Mathematical description of indentation creep and its application for the determination of strain rate sensitivity

The creep process during the holding stage of nanoindentation test has been analyzed mathematically. It is shown analytically for the first time that the corresponding indentation depth-time relationship can be described by a power-law function, suggesting a direct application of nanoindentation for the determination of the strain rate sensitivity. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.