Analysis of nanoindentation experiments by means of rheological models

The nanoindentation technique is established in the field of material characterization at small dimensions. It is daily practice to analyze nanoindentation data with an almost “classical” formula based on the publications by Oliver and Pharr and Fischer-Cripps. The procedure works well for elastic-time independent plastic material behavior, for example copper and the calibration material fused silica, even at higher test temperatures. However, low melting solder materials are susceptible to creep behavior. For this reason, additional analysis procedures are required to determine the material parameters more precisely. In this paper the authors want to give an introduction to an “enhanced” analysis of nanoindentation data based on rheological models, which are often used to describe the time-dependence of material response. Two examples of such models are the MAXWELL- and the KELVIN-body. The authors present a rheological model, published by Mencik in 2011 1], in context with the corresponding equation which is used to extract the material properties from the recorded data. Results of the analysis at the calibration material fused silica are presented and discussed together with the material parameters published in the literature. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)