Computer simulations of nanoindentation on Cu (1 1 1) with a void

This paper employs static atomistic simulations to investigate the effect of a void on the nanoindentation of Cu (1 1 1). The simulations minimize the potential energy of the complete system via finite element formulation to identify the equilibrium configuration of any deformed state. The size and depth of the void are treated as two variable parameters. The numerical results reveal that the void disappears when the indentation depth is sufficiently large. A stress concentration is observed at the internal surface of the void in all simulations cases. The results indicate that the presence of a void has a significant influence on the nanohardness extracted from the nanoindentation tests.