Measuring residual stress in glasses and ceramics using instrumented indentation

Instrumented indentation has yielded mixed results when used to measure surface residual stresses in metal films. Relative to metals, many glasses and ceramics have a low modulus-to-yield strength (E/σ_y) ratio. The advantage of this characteristic for measuring residual stress using instrumented indentation is demonstrated by a series of comparative spherical and conical tip finite element simulations. Two cases are considered: (i) a material with E/σ_y = 24—similar to glass and (ii) a material with E/σ_y = 120—similar to metal films. In both cases, compressive residual stress shifts the simulated load–displacement response toward increasing hardness, irrespective of tip geometry. This shift is shown to be entirely due to pile up for the “metal” case, but primarily due to the direct influence of the residual stress for the “glass” case. Hardness changes and load–displacement curve shifts are explained by using the spherical cavity model. Supporting experimental results on stressed glasses are provided.