THE MEASUREMENT OF THE PILEUP TOPOGRAPHY OF HARDNESS INDENTATIONS

A number of indentations were made in 70:30 brass specimens. The resul ting surface disturbance was analysed using a stylus-based 3D topograp hy measuring instrument. Numerical methods based on progressive trunca tion routines were developed in order to calculate the volume of the s urface disturbance. The validity of the approach was analysed by the u se of simulated indentations, where the volume of the disturbance was set mathematically. Additionally, the effect of varying levels of rand om surface roughness on the volume calculations was investigated. The results indicate that the progressive truncation method is a suitable tool for the calculation of the volume of disturbance around indentati ons. Additionally, the principles of the measurement are widely applic able in the tribology field for volume estimations.