A computational study on the instrumented sharp indentations with dual indenters

Finite element analysis was performed to investigate the indentation response of elasto-plastic solids for conical indenters of half included angles of 60° and 70.3°. The interdependence indentation parameters resulting from a single indentation load–depth curve is considered. Regarding dimensional analysis, several dimensionless relationships are constructed as functions of the reduced elastic modulus-loading curvature ratio E¹/C and the strain hardening exponent n. Further, the duality between corresponding parameters with dual indenters is explored. Finally, a new method based on dual indenters is proposed to extract the strain hardening exponent and the reduced elastic modulus of an indented material. The accuracy of this method is verified and discussed with experimental data from the literature and representative materials.     

Material characterization by dual sharp indenters

In a recent study, Le [Le, M.-Q., 2008. A computational study on the instrumented sharp indentations with dual indenters. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 45 (10), 2818–2835.] demonstrated that the yield strength Y can be replaced by the loading curvature C and hence the reduced elastic modulus-loading curvature ratio $E^1/C$ and strain hardening exponent n can be used to govern characteristic parameters of indentation load–depth curves. Extending Le’s approach and regarding dimensional analysis, it is found that $C/Y\text{and}{E}^1/Y$ can be used to investigate fundamental issues in instrumented sharp indentation. Based on extensive finite element analysis, a set of dimensionless functions are constructed for cone indenters of half included angles of 60° and 70.3°. Dimensionless relationships with respect to dual indenters are further explored. Several features of hardness are also considered. An inverse analysis procedure is suggested to estimate material properties, giving good inverse results for experimental data from the literature and representative materials. Sensitivity of inverse solution are studied and discussed. The results show that the proposed dual indenter method is quite robust and can be applied to a wide range of materials.     

A study on the determination of plastic properties of metals by instrumented indentation using two sharp indenters

An earlier optimisation approach proposed by Luo et al. [Luo, J., Lin, J., Dean, T. A., 2006. A Study on the Determination of Mechanical Properties of a power-law Material by Its Indentation Force-Depth Curve. Philosophical Magazine, 86(19), 2881-2905], which is based on the assumption that the instrumented indentation force-depth response of an elastic–plastic material is a linear combination of the corresponding elastic and elastic–perfect plastic materials, is extended in this work to extract mechanical properties of a power-law material from two given experimental indentation P–h curves for conical indenters of half included angles of 60° and 70.3°. It was found that the non-uniqueness problem encountered in the single P–h curve optimisation approach is effectively removed by the two P–h curves optimisation. The appropriateness of the use of second half included angle of 60° is discussed. For the five representative materials Al, Ti, Fe, Ni and steel, it was found that the maximum relative prediction errors for E, σ_y and n are 2%, 10.4% and 11.3%, respectively. The prediction accuracy of mechanical properties E, σ_y and n is generally better than other methods reported in the literature.     

On the uniqueness of measuring elastoplastic properties from indentation: The indistinguishable mystical materials

Indentation is widely used to extract material elastoplastic properties from the measured force-displacement curves. One of the most well-established indentation techniques utilizes dual (or plural) sharp indenters (which have different apex angles) to deduce key parameters such as the elastic modulus, yield stress, and work-hardening exponent for materials that obey the power-law constitutive relationship. However, the uniqueness of such analysis is not yet systematically studied or challenged. Here we show the existence of “mystical materials”, which have distinct elastoplastic properties yet they yield almost identical indentation behaviors, even when the indenter angle is varied in a large range. These mystical materials are, therefore, indistinguishable by many existing indentation analyses unless extreme (and often impractical) indenter angles are used. Explicit procedures of deriving these mystical materials are established, and the general characteristics of the mystical materials are discussed. In many cases, for a given indenter angle range, a material would have infinite numbers of mystical siblings, and the existence maps of the mystical materials are also obtained. Furthermore, we propose two alternative techniques to effectively distinguish these mystical materials. The study in this paper addresses the important question of the uniqueness of indentation test, as well as providing useful guidelines to properly use the indentation technique to measure material elastoplastic properties.     

