Determination of Young's modulus by spherical indentation

In this paper we consider elastic plastic materials that are tested by spherical indentation. Finite element calculations, which take into account nonlinear geometry properties, are carried out in order to determine the influence of the plastic history on the unloading response of the material. Two different iterative methods are proposed for determining Young's modulus under the assumption of a bilinear plasticity law. The first method deals with loading and unloading parts of the indentation test, whereas the second one deals only with unloading parts of the indentation test.