Relationships between initial unloading slope, contact depth, and mechanical properties for spherical indentation in linear viscoelastic solids

Using analytical and finite element modeling, we examine the relationships between initial unloading slope, contact depth, and mechanical properties for spherical indentation in viscoelastic solids with either displacement or load as the independent variable. We then investigate whether the Oliver–Pharr method for determining the contact depth and contact radius, originally proposed for indentation in elastic and elastic–plastic solids, is applicable to spherical indentation in viscoelastic solids. Finally, the analytical and numerical results are used to answer questions raised in recent literature about measuring viscoelastic properties from instrumented spherical indentation experiments.