Effects of Inclusions and Porosity on the Indentation Response

ABSTRACTA combined numerical and experimental study was undertaken to investigate the effect of microstructural heterogeneity on indentation response. Finite element analyses were carried out to simulate the stress-strain behavior and the indentation response of two model heterogeneous systems: one with hard particles embedded within a soft matrix and the other with a pore-containing ductile material. For the particle-containing system, the indentation response consistently overestimates the overall strength of the composite. This is largely due to the localized increase in particle concentration directly underneath the indent. For the porous system, the indentation response consistently underestimates the overall strength due to the pore-crushing effect. Experiments on metal-ceramic composites confirmed the non-correspondence between the indentation and stress-strain responses, even when the indent size is much greater than the microstructural feature size. Implications of the present findings in utilizing indentation to quantify surface mechanical properties are discussed.