Investigation on cross-scale indentation scaling relationships of elastic–plastic solids

• Published in: Acta mechanica Vol. 232; no. 4; pp. 1479 - 1496
• Main Authors: Yu, Zhijie, Lin, Zhongya, Wei, Yueguang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 01.04.2021; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Classical and Continuum Physics; Control; Dynamical Systems; Engineering; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Engineering Thermodynamics; Hardness; Hardness tests; Heat and Mass Transfer; Investigations; Mechanical properties; Nanoindentation; Original Paper; Parameter sensitivity; Scaling; Solid Mechanics; Strain analysis; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Vibration; Yield stress
• ISSN: 0001-5970; 1619-6937
• DOI: 10.1007/s00707-020-02913-2

Indentation scaling relationships provide normalized guidance for measuring and predicting mechanical properties in indentation experiments. At the nano-scale, the material size-effect is significant, while conventional scaling relationships fail to depict this phenomenon in nanoindentation precisely. In the present research, cross-scale indentation scaling relationships are investigated using a strain gradient theory. The nanoindentation response is found to be sensitive to different material parameters, including the material intrinsic length, yield stress, and work-hardening exponent across size-scales. If the strain gradient effect is ignored, the nanoindentation scaling relationships approach the macroscopic conventional ones. The cross-scale indentation scaling relationships obtained in the form of dimensionless functions in this work provide quantitative references to instrumented indentation tests on multiple size-scales, coinciding well with experimental results. The understanding of nanoindentation hardness is enhanced by the present work.