Indentation creep revisited

Recent extensive nanomechanical experiments have revealed that the instantaneous strength and plasticity of a material can be significantly affected by the size (of sample, microstructure, or stressed zone). One more important property to be added into the list of size-dependent properties is time-dependent plastic deformation referred to as creep; it has been reported that the creep becomes more active at the small scale. Analyzing the creep in the small scale can be valuable not only for solving scientific curiosity but also for obtaining practical engineering information about the lifetime or durability of advanced small-scale structures. For the purpose, nanoindentation creep experiments have been widely performed by far. Here we critically review the existing nanoindentation creep methods and the related issues and finally suggest possible novel ways to better estimate the small-scale creep properties.