Role of plasticity on indentation behavior: Relations between surface and subsurface responses

Surface and subsurface responses during frictionless indentation of elasto-plastic solids are investigated. Cases of monotonic and repeated loading are considered. It is shown that the role of plasticity parameters on indentation behavior cannot be well described in terms of surface response alone. It must be tied with subsurface response. In particular, the difference between the materials exhibiting isotropic hardening and that exhibiting kinematic hardening is less apparent when the force-displacement response and the deformed surface from the two are compared. Yet, it is quite apparent when subsurface response such as plastic strain, residual stress and plastic zone dimension are compared. An attempt has been made to characterize such surface and subsurface responses, for different plastic behavior, and to compare them with estimations obtained from analytical solutions.