Conclusions and Future Developments

In this book, we have endeavoured to demonstrate the need for micromechanical testing in assessing the mechanical properties of irradiated materials, especially for samples which are irradiated by high energy ions. This chapter recalls the topics discussed in this volume, and looks at some prevailing issues in the interpretation of micromechanical test results. It discusses some of the challenges, such as extension of small scale testing results to engineering scale applications, determination of elongation, etc., and their possible solutions. The ongoing developments in focused ion beam and other milling technologies are discussed, as are novel experimental methods such as the “Double torsion test”.