance
(increases in permanent storage ca.pacity, volatile memory and processing speed)
have particularly stimulated research into thin bonded films related to the final two
applications. In all of these applications, the films are very thin, with thicknesses
measured in nanometers or micrometers, and they are bonded to comparatively thick
substrates, with thicknesses typically measured in millimeters or centimeters.
Because films are typically deposited at elevated temperatures, it is common for
1411
1412 J. L. BEUTH and N. W. KLINGBEIL

- Elastic-Plastic
(b) Substrate
Fig. I, (a) Three-dimensional channeling of a crack across a thin bonded film and (b) two-dimensional
problem modeled in this study.

thin films to be in a state of residual stress at operating temperatures. For a film to

perform its primary function, it is important that it be able to withstand residual
stresses without cracking or debonding from the substrate. In this study, a specific,
fundamental mechanism of thin film cracking is studied [see Fig. 1(a)], where a crack
or flaw oriented normal to the film-substrate interface propagates (or channels)
across the surface of a thin film stressed in tension. Results are presented that allow
prediction of cracking for a wide range of film-substrate combinations under the
condition that the substrate material is allowed to yield due to cracking in the film.
Although cracking induces yielding in the ductile substrate, it is assumed that the film
is brittle and behaves elastically. As a result, channel crack extension in the film occurs
under small scale yielding conditions. It is shown in this paper that substrate yielding
allows a film crack to open more, which serves to further drive channel cracking. In
this respect, this problem is somewhat unique in that plasticity serves to increase the
likelihood of crack extension.
 Cracking of thin films 1413

A substantial amount of work currently exists in the literature related to thin film
mechanics and specifically to thin film cracking. Hoffman (1966) and Nix (1989) give
particularly good overviews of thin film mechanics issues, with the work of Nix
providing a summary of more recent applications of thin films and experimental
methods for measuring thin film stresses and properties. A large body of work on
materials and mechanics aspects of thin film cracking also exists in the literature.
Only a brief outline of some of this work will be given here. Work in identifying
dimensionless parameters governing various modes of thin film cracking in tension
and compression includes that of Evans et LIE.(1988), Drory et al. (1988), Thouless et
al. (1989) and Stringfellow and Freund (1993). The definitive reference for a summary
of analytical work in the area of thin film cracking problems is the review article by
Hutchinson and Suo (1992). A more recent, abbreviated summary of results for the
analysis of cracking of thin films in tension is given by Ye et al. (1992). The bulk of
existing work in thin film cracking involves the assumption of elastic behavior in both
the film and substrate. In the present study, attention is focused on the role of substrate
plasticity on the likelihood of thin film cracking.
The approach taken in this work extends work by Beuth (1992), which addresses
the same film cracking geometry corrsidered in the current study, under the assumption
of elastic substrate response. Although the introduction of plasticity significantly
complicates the problem, an approach of introducing nondimensional fracture par-
ameters identical to that used in the earlier work can be taken. The elastic-plastic
problem addressed here has also been approached via a shear lag model by Hu and
Evans (1989), and an analogous shear lag model is presented here.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

The physical problem addressed in this study is illustrated in Fig. 1(a), which shows
a thin, brittle film bonded to a thick:, ductile substrate. The film and substrate have a
vertical cut through them, revealing the internal crack geometry. Both the film and
the substrate are assumed to be isotropic. The film is in a state of residual tension, 0,
and the substrate is stress-free before any cracking occurs. The phenomenon of crack
propagation from the film surface (due to some initial surface flaw) toward the film-
substrate interface has been addressed in Beuth (1992). In this study, it is assumed that
cracking has already occurred through the film thickness, with the crack terminating at
the film-substrate interface.
The specific type of film cracking investigated here is the subsequent channeling
of the crack across the film surface. This type of cracking has been described in Beuth
(1992) and in the review article by Hutchinson and Suo (1992). As a crack channels
across the film, the advancing crack front [see Fig. l(a)] assumes a curved shape so
that the energy release rate, G, (or equivalently the mode I stress intensity factor, Ki)
is the same at all points along the Icrack front. For short channel lengths, the crack
front shape and G change as the crack extends. However, for sufficiently long channel
cracks, a steady state is achieved so that the crack front shape and G remain constant.
Work by Nakamura and Kamath (1992) on three-dimensional modeling of a chan-
neling crack in a film bonded to a rigid substrate suggests that steady-state conditions
1414 J. L. BEUTH and N. W. KLINGBEIL

