Requirements for investigating the temperature-dependent fracture behavior of irradiated materials by indentation

The instrumented indentation technique is an interesting testing tool to examine temperature-dependent fracture mechanisms. It is planned to be used to generate cracks at defined temperatures in hard and brittle metallic materials. The present study describes the properties needed for the use of a new type of indenter operating at high temperature. The indenter was designed to meet mechanical and thermal requirements and other constraints relating to the operation of functional units of the indentation instrument. Additionally, a finite element model has been built with a view to predict indentation induced cracks in Eurofer97 and tungsten. The model has been validated both with the theory of Hertz and experimentally by comparison with indentation curves.