On the identification of stress-strain relation by instrumented indentation with spherical indenter

The local stress-strain relations were characterized by instrumented indentation with spherical indenter. The results obtained by indentation with different indenter radii were compared with tensile stress-strain curves of two metastable austenitic stainless steels (grade A301 and A304) and analyzed using finite element model. A forward finite element analysis was also carried out with model material behavior (elastic-perfectly plastic, linear hardening, piece-wise linear hardening and power-law hardening). The limitations of identified stress-strain relations arising from the indenter shape, uneven contact and non-linear material behavior due to the deformation induced martensitic transformation are discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.