Indentation responses of piezoelectric films

Frictionless indentation responses of transversely isotropic piezoelectric film/rigid substrate systems under circular cylindrical indenter (i.e., punch), conical indenter (i.e., cone), and spherical indenter (i.e., sphere) are investigated. Both insulating and conducting indenters are considered. The technique of Hankel transformation is employed to derive the corresponding dual integral equations for the mixed boundary value indentation problems. For the two limiting cases of infinitely thick and infinitely thin piezoelectric films, closed-form solutions are obtained. For piezoelectric films of finite thickness, a numerical method is constructed to solve the dual integral equations and semi-empirical models having only two unknown parameters are proposed for the responses of indentation force, electric charge and electric potential, and contact radius. With the two parameters inferred from the numerical results, the semi-empirical formulae are found to provide good estimates of the indentation responses for the two limiting cases of infinitely thick and thin piezoelectric films, as well as those in between. The inferred parameters in the proposed semi-empirical formulae for normalized indentation force and electric charge are checked against four different piezoelectric materials and are found to be insensitive to the selection of piezoelectric materials. It is believed that the proposed semi-empirical indentation formulae are useful in developing experimental indentation techniques to extract the material properties of piezoelectric films.     

Material characterization based on dual indenters

Extensive large strain-large deformation finite element analyses were carried out to investigate the response of elasto-plastic materials obeying power law-strain hardening during the loading and unloading process of instrumented indentation with conical indenters of different apex angles. The relationships between the characteristics of the indentation load–displacement curves and the elasto-plastic material properties were computationally established. A reverse analysis algorithm based on load–displacement curves obtained from dual indenters was presented. It was demonstrated that the proposed reverse analysis algorithm can uniquely recover the elasto-plastic material properties from the load–displacement curves of two conical indenters with different apex angles. The numerical results obtained are in good agreement with published values.     

A numerical approach to indentation technique to evaluate material properties of film-on-substrate systems

Spherical indentation approach (Lee et al., 2005, Lee et al., 2010) for the evaluation of bulk material properties is extended to that for elastic–plastic properties of film-on-substrate systems. Our interest focuses on single isotropic, metallic, and elastic–plastic film on a substrate, and we do not consider the size effects in plasticity behavior. We first determine the optimal data acquisition location, where the strain gradient is the least and the effect of friction is negligible. Dimensional analysis affords the mapping parameters as functions of normalized indentation variables. An efficient way is further introduced to reduce both the number of analyses and the regression order of mapping functions. The new numerical approach to the film indentation technique is then proposed by examining the finite element solutions at the optimal point. With the new approach, the values of elastic modulus, yield strength, and strain-hardening exponent of film materials are successfully obtained from the spherical indentation tests. We have shown that the effective property ranges such as indenter properties, substrate modulus, and E/E_s ratio can be extended without additional simulations and even loss of accuracy. For other ranges of variables or other properties, which are not dealt with in this study, this methodology is applicable through resetting FEA variables and finding proper normalized parameters.     

Theory of indentation on multiferroic composite materials

This article presents a general theory on indentation over a multiferroic composite half-space. The material is transversely isotropic and magneto-electro-elastic with its axis of symmetry normal to the surface of the half-space. Based on the corresponding half-space Green’s functions to point sources applied on the surface, explicit expressions for the generalized pressure vs. indentation depth are derived for the first time for the three common indenters (flat-ended, conical, and spherical punches). The important multiphase coupling issue is discussed in detail, with the weak and strong coupling being correctly revisited. The derived analytical solutions of indentation will not only serve as benchmarks for future numerical studies of multiphase composites, but also have important applications to experimental test and characterization of multiphase materials, in particular, of multiferroic properties.     