are achieved for relatively short channel lengths, on the order of two film thicknesses.
For steady-state channeling film cracks, the steady-state energy release rate along the
crack front, designated in this study as Gss, can be calculated without having to resort
to a full 3-D analysis. This problem of steady-state film crack channeling has been
addressed in Beuth (1992) under the assumptions of elastic response in the film and
substrate materials. In the present work, the role of substrate yielding in increasing
the likelihood of film crack channeling is addressed.
Figure l(b) shows the 2-D plane strain problem analyzed in this study, which is
rebated to the 3-D steady-state film crack channeling problem. The problem is that of
a thin film (material no. I) bonded to a semi-infinite substrate (material no. 2). The
film contains a single crack through its thickness with the crack tip at the film-
substrate interface. The film crack is loaded by a pressure of magnitude C-J on the crack
faces, which from a fracture mechanics standpoint is equivalent to a traction-free
crack in a film under a residual stress, (T. Both the film and the substrate are assumed
to be isotropic. The film is assumed elastic and the substrate is modeled as elastic-
plastic.
The dependence of the problem of Fig. l(b) on the elastic constants of the film
(material no. 1) and substrate (material no. 2) is described in terms of Dundurs
parameters Mand /3, which can be represented as

where p, (j = 1,2) is the material shear modulus and for plane strain problems,

E, = &(.i= 1,2)
and K, = 3 - 4v, (j = 1,2). For 2-D bimaterial problems with traction boundary con-
ditions [such as the problem of Fig. 1(b)], the nondimensional dependence of results
on the four elastic constants can be reduced from three parameters (e.g. E,/E,, v, and
VJ to the two Dundurs constants in (1). Values of c( range from - 1 to + 1, where a
negative value of c1corresponds to a compliant film bonded to a stiff substrate, and a
positive value of c( corresponds to the reverse configuration. The compilation by Suga
et al. (1988) suggests that values of /I for most practical film-substrate combinations
lie in the range 0 d /) < CC/~.
The uniaxial elastic-plastic response of the substrate material is modeled using a
Ramberg-Osgood constitutive relation of the form

(2)

where gY is the uniaxial tensile yield stress and Emis the uniaxial tensile strain at first
yield. The parameter n is the strain hardening exponent, with a value of n = 1
corresponding to elastic behavior and a value of n = cc corresponding to elastic-
perfectly plastic behavior. In practice, a value of n = 100 can be used to model
essentially elastic-perfectly plastic behavior. Use of the Ramberg-Osgood relation to
 Crasking of thin films 1415

model nonlinear behavior in the substrate results in the problem of Fig. 1(b) being a
function of a/oy and n, in addition to cxand p.
The uniaxial stress versus strain response of the substrate is extended to model
multiaxial response via J2 deformation theory. This restricts application of this analy-
sis to problems that experience essentially proportional loading. Consequently, results
from this work are restricted to the analysis of cracking in a residually stressed thin
film bonded to an initially unstressed substrate. The analogous problem of film
cracking involving a substrate with .a significant initial stress (due to bending of the
film and substrate, for instance) requires a flow theory analysis of substrate plasticity.
The goal of this work is to use quantities from the 2-D plane strain pressurized
crack problem illustrated in Fig. 1(b) to calculate G,,, the steady-state energy release
rate of a channeling crack in a residually stressed film, illustrated in Fig. 1(a). The
two problems are linked by the following argument. For a sufficiently long channel
crack, the near-crack-tip fields will simply translate in the direction normal to the
-U-Jplane. For such long cracks, the energy release per unit crack extension will be
independent of the channel length and will equal the energy released by converting a
unit length (normal to the x-y plane) of untracked film material far ahead of the
crack front into a unit length of cracked film material far behind the crack front.
Furthermore, the crack front will have no effect on crack opening behavior far behind
it. As a result, far behind the crack front, the opening behavior of the film crack is
the same as the opening behavior of the 2-D plane strain problem of Fig. 1(b). Thus
the steady-state energy release per unit crack extension for the channeling crack of
Fig. l(a) can be related to the energy change from introducing the crack in the 2-D
film-substrate system of Fig. 1(b).
In order to calculate the energy change due to cracking in the planar problem of
Fig. 1(b), the quantity A will be introduced, where A is defined as

