3D SIMULATION OF A NANOINDENTATION TEST AT A MESOSCOPIC SCALE

A 3D simulation of the dynamics and interactions of dislocations in FC C metals has been developed in the last few years. This simulation is based on discretization of both time and space at a mesoscopic scale. The model has been validated on results coming from the dislocation th eory in the case of the bulk crystal behaviour. In order to compare th e simulation to experimental results, we choose to apply full complex boundary conditions to the simulated volume. Following that goal, the 3D dislocation simulation has been linked to a finite element code CAS TEM2000. The heterogenous stress held is computed on every segment thr ough a finite element resolution. Through this method, we present firs t results of a nano-indentation simulation. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.