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Published January 2012 | Published
Journal Article Open

Analysis of nanoindentation of soft materials with an atomic force microscope

Abstract

Nanoindentation is a popular experimental technique for characterization of the mechanical properties of soft and biological materials. With its force resolution of tens of pico-Newtons, the atomic force microscope (AFM) is well-suited for performing indentation experiments on soft materials. However, nonlinear contact and adhesion complicate such experiments. This paper critically examines the application of the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) adhesion model to nanoindentation data collected with an AFM. The use of a nonlinear least-square error-fitting algorithm to calculate reduced modulus from the nanoindentation data using the JKR model is discussed. It is found that the JKR model fits the data during loading but does not fit the data during unloading. A fracture stability analysis shows that the JKR model does not fit the data collected during unloading because of the increased stability provided by the AFM cantilever.

Additional Information

© 2011 Materials Research Society. Received 4 May 2011; accepted 2 August 2011. Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 August 2011. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR no. 0520565) through the Center for Science and Engineering of Materials (CSEM) at the California Institute of Technology, and this support is gratefully acknowledged. J.N. is supported by the Department of Defense (DoD) through the National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) Program.

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August 19, 2023
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