CONTROLLED INDENTATION - A GENERAL-APPROACH TO DETERMINE MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF BRITTLE MATERIALS

This paper presents a general methodology to analyse the experimentall y-obtained loading cycle of indentation load-depth (P-h) results for V ickers indentation, in combination with a newly-developed FEM analysis . Through a detailed analysis of the load-depth curves, information re lated to various mechanical properties, including hardness, yielding s tress, strain hardening, surface displacement and plastic zone size, a re obtained. The experimentally-reported indentation P-h curves for 11 different glasses and ceramics have been analysed in detail. Comparis ons between calculated and experimental P-h curves show good agreement for most of the materials examined here.