On the effect of substrate deformation at scratching of soft thin film composites

In the present paper scratching of soft thin film/substrate structures, using sharp conical indenters, is studied theoretically and numerically. For simplicity, but not out of necessity, the material behavior of the film as well as the substrate is described by classical elastoplasticity accounting for large deformations. Explicit material parameters are chosen in order to arrive at representative results as regards material behavior and indenter geometry. The main efforts are devoted towards an understanding of the influence from the film/substrate boundary on global scratching properties at different material combinations. Global quantities to be investigated include scratch hardness, contact area and apparent coefficient of friction at scratching. The numerical investigation is performed using the finite element method (FEM) and the numerical strategy is discussed in some detail.