Modeling of Indentation of Hard Coatings by an Arbitrarily Shaped Indenter

Abstract

A numerical-analytical method is proposed for calculating the contact pressures and internal stresses arising in the coating and substrate during indentation by a smooth indenter of arbitrary shape. This method was used to analyze the indentation of two coating-substrate compositions differing in the thickness of the coating by a Berkovich pyramid. Analysis of the influence of the coating thickness on the indentation by the indenter in a wide range of loads has been performed, and the influence of the shape of the indenter on its indentation and distribution of the contact pressure has been investigated. Calculation of the maximum tangential stresses showed that there is a probability of initiation of plastic flow in the substrate material near the interface if the hardness of the coating is higher than that of the substrate. The simulation results can be used to solve the inverse problem: determining the elastic modulus of the coating according to the indentation results, taking into account deformation of the substrate.