Young’s modulus and hardness data obtained from nanoindentation are commonly affected by phenomena like pile up or sink in, when elastic-plastic materials are tested. In this work, a finite element model was used to evaluate the pile up effect on the determination of mechanical properties from spherical indentation in a wide range of elastic-plastic materials. A new procedure, based on a combination of results obtained from tests performed at multiple maximum loads, is suggested.
Calibration of Berkovich indenter area function was performed on materials with different elastic-plastic behavior resulting in pile-up and sink-in, respectively. Experimentally obtained results were compared with the results obtained by the application of theoretical area function. The values of Young’s modulus and hardness were significantly affected by the calibration function used. Since the effects of pile-up and sink-in are already included in the used area function, this simple method can lead to more accurate results of Young’s modulus and hardness measurements.
Computational simulations of indentations in elastic-plastic materials showed overestimate in determining elastic modulus using the Oliver & Pharr’s method. Deviations significantly increase with decreasing material hardening. Based on extensive finite element computations the correlation between elastic-plastic material property and indentation has been carried out. A modified method was introduced for estimating elastic modulus from dimensional analysis associated with indentation data. Experimental verifications confirm that the new method produces more accurate prediction of elastic modulus than the Oliver & Pharr’s method.
Corrigendum to “Representative Stress-Strain Curve by Spherical Indentation on Elastic-Plastic Materials”