A.= (3)

In (3), S(y) is the crack face opening displacement (the net x displacement of the two
crack faces). The work per unit depth (in the direction normal to the x-y plane) done
by the uniform pressure, r~, acting through the crack opening displacements [Fig.
1(b)] can then be expressed as
A
fy= o(A) dA. (4)
s0

The quantity W is simply the area under the cr versus A curve for the pressurized
crack problem, illustrated in the schematic of Fig. 2. In this study, the energy per unit
depth released by a traction-free crack in a uniformly pre-stressed film is designated
as AE. The quantity AE will be equal to the area above the 0 versus A curve for the
pressurized crack problem (Fig. 2). Thus, AE is given by
A
AE ==oA- a(A) dA. (5)
s0
1416 J. L. BEUTH and N. W. KLINGBEIL

AE = OA -P o(A)dA
A W= j%A)dA
'A
0 0

Fig. 2. Schematic of o versus A plot for nonlinear material response.

The steady-state energy release rate of the channeling crack of Fig. 1(a) is simply
the energy release due to cracking, per unit crack extension (in the direction normal
to the X-JJ plane), per unit thickness (in the y direction). Thus the steady-state energy
release rate, G,,, of the channeling crack of Fig. 1(a) will simply equal AE/h. In Beuth
(1992), a dimensionless quantity, g, is introduced that is related to the quantities AE
and G,, for the elastic substrate problem. An analogous quantity g will be used here
which simplifies to that used in Beuth (1992) for the elastic substrate case. The
quantity g used in this study is given by

AE
(6)

where B, has already been defined with respect to its use in (1). The value G,, can thus
be expressed in terms of g as

(7)

In order to predict whether or not channeling will occur in a thin film, the quantity
G,, would be compared to the measured quantity G,, the critical value of the energy
release rate required for crack extension in the film. If G, is greater than G,,, then
channeling will not occur. G, is related to the film mode I fracture toughness, K,,, by
the fracture mechanics relation G, = Kf,/E,.
As (7) indicates, for a given thin film-substrate combination and a given level of
residual stress, cr, G,, can be reduced by reducing the film thickness, h. Results from
the numerical models developed in this study will demonstrate how G,, can be reduced
by (if possible) increasing gY, the yield stress in the substrate and/or by using a
substrate with more strain hardening (thus increasing n). Results will also demonstrate
the dependence of g (and thus G,,) on the elastic material mismatch, designated
primarily by CC.In Beuth (1992), it is shown that the quantity g is only weakly
 Cracking of thin films 1417

dependent on the Dundurs parameter fl. Because of the much stronger dependence
of g on the other nondimensional variables, the dependence of g on fi will not be
explored further here. In all cases presented in this study, /I will be taken equal to a/4.
The next section addresses numerical calculation of the dimensionless quantityg using
finite elements, to examine its dependence on 01,a/ay and n.

