Surface Roughness Effects in Nanoindentation of Soft Polymers

In the present paper, the surface roughness effects in nanoindentation of soft polymers are modelled numerically based on the approach utilising the phenomenological concepts. A real surface topography is characterised by using multi-level of protuberance-on-protuberance profiles. Following the real surface topography is simplified by one-level or multi-level sine curve profiles. Finally, the surface roughness effects are quantified related to the force-displacement data as well as to the identified material parameters. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)