The hardness and brittleness of ceramic materials are interrelated. Hard materials are more apt to fracture in the vicinity of an indentation during a hardness test, while softer materials tend to plastically deform to the indenter shape without fracturing. Measured hardness, in turn, is affected by both specimen deformation and fracture processes. This interrelationship is examined by means of extensive Vickers hardness testing. A new index of brittleness is proposed.

Indentation brittleness of ceramics: a fresh approach

Analysis of Vickers indentation

A study of the indentation size effect (ISE) in aluminum and alpha brass is presented. The study employs rate effects to examine the fundamental mechanisms responsible for the ISE. These rate effects are characterized in terms of the rate sensitivity of the hardness, ∂ H/ ∂ ln e eff , where H is the hardness and e eff is an effective strain rate in the plastic volume beneath the indenter. ∂ H/ ∂ ln e eff can be measured using indentation creep, load relaxation, or rate change experiments. The activation volume V ∗ , calculated based on ∂ H/ ∂ ln e eff which can traditionally be used to compare rate sensitivity data from a hardness test to conventional uniaxial testing, is calculated. Using materials with different stacking fault energy and specimens with different levels of work hardening, we demonstrate how increasing the dislocation density affects V ∗ ; these effects may be taken as a kinetic signature of dislocation strengthening mechanisms. We noticed both H and ∂ H/ ∂ ln e eff (V ∗ ) exhibit an ISE. The course of V ∗ vs. H as a result of the ISE is consistent with the course of testing specimens with different level of work hardening. This result was observed in both materials. This suggests that a dislocation mechanism is responsible for the ISE. When the results are fitted to a strain gradient plasticity model, the data at deep indents (microhardness and large nanoindentation) exhibit a straight-line behavior closely identical to literature data. However, for shallow indents (nanoindentation data), the slope of the line severely changes, decreasing by a factor of 10, resulting in a “bilinear behavior”.

Nanoindentation and the indentation size effect: Kinetics of deformation and strain gradient plasticity

Tungsten tetraboride (WB4) is an interesting candidate as a less expensive member of the growing group of superhard transition metal borides. WB4 was successfully synthesized by arc melting from the elements. Characterization using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) indicates that the as-synthesized material is phase pure. The zero-pressure bulk modulus, as measured by high-pressure X-ray diffraction for WB4, is 339 GPa. Mechanical testing using microindentation gives a Vickers hardness of 43.3 ± 2.9 GPa under an applied load of 0.49 N. Various ratios of rhenium were added to WB4 in an attempt to increase hardness. With the addition of 1 at.% Re, the Vickers hardness increased to approximately 50 GPa at 0.49 N. Powders of tungsten tetraboride with and without 1 at.% Re addition are thermally stable up to approximately 400 °C in air as measured by thermal gravimetric analysis.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/108/27/10958.full.pdf

Tungsten tetraboride, an inexpensive superhard material

It is realized that the addition of a small percentage of rigid nanoparticles to polymers significantly improves many of their mechanical properties, especially stiffness and strength. Such improvements are often attributed to the availability of large numbers of nanoparticles with huge interfacial areas compared to their macro- and micro-scale counterparts. In particular, from the tribological viewpoint, the small size of nanoparticles with homogenous dispersion in the matrix and good interfacial adhesion between nanoparticles and matrix are thought to be necessary requirements for a polymer nanocomposite. Material removal will be less since the nano-additives have similar sizes to the segments of surrounding polymer chains. Despite these positive effects due to the addition of nanoparticles, there are still some critical questions that are unanswered. Here, we review the fundamentals, recent progress and advances that have been made on the tribological aspects of polymer nanocomposites, particularly focusing on their wear (in dry sliding and unlubricated conditions) and scratch damage. The review shows that (a) it is not valid to assume that nano-fillers always improve wear/scratch (and friction) properties; and (b) material properties like modulus, hardness, fracture toughness or extent of wear rate or scratch penetration depth are not the sole indicators to compare and/or rank candidate materials. Several facets of wear/scratching or material response to the sliding processes require thorough understanding in order to determine parameters that control the surface integrity and material removal from polymer nanocomposites. This review also shows the apparent contradictions and false impressions on several material systems in many studies owing to poor characterizations of polymer nanocomposites and lack of quantitative descriptions of the observed phenomena.

/pdf/fundamental-aspects-and-recent-progress-on-wear-scratch-3fvecmtzlh.pdf

Fundamental aspects and recent progress on wear/scratch damage in polymer nanocomposites

The role of friction between the microhardness indenter and the test specimen is addressed through the analysis of dry (unlubricated) and lubricated tests on iron by Atkinson and Shi. Quantitative evaluation through a proportional specimen resistance model accurately describes the results. It suggests that friction is a major portion of the observed hardness increase at low test loads, the indentation size effect. The ISE is related to the surface-area-to-volume ratio of the indentation, which is inversely related to the indentation dimension.

A. Ghosh

Papers

The frictional component of the indentation size effect in low load microhardness testing