ISSN: 1945-7553
Page Count: 6

Indentation Characterization of Silicon Nitride

Bolse, W
Postdoctoral fellow and project leader, Institute for Advanced Materials, Commission of the European Communities, Petten,
research scientist, II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Göttingen, Göttingen,

Peteves, SD
Postdoctoral fellow and project leader, Institute for Advanced Materials, Commission of the European Communities, Petten,

(Received 6 April 1993; accepted 29 June 1994)

Abstract

The hardness of hot-pressed silicon nitride ceramics has been measured over a wide range of applied loads, 0.02 to 300 N, for both Vickers and Knoop indenter geometries. The indentation size effect (ISE) was evident for loads less than about 1 N. The Vickers and Knoop hardness values agree provided they are compared at a given penetration of the respective indenter. The influence of the residual stresses of the ceramic surface on the indentation response in the as-machined, polished, and post-annealed state has been investigated. The results are discussed in relation to the characterization of indentation damage in brittle materials and fracture analysis models.

Keywords:
ceramics, silicon nitride, microhardness, indentation response, fracture toughness

Paper ID: JTE10395J
DOI: 10.1520/JTE10395J
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