NUMERICAL MODELING AND RESULTS

Figure 3 illustrates portions of the finite element mesh used to model the problem
illustrated in Fig. 1(b). Only one-half of the film-substrate is modeled, with symmetry
boundary conditions applied along the left edge of the model below the crack tip. The

-- Line of Symmetry

A L=40h
t

H=20h

- Line of Symmetry
Fig. 3. (a) Near-tip and (b) far-field finite element meshes used in this study.
1418 J. L. BEUTH and N. W. KLINGBEIL

model consists of S-noded biquadratic interpolation solid elements generated using

the ABAQUS finite element package. Because of nearly incompressible response in
the yielded portions of the substrate, reduced integration, mixed formulation elements
are used in the substrate.
The focused near-tip mesh shown in Fig. 3(a) consists of 18 rings of near-tip
elements meshed over the film thickness, h, with elements biased toward the crack tip.
The 180 arc around the crack tip is resolved using 16 elements. Quarter-point
elements are used at the crack tip. Results in this study are presented for the condition
that the common nodes at the crack tip are allowed to displace independently. This
condition models a l/r singularity in the near-tip strains, appropriate for the case of
an elastic-perfectly plastic substrate. This crack-tip displacement condition does not
model the singularity for the cases of plastic hardening. In order to check the potential
error in this discrepancy, results have also been obtained with common nodes at the
crack tip constrained to displace identically (to model a l/4 singularity). This had
no effect on the results for g(a, p, CJ/O,,,n), indicating that exact modeling of the
behavior at the crack tip is not critical in determining g.
As shown in Fig. 3(b), the far-field mesh has dimensions 40h in the x direction,
with a substrate depth of 20h in the JJ direction. The goal of this study is to model a
film bonded to a semi-infinite substrate. The refined finite model shown in Fig. 3 is
therefore surrounded with an array of infinite elements, which are available as part
of the ABAQUS package. These elements provide radial displacement terms of order
1/r and l/r2 with respect to a defined point, typically taken as a location where loads
are applied to the surface of the modeled half-plane. For axisymmetric concentrated
load problems (e.g. the Boussinesq problem), these elements accurately capture the
l/r behavior of the radial displacements. Even though planar concentrated load
problems (such as the Flamant problem and the one studied here) exhibit In(r)
behavior in their far-field radial displacements, infinite elements offer an advantage
over finite meshes by requiring significantly fewer elements to reach convergence.
A significant effort was undertaken to ensure the accuracy of the numerical model,
particularly in verifying accurate modeling of the substrate as a half-plane using
infinite elements. This was done because the modeling of an infinite substrate for this
problem is not straightforward. A shear yield zone can propagate a significant distance
along the film-substrate interface. Thus, there is a need to ensure that the right
boundary of the far-field model [see Fig. 3(b)] is sufficiently far from the boundary
of the yielded zone. Also, for compliant substrate problems, results can still depend
on substrate depth even for finite models as large as that shown in Fig. 3(b) (i.e. with
a substrate depth of 20h).
In order to verify the infinite element model, results from it were compared with
those from a series of very large finite models with different combinations of roller
and built-in far-field displacement boundary conditions. The size of the largest model
was 2OOh. in the s direction with a substrate depth of 1OOh in the y direction, while
the second largest model had dimensions of 120h by 60h. For the most critical case
of a compliant substrate with CI= 0.90, the results from the two largest finite models
agreed and they were independent of the displacement conditions applied on the
external boundaries. The results from these two models also agreed with the results
from the simpler, infinite element model. Using the infinite element model, the non-
 Cracking of thin films 1419

15;

Fig. 4. g(a, fi. n. IT/~,) versus c( for various values of u/uY with /3 = a/4 and n = 100

