Skip to main content
Log in

Characterization of viscoelastic properties of polymeric materials through nanoindentation

  • Published:
Experimental Mechanics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Nanoindentation testing was used to determine the dynamic viscoelastic properties of eight polymer materials, which include three high-performance polymers and five densities of high-density polyethylene. It was determined that varying the harmonic frequency of nanoindentation does not have a significant effect on the measured storage and loss moduli of the polymers. Agreement was found between these nanoindentation results and data from bulk dynamic mechanical testing of the same materials. Varying the harmonic amplitude of the nanoindentation had a limited effect on the measured viscoelastic properties of the resins. However, storage and loss moduli from nanoindentation were shown to be sensitive to changes in the density of the polyethylene.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gates, T.S. and Hinkley, J., “Computational Materials: Modeling and Simulation of Nanostructured Materials and Systems,” NASA/TM-2003-212163 (2003).

  2. Oliver, W.C. andPharr, G.M., “An Improved Technique for Determining Hardness and Elastic Modulus Using Load and Displacement Sensing Indentation Experiments,”Journal of Materials Research,7,1564–1583 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  3. O'Connor, K.M. and Cleveland, P.A., “Indentation Creep Studies of Cross-linked Glassy Polymer Films,” MRS Spring Meeting (1993).

  4. Strojny, A. andGerberich, W.W., “Experimental Analysis of Viscoelastic Behavior in Nanoindentation,”Fundamentals of Nanoindentation and Nanotribology, Moody, N.R., Gerberich, W.W., Burnham, N., andBaker, S.P., editors, Materials Research Society, Warrendale, PA, 159–164 (1998).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Cheng, L., Xia, X., Yu, W., Scriven, L.E., andGerberich, W.W., “Flatpunch Indentation of Viscoelastic Material,”Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics,38,10–12 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Klapperich, C., Komvopoulos, K., andPruitt, L., “Nanomechanical Properties of Polymers Determined from Nanoindentation Experiments,”Journal of Tribology,123,624–631 (2001).

    Google Scholar 

  7. VanLandingham, M.R., Villarrubia, J.S., Guthrie, W.F., andMeyers, G.F., “Nanoindentation of Polymers: An Overview,”Macromolecular Symposia,167,15–43 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lu, H., Wang, B., Ma, J., Huang, G., andViswanathan, H., “Measurement of Creep Compliance of Solid Polymers by Nanoindentation,”Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials,7,189–207 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Nowicki, M., Richter, A., Wolf, B., andKaczmarek, H., “Nanoscale Mechanical Properties of Polymers Irradiated by UV,”Polymer,44,6599–6606 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Park, K., Mishra, S., Lewis, G., Losby, J., Fan, Z.E., andPark, J.B., “Quasi-static and Dynamic Nanoindentation Studies on Highly Crosslinked Ultra-high-molecular-weight Polyethylene,”Biomaterials,25,2427–2436 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Loubet, J.L., Lucas, B.N., and Oliver, W.C., “Some Measurements of Viscoelastic Properties with the Help of Nanoindentation,” NIST Special Publication 896: International Workshop on Instrumented Indentation (1995).

  12. Syed Asif, S.A., Wahl, K.J., andColton, R.J., “Nanoindentation and Contact Stiffness Measurements Using Force Modulation with a Capacitive Load-displacement Transducer,”Review of Scientific Instruments,70,2408–2413 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Loubet, J.L., Oliver, W.C., andLucas, B.N., “Measurement of the Loss Tangent of Low-density Polyethylene with a Nanoindentation Technique,”Journal of Materials Research,15,1195–1198 (2000).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Syed Asif, S.A., Wahl, K.J., Colton, R.J., andWarren, O.L., “Quantitative Imaging of Nanoscale Mechanical Properties Using Hybrid Nanoindentation and Force Modulation,”Journal of Applied Physics,90,1192–1200 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Lu, H., Wang, B., and Huang, G., “Measurement of Complex Creep Compliance Using Nanoindentation,” 2003 SEM Annual Conference and Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, Charlotte, NC (2003).

  16. Nicholson, L.M., Whitley, K.S., Gates, T.S., andHinkley, J., “Influence of Molecular Weight on the Mechanical Performance of a Thermoplastic Glassy Polyimide,”Journal of Materials Science,35,6111–6122 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Findley, W.N., Lai, J.S., andOnaran, K., Creep and Relaxation of Nonlinear Viscoelastic Materials, Dover Publications, New York (1989).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Sneddon, I.N., “The Relation between Load and Penetration in the Axisymmetric Boussinesq Problem for a Punch of Arbitrary Profile,”International Journal of Engineering Science,3,47–57 (1965).

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  19. King, R.B., “Elastic Analysis of Some Punch Problems for a Layered Medium,”International Journal of Solids and Structures,23,1657–1664 (1987).

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  20. Pharr, G.M., Oliver, W.C., andBrotzen, F.R., “On the Generality of the Relationship Among Contact Stiffness, Contact Area, and Elastic Modulus During Indentation,”Journal of Materials Research,7,613–617 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Kampf, G., Characterization of Plastics by Physical Methods: Experimental Techniques and Practical Application, Hanser Publishers, New York (1986).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Menard, K.P., Dynamic Mechanical Analysis: A Practical Introduction, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL (1999).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Odegard, G.M., Gates, T.S. & Herring, H.M. Characterization of viscoelastic properties of polymeric materials through nanoindentation. Experimental Mechanics 45, 130–136 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02428185

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02428185

Key Words

Navigation