GONG Jianghong

(Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

Abstract: Nanoindentation technique has been widely employed to characterize mechanical properties at nanoscale. The traditional Oliver-Pharr (OP) approach established in 1992 is the most commonly adopted method for analyzing nanoindentation data. In the review, the theoretical basis and the data analysis methodology included in OP method were outlined. Then, aiming at the practical applications of nanoindentation in the determination of elastic modulus and hardness of brittle ceramics, the possible factors which may influence the accuracy and the reliability of the OP method were analyzed.

Key words: nanoindentation; elastic modulus; hardness; contact mechanics; data analysis; ceramic materials