dimensional quantity g, related to steady-state cracking across the film surface, has
been determined numerically as a function of a, /3, O/C, and n. As previously
mentioned, the parameter /3 is set equal to a/4 for all the results presented in this
study, because results from Beuth (1992) for the elastic problem have shown the
quantity g to be only weakly dependent on /?.
Figure 4 gives a plot of g as a function of a for various a/ay with p = CC/~and
n = 100. Again, setting n = 100 in the RamberggOsgood relation of (2) corresponds
to essentially elastic-perfectly plastic constitutive behavior in the substrate. The result
ior a/ay = 0 is identical to that given in Beuth (1992) for the elastic substrate problem.
It is obvious from the plot that for a given residual stress, CJ,in the film, yielding in
the substrate substantially increases g [which is directly related to G,, for a channeling
crack in the film via (7)]. Thus substrate yielding serves to increase the likelihood of
channel cracking. The result can be explained by consideration of the r~versus A curve
shown in Fig. 2. The energy per unit depth available for crack extension, AE, is the
area above the curve. This area increases from its elastic value of oA/2 when substrate
yielding is allowed, so that more energy is available for film cracking. Physically
speaking, yielding in the substrate allows the film crack to open more, which acts to
further drive a channeling crack.
Figure 4 should be considered a master plot for designers, valid for the case of
no hardening in the substrate. Because the results for g are essentially p-independent,
the plot of Fig. 4 gives results for all combinations of film-substrate elastic properties.
For a given film-substrate elastic stiffness mismatch designated by Z, and a given
normalized residual stress in the film, g can be determined (by interpolation) from
the plot. If G, for the film is greater than G,, calculated from g, channeling will not
occur in the film.
The plot of Fig. 4 sums up the type of results that are desired from this work.
Various master curves like Fig. 4 for various values of n (i.e. various levels of hardening
1420 J. L. BEUTH and N. W. KLINGBEIL

Ii/

---*---Elastic Solution

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
CT/&
Fig. 5. y(r. p, n, cr&) versus o/a, for a = 0, /I = r/4 and n = 5. IO and 100.

in the substrate) can be generated as design curves for thin bonded films in residual
tension. One drawback of using a plot like that of Fig. 4 is that it requires some
interpolation between plotted results for set values of a/cry. In order to obtain more
accurate estimates of g and thus G,,, it is of interest to know how g varies with a/oy
for a given value of U, which is the topic addressed in the remainder of this study.
Figures 57 detail the numerically determined dependence of g on a/cy for cz= 0
(no mismatch) and for values of a = 10.90. The values of a from -0.90 to +0.90
correspond to a broad range of elastic mismatches between the substrate and film,

15i-

0
0 2 4 6 8 10

Fig. 6. ,q(a, [j, n. u/g,,) versw c/cry for a = -0.90. // = x/4 and n = 5, IO and 100
 Cracking of thin films 1421

0 2 4 6 8 10
cJ/cTu
Fig. 7. g(cc. /I, n. u/u,,) versus u/o, for c( = +0.90. /I = a/4 and n = 5, 10 and 100.

with ratios of El/_& ranging from 1 : 19 to 19 : 1, respectively. In each of the plots,

results are presented for hardening exponent values of n = 100, 10 and 5. In each plot
the full range of behavior of g as a function of a/ay is bounded from above by the
elastic-perfectly plastic result (n = 100) and from below by the elastic result, des-
ignated by a horizontal line extending from the value of g at o/ay equal to zero. In
each of the three plots, there is a transition from small-scale yielding behavior at
approximately a/oy = 2 for all values of n, although the transition tends to be at
slightly higher values of O/CJ~for the hardening cases. All plots become essentially
linear for large ~/a~. The final slopes of the plots for IZ= 100 are only weakly
dependent on c(.
As shown in Figs 6 and 7, the behavior in the small-scale yielding region, i.e.
o/r+ d 2, is dependent on the sign of CCFor negative values of ~1,g is essentially
constant in the range o/ay d 2. For positive values of a there is a rapid increase in g
within o/oY d 2. This can be explained by a local net reduction of stiffness of the
substrate due to initial yielding. For positive values of CIgreater than approximately
0.50, this results in substantial increases in g, as evidenced by the elastic results shown
in Fig. 4. The results of Figs 5-7 show that, due to the linear behavior of g for
o/oY > 2, a linear interpolation between g values in a plot such as that in Fig. 4 will
be highly accurate for G/O., values in this range. It is also obvious from the results of
Figs 5-7 (and from intuition) that decreasing n decreases crack opening, which
decreases G,,. Therefore, the plot of Fig. 4 for II = 100 will provide upper bounds for
g values and is thus conservative. Consequently, regardless of hardening behavior,
the plot of Fig. 4 can be used as a conservative design guide for G,, values. In the next
section, the linear behavior of g for large values of o/ay will be modeled for the
elastic-plastic problem, allowing the slope of the g versus o/a,, plot to be predicted.
In the succeeding section, the effects of hardening will be investigated.
1422 J. L. BEUTH and N. W. KLINGBEIL

\ Film

H
Substrate

V
Fig. 8. Shear lag model for an elastic-perfectly plastic substrate.