Comparison between Berkovich,Vickers and conical indentation tests: A three-dimensional numerical simulation study

Three-dimensional numerical simulations of Berkovich, Vickers and conical indenter hardness tests were carried out to investigate the influence of indenter geometry on indentation test results of bulk and composite film/substrate materials. The strain distributions obtained from the three indenters tested were studied, in order to clarify the differences in the load–indentation depth curves and hardness values of both types of materials. For bulk materials, the differentiation between the results obtained with the three indenters is material sensitive. The indenter geometry shape factor, β, for evaluating Young’s modulus for each indenter, was also estimated. Depending on the indenter geometry, distinct mechanical behaviours are observed for composite materials, which are related to the size of the indentation region in the film. The indentation depth at which the substrate starts to deform plastically is sensitive to indenter geometry.     

基于能量密度等效的超弹性压入模型与双压试验方法

针对超弹性材料压入问题, 本文基于能量密度中值等效原理, 提出了描述球、平面、锥3类压头独立压入下载荷、深度、压头几何尺寸和Mooney-Rivlin本构关系参数之间关系的半解析超弹性压入模型(semi-theoretical hyperelastic-material indentation model, SHIM), 进而提出了球、平面、锥压入组合的双压试验方法(indentation method due to dual indenters, IMDI). 正向验证表明, 基于系列超弹性材料的本构关系参数, 由SHIM分别预测的球、平面、锥3类压入下的载荷-位移曲线与有限元分析(finite element analysis, FEA)结果之间密切吻合; 反向验证表明, 基于系列超弹性材料的FEA条件本构关系下3类压入的载荷-位移曲线, 由双压试验方法预测的Mooney-Rivlin本构关系与FEA条件本构关系密切吻合. 针对3种超弹性橡胶, 完成了球、平面、锥压入试验, 应用双压试验方法获得的3组Mooney-Rivlin本构关系均与单轴拉伸试验结果吻合良好.      

On establishing elastic–plastic properties of a sphere by indentation testing

Instrumented indentation is a popular technique for determining mechanical properties of materials. Currently, the evaluation techniques of instrumented indentation are mostly limited to a flat substrate being indented by various shaped indenters (e.g., conical or spherical). This work investigates the possibility of extending instrumented indentation to non-flat surfaces. To this end, conical indentation of a sphere is investigated where two methodologies for establishing mechanical properties are explored. In the first approach, a semi-analytical approach is employed to determine the elastic modulus of the sphere utilizing the elastic unloading response (the “unloading slope”). In the second method, reverse analysis based on finite element analysis is used, where non-dimensional characteristic functions derived from the force–displacement response are utilized to determine the elastic modulus and yield strength. To investigate the accuracies of the proposed methodologies, selected numerical experiments have been performed and excellent agreement was obtained.     

An Instrumented Indentation Method for Young’s Modulus Measurement with Accuracy Estimation

The relationships between indentation responses and Young’s modulus of an indented material were investigated by employing dimensional analysis and finite element method. Three representative tip bluntness geometries were introduced to describe the shape of a real Berkovich indenter. It was demonstrated that for each of these bluntness geometries, a set of approximate indentation relationships correlating the ratio of nominal hardness/reduced Young’s modulus H _n /E _r and the ratio of elastic work/total work W _e/W can be derived. Consequently, a method for Young’s modulus measurement combined with its accuracy estimation was established on basis of these relationships. The effectiveness of this approach was verified by performing nanoindentation tests on S45C carbon steel and 6061 aluminum alloy and microindentation tests on aluminum single crystal, GCr15 bearing steel and fused silica.     

Size-dependent sharp indentation—I: a closed-form expression of the indentation loading curve

In this paper, a closed-form expression of the size-dependent sharp indentation loading curve has been proposed based on dimensional analysis and the finite deformation Taylor-based nonlocal theory (TNT) of plasticity (Int. J. Plasticity 20 (2004) 831). The key issue is to link the results of FEM based on TNT plasticity with those obtained using conventional FEM by taking as the effective strain gradient, η, that presented in the work of Nix and Gao (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 46 (1998) 411), thus avoiding large-scale finite element computations using strain gradient plasticity theories. Two experiments carried out on 316 stainless-steel and pure titanium have been used to verify the effectiveness of the present analytical model; the results demonstrate that the present analytical expression of the size-dependent indentation loading curve corresponds very well to the experimental indentation loading curve. The empirical constant, α, in the Taylor model estimated from the experimental data has the correct order of magnitude. Also, the results presented in this part can be further applied to establish an analytical framework to extract the plastic properties of metallic materials with sharp indentation on a small scale where the size effect caused by geometrically necessary dislocations is significant. This will be discussed in detail in the second part of the paper.     

