A study of instrumented indentation by finite element analysis

Finite element computations were carried out to study the indentation by rigid cone with half-angle of $70.3^{\circ}$ for 72 different combinations of elasto-plastic properties that cover the wide range of mechanical parameters of common engineering solid materials. The dimensional analysis and representative strain concept were used in the analysis. It was shown that for the same representative strain value, the loading curvature C can be formulated under two different forms, which are based on two alternative dimensionless functions. The present study's one is simpler than the other previously found by other authors using the similar approach. For a wide range of material's parameters, the hardness-modulus ratio should be a parabolic function of ${\sigma}E$, rather than a power law function earlier proposed.