Controlled indentation: A general approach to determine mechanical properties of brittle materials

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