Abstract
The underlying principle of hardness testing is that the measurements of surface hardness can be related to the bulk properties in both theoretical and empirical ways. The aim of this paper is to briefly describe the nano-scratch technique for identifying and measuring the interphase region [1] in multiphase materials, which may serve as an example for other related measurements. The apparatus used in this work was Nano Indenter II made by Nano Instruments, Inc., operating in the scratch mode [2]. The nano-scratch test involves moving a sample while being in contact with the diamond indenter tip. The normal force is maintained at a constant value and the lateral force is measured from the deflection of the shaft and the lateral displacement. The ratio of these two forces is the coefficient of friction between the material of the indenter and that of the scratched material. The indenter scratches the surface of the sample in a straight line, traversing areas of matrix and fiber. The depth of the indenter is also recorded, thus indicating the hardness of the surface being scratched. In this work, two values of the normal force, 0.4 mN and 1 mN, were applied in the experiments in order to obtain more detail about the influence of the tip to the scratch morphology. The scratch length was about 60 μm starting from the matrix and crossing two fibers in this range that were found on the surface of each sample. Three composite panels were investigated:
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