Mechanisms of Deformation and Fracture of Thin Coatings on Different Substrates in Instrumented Indentation

Mechanical properties of thin surface layers and coatings are commonly studied using instrumented indentation and scratch testing, where the mechanical response of the coating – substrate system essentially depends on the substrate material. It is quite difficult to distinguish this dependence and take it into account in the course of full-scale experiments due to a multivariative and nonlinear character of the influence. In this study the process of instrumented indentation of a hardening coating formed on different substrates is investigated numerically by the method of movable cellular automata. As a result of modeling, we identified the features of the substrate material influence on the derived mechanical characteristics of the coating – substrate systems and the processes of their deformation and fracture.