Unstable plastic flow in the Al-3% Mg alloy in the process of continuous nanoindentation

Methods of dynamic nanoindentation were used to study unstable modes of plastic flow in micro-and submicrovolumes of the Al-3% Mg alloy. It was established that, depending on the rate of loading and dimensions of the deformed region, various regimes of unstable plastic deformation are realized. In the course of deformation, the irregular deformation curve (corresponding to a random process) reveals a quasi-periodic behavior with a characteristic amplitude of hardness oscillations.