Influences of stress on the measurement of mechanical properties using nanoindentation: Part II. Finite element simulations

The finite element method has been used to study the behavior of aluminum alloy 8009 during elastic-plastic indentation to establish how the indentation process is influenced by applied or residual stress. The study was motivated by the experiments of the preceding paper which show that nanoindentation data analysis procedures underestimate indentation contact areas and therefore overestimate hardness and elastic modulus in stressed specimens. The NIKE2D finite element code was used to simulate indentation contact by a rigid, conical indenter in a cylindrical specimen to which biaxial stresses were applied as boundary conditions. Indentation load-displacement curves were generated and analyzed according to standard methods for determining hardness and elastic modulus. The simulations show that the properties measured in this way are inaccurate because pileup is not accounted for in the contact area determination. When the proper contact area is used, the hardness and elastic modulus are not significantly affected by the applied stress.