Analysis of spherical indentation of materials with plastically graded surface layer

In the present work, a comprehensive parametric study for establishing contact mechanics of instrumented normal spherical indentation on homogeneous materials and materials with plastically graded surface layer (PGSL) was undertaken by dimensional analysis and finite element modeling. The spherical indentation response for homogeneous materials can be described only by two dimensionless parameters: strain hardening exponent and a unified parameter that can describe effects of both the normalized yield strength and the normalized indentation depth. The influences of these two parameters were investigated for a wide range of engineering materials, and the results may be used as an estimate of loading response and pile-up/sink-in behavior when the material properties are known. In the materials with PGSL, a linear gradient in yield strength, and no variation in elastic modulus and strain hardening exponent were explored. The indentation response of the materials with PGSL can be described only by three dimensionless parameters: the normalized indentation depth, the dimensionless strength gradient parameter, and the normalized PGSL thickness. The effects of these three parameters were studied systematically. The normalized pile-up/sink-in parameter is found to be an increasing function of the strength gradient parameter. The normalized pile-up/sink-in parameter increases (decreases) with increasing PGSL thickness for a fixed positive (negative) gradient case at large indentation depth. The results also indicate that the materials with positive PGSL can bear more loads and have significantly more resistance to contact crack formation.     

On the uniqueness and sensitivity of indentation testing of isotropic materials

Instrumented indentation is a popular technique to extract the material properties of small scale structures. The uniqueness and sensitivity to experimental errors determine the practical usefulness of such experiments. Here, a method to identify test techniques that minimizes sensitivity to experimental erros is in indentation experiments developed. The methods are based on considering “shape functions,” which are sets of functions that describe the force–displacement relationship obtained during the indentation test. The concept of condition number is used to investigate the relative reliability of various possible dual indentation techniques. Interestingly, it was found that many dual indentation techniques can be as unreliable as single indentation techniques. Sensitivity analyses were employed for further understanding of the uniqueness and sensitivity to experimental errors of indentation techniques. The advantage of the Monte Carlo approach over other procedures is established. Practical guidelines regarding the selection of shape functions of force–displacement relationship and geometric parameters, while carrying out indentation analysis are provided. The results suggest that indentation experiments need to be very accurate to extract reliable material properties.     

Energy dissipation mechanisms in ductile fracture

The objective is to investigate energy dissipation mechanisms that operate at different length scales during fracture in ductile materials. A dimensional analysis is performed to identify the sets of dimensionless parameters which contribute to energy dissipation via dislocation-mediated plastic deformation at a crack tip. However, rather than using phenomenological variables such as yield stress and hardening modulus in the analysis, physical variables such as dislocation density, Burgers vector and Peierls stress are used. It is then shown via elementary arguments that the resulting dimensionless parameters can be interpreted in terms of competitions between various energy dissipation mechanisms at different length scales from the crack tip; the energy dissipations mechanisms are cleavage, crack tip dislocation nucleation and also dislocation nucleation from a Frank-Read source. Therefore, the material behavior is classified into three groups. The first two groups are the well-known intrinsic brittle and intrinsic ductile behavior. The third group is designated to be extrinsic ductile behavior for which Frank-Read dislocation nucleation is the initial energy dissipation mechanism. It is shown that a material is predicted to exhibit extrinsic ductility if the dimensionless parameter bρ_disl^1/2 (b is Burgers vector, ρ_disl is dislocation density) is within a certain range defined by other dimensionless parameters, irrespective of the competition between cleavage and crack tip dislocation nucleation. The predictions compare favorably to the documented behavior of a number of different classes of materials.     

