indentation test

The main source of error with indentation tests is the strain hardening effect of the process.

In 1925, Smith and Sandland of the UK developed an indentation test that employed a square-based pyramidal indenter made from diamond.

In a traditional indentation test (macro or micro indentation), a hard tip whose mechanical properties are known (frequently made of a very hard material like diamond) is pressed into a sample whose properties are unknown.

Nanoindentation improves on these macro and micro indentation tests by indenting on the nanoscale with a very precise tip shape, high spatial resolutions to place the indents, and by providing real-time load-displacement (into the surface) data while the indentation is in progress.

Although indentation testing as a measure of elastic modulus is not well known as a laboratory test method it is the basis of many hardness tests used in industry particularly for softer materials such as rubbers, where the indentation made under a standard load is large enough to be easily measurable.