Indentation

About: Indentation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 13002 publications have been published within this topic receiving 340476 citations.

Indentation modulus of elastically anisotropic half spaces

Abstract: The unloading process in an indentation experiment is often modelled as a contact problem of a rigid punch on an elastically isotropic half space. This allows one to derive simple formulae to determine the indentation modulus from experimental data. We have studied the contact problem of a flat circular punch and a paraboloid on an elastically anisotropic half space and have shown that the formulae used for isotropic materials can be used for anisotropic materials as long as the half space has three or fourfold rotational symmetry. In the case of lower symmetry, the indentation modulus depends on the shape of the indenter. We have calculated the indentation modulus of {100}, {111} and {110} surfaces of cubic crystals for a wide range of elastic constants. The {110} indentation modulus was calculated for the case of a flat circular punch. The single-crystal indentation moduli differ substantially from the isotropic polycrystalline indentation moduli and the differences increase with increasing anisotropy f...

Indentation Law for Composite Laminates.

Abstract: Static indentation tests are described for glass/epoxy and graphite/epoxy composite laminates with steel balls as the indentor. Beam specimens clamped at various spans were used for the tests. Loading, unloading, and reloading data were obtained and fitted into power laws. Results show that: (1) contact behavior is not appreciably affected by the span; (2) loading and reloading curves seem to follow the 1.5 power law; and (3) unloading curves are described quite well by a 2.5 power law. In addition, values were determined for the critical indentation, alpha sub cr which can be used to predict permanent indentations in unloading. Since alpha sub cr only depends on composite material properties, only the loading and an unloading curve are needed to establish the complete loading-unloading-reloading behavior.

A Coupled Nanoindentation/SEM‐EDS Study on Low Water/Cement Ratio Portland Cement Paste: Evidence for C–S–H/Ca(OH)2 Nanocomposites

Abstract: A low water/cement ratio (w/c=0.20) hydrated Portland cement paste was analyzed by grid-indentation coupled with ex situ scanning electron microscope-energy-dispersive X-ray spectra (SEM-EDS) analysis at each indentation point. Because finite element and Monte-Carlo simulations showed that the microvolumes probed by each method are of comparable size (approximately 2 μm), the mechanical information provided by nanoindentation was directly comparable to the chemical information provided by SEM-EDS. This coupled approach provided the opportunity to determine whether the local indentation response was a result of a single- or a multiphase response--the latter being shown predominant in the highly concentrated w/c=0.20 hydrated cement paste. Results indicate that, in the selected microvolumes where C-S-H and nanoscale Ca(OH)2 (CH) are present, increasing fractions of CH increase the local indentation modulus (and hardness), yielding values above those reported for high-density (HD) C-S-H. Micromechanical analyses show that C-S-H and CH are associated, not merely as a simple biphase mixture, but as an intimate nanocomposite where nanoscale CH reinforces C-S-H by partially filling the latter's gel pores. The paper discusses the mechanism of forming the C-S-H/CH nanocomposite, as well as the impact of nanocomposites on various macroscopic properties of concrete (e.g., shrinkage, expansion). On a general level, this study illustrates how a coupled nanoindentation/X-ray microanalysis/micromechanics approach can provide otherwise inaccessible information on the nanomechanical properties of highly heterogeneous composites with intermixing at length scales smaller than the stress field in a nanoindentation experiment.

Analysis of indentation: implications for measuring mechanical properties with atomic force microscopy.

Abstract: Indentation using the atomic force microscope (AFM) has potential to measure detailed micromechanical properties of soft biological samples. However, interpretation of the results is complicated by the tapered shape of the AFM probe tip, and its small size relative to the depth of indentation. Finite element models (FEMs) were used to examine effects of indentation depth, tip geometry, and material nonlinearity and heterogeneity on the finite indentation response. Widely applied infinitesimal strain models agreed with FEM results for linear elastic materials, but yielded substantial errors in the estimated properties for nonlinear elastic materials. By accounting for the indenter geometry to compute an apparent elastic modulus as a function of indentation depth, nonlinearity and heterogeneity of material properties may be identified. Furthermore, combined finite indentation and biaxial stretch may reveal the specific functional form of the constitutive law--a requirement for quantitative estimates of material constants to be extracted from AFM indentation data.