SEDL / STP / STP889-EB / STP32956S



Use of the Indentation Size Effect on Microhardness for Materials Characterization

Sargent, PM
Research assistant, University of Cambridge, Cambridge,


Pages: 15    Published: Jan 1985


Download this paper for $25 PDF (208K)          View License Agreement
        Click here to download the complete source publication for $55 PDF (4.9M)


Source: STP889-EB


Abstract

This paper describes several different physicochemical mechanisms that produce an indentation size effect on microhardness. The mechanisms are illustrated with reference to published data. A simple quantitative model for surface layer effects is presented, and its relevance to chemomechanical effects on ceramics is discussed.

A well-behaved empirical function describing some indentation size effects is introduced, and its advantages are discussed. It is used in a new method of graphically presenting microhardness data which is presented here for the first time. This “error-ellipsoid” diagram not only is visually compact and statistically rigorous but is based on a new physically meaningful parameter, the “10-μm hardness.”


Keywords:
hardness, indentation, microhardness, microindentation, surface layers, surface plasticity, chemomechanical effects, indentation size effect (ISE), Meyer index, microindentation hardness testing

Paper ID: STP32956S
Committee/Subcommittee: E04.05
DOI: 10.1520/STP32956S
CrossRef ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.