The Indentation & Scratch Analyzer (ISA) is a combination of the O&PfC® and SSA®. Thus, the ISA enables you to use the capabilities of both modules synergistically and, therefore, to physically analyze nearly all mechanical contact tests and surface measurements, respectively.
The ISA® (Indentation & Scratch Analyzer) additionally contains the modules OptiWear and CritLoad, which complete the functionality of ISA®. OptiWear allows you to predict the wear track of wear tests. CritLoad evaluates the critical loads of almost any load combinations for a given coating structure.
Features
The features covered below are features of the model on which this product series is based. Therefore, they may differ from the capabilities of the individual editions as they are not all completely implemented in all editions.
Supported Material Structures
This software series allows you to analyze among others the following surface structures by evaluation of mechanical contact measurements:
- multi-layer coatings (up to 100 layers)
- thin films (theoretically down to 1 angstroem*)
- thick films (theoretically unlimited*)
- with intrinsic/thermal stresses and gradients of it (functional)
- laminate structures
- composites
- nano-particle-enhanced coatings (nanotubes, fullerenes, …)
- inclusions and defects not only within layers but also at interfaces
- superlattice
- homogeneous monolithic bulk materials (e.g. substrate only)
* Practically it depends on capabilities (e.g. the resolution and noise floor) of your measurement instrument.
Measurement Conditions
Among others, the following measurement conditions and measurement effects can be taken into account for the evaluation of mechanical surface measurements by this measurement analysis software series:
- multi-axial loads (normal, lateral, and rotating loads)
- tilting and deflection of the indenter
- actual indenter shape, hence also edges and asymmetry of indenter tips (e.g. required for Berkowich and Vickers tips)
- surface roughess, actual three-dimensional surface topography and surface curvature (e.g. from 3D pre-scan by AFM), respectively
- creep / sink-in: time-dependent material properties of viscous or visco-elastic materials (e.g. polymers)
- pile-up / residual stresses of ductile materials, plastic deformation, fractures/cracks of brittle materials
- friction between surface and indenter
- temperature gradients / fields (e.g. necessary for high temperature measurements or tribology tests)
- weak interfaces / poor interface adhesion
Evaluable Contact Measurements
This software enables you to analyze the following mechanical surface measurements:
- instrumented nano, micro, and macro indentation measurements and hardness tests, respectively
- multi-axial indentation measurements (with additional lateral or rotating loads)
- cyclic, dynamic, and multi-load indentations (e.g. CSM method of Agilent, QCSM method of ASMEC, ESP of Fischer)
- impact tests and drop tests
- scratch tests, adhesion tests, and scratch resistance tests
- tribology tests like wear tests and friction tests (pin-on-disc, ball-on-disc and so on)
- each also in high temperature range
- and many more
Mechanical Characterization
The most important aim of mechanical characterization is the evaluation of generic material properties, which are independent of measurement conditions (like material structure of the sample, maximum indentation depth, initial and final load, velocity etc.). Hence, it is necessary to take all these measurement conditions into account to evaluate such measurement properly. That is why we have extended the classic Oliver & Pharr method for such conditions. This Oliver & Pharr method extended for layered materials (Oliver & Pharr for Coatings) enables you to calculate – among others – the following generic material properties:
- real Young’s modulus of each layer or the substrate (elastic modulus)
- yield strength of each layer or the substrate
- Poisson’s ratio of each layer or the substrate
- intrinsic, thermal, or residual stresses of each layer or the substrate
- tensile strength
- adhesive strength
- critical stresses of all fracture modes (mode I crack, mode II crack, and mode III crack)
- layer thicknesses
Only these generic physical material properties can be reused in nearly any other surface structure (e.g. for surface optimization by means of modeling and simulation or for analysis of complex contact measurements like scratch tests) without being obliged to repeat the characterization.
This software allows you to determine the correct hardness, too. But be aware: Hardness is neither a physical nor a generic material property!
Connection to Measurement Equipment
The following measurement equipment manufacturers already provide a direct export interface to our software, which convert measurement data directly into our format:
- Helmut Fischer GmbH (O&PfC format only)
- ASMEC GmbH – member of Zwick/Roell
- MicroMaterials Ltd. (O&PfC format only)
- Anton Paar (formerly CSM Instruments)
- Fischer-Cripps Laboratories Pty Ltd. (O&PfC format only)
Further manufacturers are still developing and will follow soon.
System Requirements
| Minimum* | Optimum | |
|---|---|---|
| operating system: | Microsoft Windows 7 | Microsoft Windows 10 or higher |
| word size: | 32 or 64 bit | 32 or 64 bit |
| CPU: | 1 cores 1 GHz | ≥ 6 cores × 2 threads ≥ 2 GHz |
| RAM: | 1 GB | ≥ 4 GB |
| free HDD space: | 50 MB (for the software) 500 MB (for project files) | 50 MB (for the software) ≥ 3 GB (for project files) |
| screen: | 1024 x 768 pixel 16 bit color depth | 1920 x 1080 pixel 32 bit color depth |
Ask us for specific consulting
Mail: info@siomec.de