Analysis of Plastic Characteristics of Nanocontacts Through a Volumetric Indentation Work Approach

Abstract

In order to estimate the hardness and yield strength of an indented material, advanced methods have been developed for extracting closed boundaries of the contact area and the plastically deformed zone from 3D nanocontact morphologies. However, this image processing technique cannot be applied to shallow indentations as it results in weak surface pile-ups. Thus, we introduced a concept of indent volume analysis and recalculated the hardness and yield strength. Based on the modified volumetric approach, the new hardness and yield strength of Au film and fused quartz are compared with those from the indentation curve analysis and differential contact analysis.