A study of the submicron indent-induced plastic deformation

A new method has been developed to achieve a better understanding of submic ron indent-induced plastic deformation. This method combines numerical mode ling and various experimental data and techniques. Three-dimensional discre te dislocation dynamics simulation and the finite element method (FEM) were used to model the experimental conditions associated with nanoindentation testing in fee crystals. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation s of the indent-induced plastic volume and analysis of the experimental loa ding curve help in defining a complete set of dislocation nucleation rules, including the shape of the nucleated loops and the corresponding macroscop ic loading. A validation of the model is performed through direct compariso ns between a simulation and experiments for a nanoindentation test on a [00 1] copper single crystal up to 50 nm deep.