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Mechanical properties of cylindrical bi-phasic high-entropy alloy CuZrTiAlNi (3 mm in diameter) were characterized by nanoindentation test in each phase. The results show that the constituent FCC phase is of low nanohardness (2.35 GPa) and modulus (60.9 GPa), while another constituent phase in the alloy, the HCP phase, shows much higher nanohardness (6.5 GPa) and modulus (115.3 GPa). Creep occurs in both phases during the indentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In materials science and engineering, a significant amount of research has been carried out using indentation techniques in order to characterize the mechanical properties and microstructure of a broad range of natural and engineered materials. However, there are many unresearched or partly researched areas, such as, for example, the investigation of the shape of the indentation load–displacement curve, the associated mechanism in porous materials with clastic texture, and the influence of the texture on the constitutive behavior of the materials. In the present study, nanoindentation is employed in the analysis of the mechanical behavior of a benchmark material composed of plaster of Paris, which represents a brand of highly porous-clastic materials with a complex structure; such materials may find many applications in medicine, production industry, and energy sectors. The focus of the study is directed at the examination of the influence of the porous structure on the load–displacement response in loading and unloading phases based on nanoindentation experiments, as well as the variation with repeating the indentation in already indented locations. Events such as pop-in in the loading phase and bowing out and elbowing in the unloading phase of a given nanoindentation test are studied. Modulus, hardness, and the elastic stiffness values were additionally examined. The repeated indentation tests provided validations of various mechanisms in the loading and unloading phases of the indentation tests. The results from this study provide some fundamental insights into the interpretation of the nanoindentation behavior and the viscoelastic nature of porous-clastic materials. Some insights on the influence of indentation spacing to depth ratio were also obtained, providing scope for further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, theoretical models of the critical indentation depth and critical force on brittle materials using cleavage strength and contact theory are proposed. A Berkovich indenter is adopted for nanoindentation tests on a 4H-SiC single crystal sample to evaluate its mechanical behaviors. The stages of brittle material deformation (elastic, plastic, and brittle) can be characterized by the load versus indentation depth curves through the nanoindentation test. The curve of the elastic deformation stage follows the Hertz contact theory, and plastic deformation occurs at an indentation depth of up to 10 nm. The mechanism of 4H-SiC single crystal cracking is discussed, and the critical indentation depth and critical force for the plastic–brittle transition are obtained through the occurrence of the pop-in point. This shows that the theoretical results have good coherence with the test results. Both the values of the elastic modulus and hardness decrease as the crack length increases. In order to obtain more accurate mechanical property values in the nanoindentation test for brittle materials such as SiC, GaN, and sapphire, an appropriate load that avoids surface cracks should be adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]