Cyclic Indentation of Iron: A Comparison of Experimental and Atomistic Simulations

S Deldar and IA Alhafez and M Smaga and T Beck and HM Urbassek, METALS, 9, 541 (2019).

DOI: 10.3390/met9050541

Cyclic indentation is a technique used to characterize materials by indenting repeatedly on the same location. This technique allows information to be obtained on how the plastic material response changes under repeated loading. We explore the processes underlying this technique using a combined experimental and simulative approach. We focus on the loading-unloading hysteresis and the dependence of the hysteresis width h(a,p) on the cycle number. In both approaches, we obtain a power-law demonstrating h(a,p) with respect to the hardening exponent e. A detailed analysis of the atomistic simulation results shows that changes in the dislocation network under repeated indentation are responsible for this behavior.

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