Study on laminar film condensation of saturated steam on a vertical flat plate for consideration of various physical factors including variable thermophysical properties

The extended theory of the steady state laminar film condensation process of pure saturated vapour at atmospheric pressure on an isothermal vertical flat plate is established. Its equations provide a complete account of the physical process for consideration of various physical factors including variable thermophysical properties, except for surface tension at the liquid-vapour film interface. First, similarity considerations are proposed to transform the governing system of partial differential equations and its boundary conditions into the corresponding dimensionless system. Then, the dimensionless new system is computed numerically in two steps: First neglecting shear force at the interface, so that the initial values of the boundary conditionsW _{xl, s} andW _{yl, s} are obtained. Then, the calculations of a problem of the three-point boundary-value for coupling the equations of liquid film with those of vapour film are carried out. Furthermore, the correlations for heat transfer coefficient and mass flow rate are proposed by analysis of heat and mass transfer and it is found that the heat transfer coefficient is function of dimensionless temperature gradient $\dot L$ , and that the condensate mass flow rate is function of the mass flow rate parameter (η _lδ W _{xl, s} ? 4W _{yl, s} )of liquid. In addition, the corresponding heat and mass transfer correlations expressed by subcooled temperature Δt are developed. According to Nusselt's theory four different assumptions are set up for an investigation of the effects of the film condensation of saturated vapour, so that the validity of Nusselt's theory can be further clarified. Quantitative comparisons from the results of the heat transfer coefficient and mass flow rate of the condensate indicate that the effect of variable thermophysical properties on the heat and mass transfer is appreciable. The effect of thermal convection in the condensate film is obviously larger than those of shear force at liquid-vapour interface, and the effect of the inertia in the condensate film is very small. Finally, it is also shown that Nusselt's theory, in using Drew reference temperature, will decrease the heat transfer coefficient by at most 5.11%, and will increase the mass flow rate of the condensate by at most 2.45%, provided that the effect of the surface tension is not taken into account.     

Indentation of plastically graded substrates by sharp indentors

The present paper investigates the indentation of plastically graded substrates by sharp indentors. Contact analysis of plastically graded surfaces can be particularly useful in the design of load-bearing devices such as gears, rollers and electric contacts found in many macro- and micro-electro-mechanical systems. Substrates made of plastically graded materials are often encountered in nature or are artificially produced as a result of chemical and/or physical surface treatments. The variation of the plastic properties depends on micro-structural or compositional changes of the material with depth. The analysis of indentation of plastically graded substrates by sharp indentors provide the load-penetration response, as well as the strains and stresses inside the substrate, at maximum loading and at complete unloading. The parametric analysis of the solutions enables the direct correlation of the plastic properties and the load-penetration curves obtained from instrumented indentation tests. The variation of the plastic properties can subsequently be related to important micro-structural parameters such as particle composition, dislocation density and grain size. The results of this work show how surface modifications can induce plastic graded properties that strengthen substrates against contact-induced damage.     

Determination of mechanical properties by instrumented indentation

The paper reviews the current state of the depth-sensing indentation (sometimes called nanoindentation), where the information on material behaviour and properties is obtained from the indenter load and depth, measured continuously during loading and unloading. It is shown how the contact parameters and principal characteristics are determined using pointed or spherical indenters. Indentation tests can be used for the measurement of hardness and elastic modulus, and also of the yield stress and for the construction of stress–strain diagrams, for the determination of the work of indentation and its components. Most devices use monotonic loading and unloading, but some also enable measurement under a small harmonic signal added to the basic monotonously increasing load. This makes possible continuous measurement of contact stiffness and the study of dynamic properties and the determination of properties of coatings. One section is devoted to the measurement on viscoelastic-plastic materials, where the delayed deforming must be considered during the measurement as well as in data evaluation. Instrumented indentation can also be used for the study of creep under high temperatures. The paper also discusses the errors arising in depth-sensing measurements and informs briefly about some other possibilities of the method.