SHEAR LAG APPROXIMATION

In this section, a simple model is introduced that can predict the (linear) dependence
of g on o/oY outside of the small-scale yielding regime, valid for a substrate exhibiting
elastic-perfectly plastic constitutive behavior. Hu and Evans (1989) have formulated
a shear lag model applicable to cracking problems in residually stressed brittle films
bonded to ductile substrates. An analogous model specifically for the pressurized
crack problem of Fig. l(b) is formulated here to approximate g. Figure 8 gives an
illustration of the model. A thin elastic film of thickness h is bonded to a very thick
elastic-perfectly plastic substrate of thickness H. The shear lag mode1 assumes that
the substrate yields along the interface over a slip length, 1. This results in a constant
shear yield stress, rY, being transferred to the film by the yielded substrate along the
slip length. An important assumption of the shear lag mode1 is that the shear stress
along the slip length relieves all of the stress in the film. In other words, g.,, = 0 at the
end of the slip length, at x = I.
The shear lag mode1 assumptions lead to the following simple stress state in the
film

err =
lilm
0 .Y 3 1, (8)
with the following corresponding stress state in the substrate

f$yate = 0 .\: 3 1.
(9)
Enforcing equilibrium in the film gives a relation between the slip length, I, and h
 Cracking of thin films 1423

12. (10)
5Y

Use of the strain-displacement relation and the elastic constitutive law for the film
gives

du.\ 0.n
(11)
dx -,
By defining u, to equal zero at x = 1, the following value is obtained for the dis-
placement of the film at x = 0 (the crack face)
al
lilm
UY =-- (12)
r= 0
2E,

which is equal to one-half of the crack opening displacement, 6, of the crack due to
interface sliding.
The goal of this simple shear lag model is to estimate values of g for the case of
large-scale yielding in the substrate, along the film-substrate interface. Because BE is
the area above the CJversus A plot [see (5) and Fig. 21, AE can equivalently be
expressed in terms of A as

AL: = 0 A(C) do. (13)

s0
Use of (10) and (12) above along with the definition of A given in (3) results in the
following for AE
03h
AE=- (14)
3E, ry
This result agrees with that from the residually stressed thin film shear-lag model of
Hu and Evans (1989), obtained using a different method to calculate AE. Substitution
into (7) and using the relation that zY = rsY/fi results in the following for the
dimensionless quantity g for the case of an elastic-perfectly plastic substrate

(15)

The shear lag model predicts a linear relationship, independent of a and /I, for g as
a function of a/~~. The predicted slope of the plot (0.368) is close to that observed in
the numerical results for IZ= 100 over a large range of material mismatches. Figure 9
provides a plot of the predicted slope of the shear lag model versus final slopes
obtained from the g versus a/cry data extracted from the finite element model, over
the range -0.90 d c( < +0.90. The plot shows essentially a-independent values for
slopes from the finite element model for values of a less than approximately 0.50. For
values of a greater than 0.50, the numerically determined slopes increase rapidly with
K The shear lag prediction of a material-independent linear relationship between g
and o/cry thus holds for CI< 0.50. The error between its predicted slope and the actual
1424 J. L. BEUTH and N. W. KLINGBEIL

