L. Hong et Rc. Bradt, THE EFFECT OF INDENTATION-INDUCED CRACKING ON THE APPARENT MICROHARDNESS, Journal of Materials Science, 31(4), 1996, pp. 1065-1070
The phenomenon of apparent microhardness increase with increasing appl
ied indentation test load, the reverse indentation size effect (RISE),
was addressed from the viewpoint of indentation-induced cracking. The
apparent microhardness when the cracking occurs was found to be relat
ed to the applied indentation test load as P-5/3. Previously published
results on single crystals of silicon, GaAs, GaP and InP, which diffe
r by a factor of four, all fall on the same line when analysed through
this concept. It is concluded that the RISE is a result of the specim
en cracking during the indentation.