Nanoindentation of Amorphous Alloys with Various Indenter Tips

Abstract

In this study, we critically evaluated the infl uence of indenter geometry on the nanoindentation-induced elastic/plastic deformation of amorphous alloys which are known to exhibit an elastic-perfectly-plastic deformation and (arguably) no indentation size effect and thus are good for the analysis on the basis of classical contact mechanics theories. After performing nanoindentation experiments with a series of triangular pyramidal indenters having different centerline-to-face angles as well as various spherical indenters having different radii, we carefully compared the mechanical responses from spherical indentations to those from geometrically self-similar sharp indentations. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship betwwn the constraint factor and the plasticity index.