Patent ID: 7149634
Filing Date: 2006-12-12
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A method of understanding the mechanical properties of a material comprising: determining the elastic modulus of a material having a Poisson's ratio v by a Berkovich indenter having an elastic modulus E a) modeling the Berkovich indenter with a conical shape with a spherical cap providing a blunt tip which is assigned to have a half-included θ, and a radius R of the cap or an absolute bluntness value Δh to ensure that its cross sectional area is the same as that of the real indenter for all h values; b) measuring maximum load P c) calculating nominal hardness H d) calculating a set of estimates of from a set of relationships between derived from numerical simulations of indention processes corresponding to different settings of relative bluntness defined as Δh/h m , wherein; e) determining corresponding to the experimentally measured Δh/h m value through interpolation; f) calculating a reduced elastic modulus E value; g) calculating the material elastic modulus E from; h) utilizing the calculated elastic modulus E to understand the mechanical properties of a material.