OS/, I L I, I1 I,, - I I, 7 /, r

0.2 -
- - - -Shear Lag Model Prediction

0.1 -

ot,I
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
a
Fig. 9. Accuracy of the shear lag model for an elastic-perfectly plastic substrate, as a function of CC

slopes in this range of a values can be attributed to the simplicity of the shear lag
model (for example, it assumes that the crack face displacement is independent of y).
It is clear, however, that the model is not capturing the true behavior of the problem
for x > 0.50.
The deviation of the shear lag model predictions from the measured slopes for
CI> 0.50 is related to one of the key shear lag assumptions. As previously noted, the
shear lag model assumes that the substrate yields along the film-substrate interface
and that all of the stress in the film is relieved by the substrate yield stress. These
assumptions generally hold for compliant films bonded to comparatively stiff sub-
strates (negative values of CC).If the film stiffness is increased relative to that of the
substrate, however, an increasingly large stress c,.,. will remain in the film at the point
along the interface where the yield stress falls below rY. For the case of tl = 0.90, for
example, the stress g,., in the film at the end of the slip length equals -0.600,
substantially deviating from the assumption of zero stress there.
The reason that a nonzero stress, g,,, at the end of the slip length serves to increase
values of 9 can be explained by considering the normal stress distributions plotted
schematically in Fig. 10. In the case of agreement with the shear lag model, cry, is
linear in I and is given by (8). The slope of the CJ,, versus x curve equals -tu/h and
the normal stress equals zero at the end of the slip length, 1. For film-substrate
combinations with a > 0.50, however, the slip length (now labeled I,) is shortened
and a normal stress remains at x = I,. Do, is thus linear and given by (8) only for
.Y d I,. For s > I,, the shear stress along the interface is less than rY and grr falls to
zero at a slower rate. This serves to increase the length (labeled 1J over which the
stress in the film falls to zero. By defining U, to equal zero at x = 12,and by integrating
(1 I), the crack opening displacement, 6, is found to be proportional to the area under
the or, versus x curve. This area is clearly larger for the case of nonzero normal stress
at the end of the slip length, acting to increase the crack opening displacement, and
consequently values of .q.
 Cracking of thin films 1425

Fig. 10. Schematic of )c,,I versus x plots for zero and nonzero err at the end of the slip length.

MODELING OF HARDENING

In the previous section a shear lag model is introduced which provides insight
into film cracking under the assumption of elastic-perfectly plastic behavior in the
substrate. In the absence of hardening, the assumption of a constant shear stress, zY,
acting along a slip length, 1, is appropriate. In the case of plastic hardening in the
substrate, the shear stress along the slip length is a function of x varying with the
shear strain. As seen in Figs 5-7, however, constant slopes for values of o/oY > 2 are
also evidenced in the numerical results modeling substrate hardening, although these
slopes are smaller than those for the elastic-perfectly plastic case. This suggests that
a shear lag model predicting linear dependence of g on a/oy may also be applicable
to the cases of hardening if an average or effective oYeff> rrY (or equivalently
ryeA> 7Y) is used. In this section, a rationale is presented for defining cYefffor arbitrary
material combinations, based on numerically derived results for the case of a = 0 (no
elastic mismatch between the film and substrate). This allows slopes in the case of
large-scale yielding to be predicted for any film-substrate combination exhibiting a
known amount of strain hardening.
Using the numerical results plotted in Fig. 5, values of the ratio oYeK/crY can be
calculated for tl = 0 and a given hardening exponent, II, by comparing the slope
obtained for that value of n with the slope obtained for n = 100
c Ydf slope for II = 100
(-1CY NJ=
=
slope for a given value of n
(16)

Values of CJ~,JC~for a # 0 can be estimated by considering conditions along the slip

length at the film-substrate interface (see Fig. 8). For any film-substrate combination,
the effective shear stress rye8 along the slip length will be determined by the effective
shear strain yYeffalong this length. In comparing film-substrate combinations, yYeK
will scale with changes in the stiffness ratio, l?J_??;,,of the substrate and film. Thus,
1426 J. L. BEUTH and N. W. KLINGBEIL

