Instrumented Nanoindentation Tests Applied to Bulk Metallic Materials: From Calibration Issue to Pile-Up Phenomena

Instrumented nanoindentation tests have reached an effective level of theoretical and practical knowledge to become an interesting and useful tool for determining hardness, H, and local elasticity (reduced Young’s modulus), E(r), of a variety of materials, from coatings and thin films to bulk metallic materials. Nanoindentation instruments are equipped with analysis software for raw data for hardness and reduced Young’s modulus evaluation, generally based on the Oliver and Pharr analysis method. On the other hand, it is widely known and recognized that prior data acquisition, a tip-dependent calibration procedure of compliance, and area function are needed. With this in view, an accurate and sound calibration protocol is here reported. Hardness and local elastic modulus is measured on different bulk metallic materials, showing the distinctive strengths of using nanoindentation. Finally, a local elastic-plastic phenomenon mostly induced by the nanoindentation tip on ductile metallic material (i.e., pile-up) is also reported and modelled. This manuscript is thus intended to favor and account for the importance of using the instrumented nanoindentation tests for H and E(r) measurements of metallic materials.