Comments on “Comment on the determination of mechanical properties from the energy dissipated during indentation” by J. Malzbender [J. Mater. Res. 20, 1090 (2005)]

Abstract

Based on a comparison of relationships between energy dissipated during indentation and the ratio of hardness to reduced elastic modulus, Malzbender has recently proposed a procedure to determine both hardness and elastic modulus from a single loading–unloading indentation curve. However, a more accurate analysis of this relationship shows that, in fact, it suffers from the same limitations as the well-known Oliver and Pharr's method; i.e., in general, the true projected imprint area has to be measured in addition to the load–penetration curve or at least two such curves obtained with different indenter geometries are to be used to unequivocally determine the hardness and the elastic modulus of a material.