Table 1. Hardening model predictions jbr the slope qf

g(a, /I, n, a/cry) versus u/ovJi)r /II= ~(14andfor various values
qfcc and n

Slope from
c! n numerical model Predicted slope

- 0.90 5 0.064 0.072

10 0.161 0.160
100 0.332
-0.50 5 0.104 0.107
10 0.197 0.196
100 0.338
0 5 0.135
10 0.222
100 0.341
+0.50 5 0.177 0.176
10 0.256 0.257
100 0.352
+0.90 5 0.319 0.368
10 0.385 0.43 1
100 0.453

Note : Values for a = 0 and for n = 100, CI# 0 are not predicted
using the hardening model.

values for uy,,r/oy for CI# 0 can be estimated by first calculating values of E~,~/E~ for
z = 0 and re-scaling them by the ratio l?z/l?,.
The ratio E,+~/E~ is calculated for CI= 0 and a given value of n by substituting
(crYc,r/crY)n,l=O
from (16) into the Ramberg-Osgood law [see (2)]

(17)

For nonzero values of CY,(~~,~/a~),,,,+~ is estimated by multiplying the values obtained

for CI= 0 by &2/E,

(18)

Finally, using this value of (E+,~/E~),,,,+~, the Ramberg-Osgood law (2) can be applied
to determine the corresponding ratio (~~~~/r~v),,.~+,~.
The slopes of the g versus c/cry plots for hardening cases simply scale with cY/gYeK.
Thus, once values of (aYeK/oy),,,,, are obtained, the slope of the g versus a/oy plot
for the values of Mand n under consideration can be predicted using the slope for the
elastic-perfectly plastic case (n = 100) with (16). Because the slopes for n = 100 are
not fully x-independent, the greatest accuracy is obtained by using the slope for
n = 100 for the value of CIbeing considered. Table 1 provides a comparison of slopes
predicted using this technique and the actual slopes determined numerically. The
 Cracking of thin films 1427

predicted slopes match reasonably well, except for the case of c( = +0.90, where
correspondence with a shear lag type model is questionable.
Insight into the effects of hardening actually goes beyond predicting the slope of
the g versus o/oY plots. If re-normalizing the elastic-perfectly plastic results by an
effective oY results in good values for final slopes, it might be possible to simply re-
scale the entire plot of g versus a/cy by oY/gYeff.Results from the authors (not included
here) have shown that this is valid for c1< 0.50. This implies that the g versus o/a>
plots for hardening are simply elongated versions of the plots for elastic-perfectly
plastic behavior, or, equivalently, that g plotted versus rs/c~v~~ for hardening cases
gives a curve identical to that for IZ= 100.

CONCLUSIONS

The problem of residual stress-induced channel cracking in thin bonded films has
been solved without limits of substrate elasticity. Through finite element simulations
using an elastic-plastic mesh bounded by infinite elements, results have been obtained
for a wide range of material combinations. In all cases, by increasing the energy
available for film crack extension, yielding in the substrate acts to increase the like-
lihood of film cracking. A master plot (Fig. 4) of a nondimensional quantity acting
to drive channel cracking has been generated, with insight given into the accuracy of
interpolation between plotted values. This plot can serve as a conservative design
guide for practitioners. The functional relationship of the nondimensional quantity,
g, with respect to a/ay and hardening exponents has been determined for select elastic
mismatches.
It has been shown for the case of an elastic-perfectly plastic substrate that a
linear relationship between g and a/ay for a/aY > 2 can be estimated by shear lag
approximation for a large proportion of film-substrate combinations. Substantial
deviation of numerical results from the shear lag approximation has occurred only
for extreme cases of stiff films bonded to compliant substrates, in which case physical
correlation with a shear-lag model is suspect. The effect of hardening on the shear lag
approximation has been modeled for arbitrary material combinations using results
from the case of no mismatch (m = 0). Good agreement between predicted and
numerically determined results has been obtained for most material combinations,
with the exception of the extreme case of a stiff film bonded to a compliant substrate
mentioned above.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Carnegie Mellon Department of
Mechanical Engineering. The authors would also like to thank John Hutchinson for his insights
and thoughts related to this research.
1428 J. L. BEUTH and N. W. KLINGBEIL

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