Contact pressure of porous Al2O3 probed by nanoindentations

Contact pressure of porous Al2O3 probed by nanoindentation was investigated by dimensional analysis with special attention paid to scaling effects in the mechanical behavior. It was found that, for sample containing small grains and interconnected pores, the contact pressure is manifest dominated by bonding strength of the porous alumina. Whereas the samples with coarse grain and various porous structures exhibit higher contact pressures and smaller residual deformations, which can be attributed to the mechanical response of the solid-phase under current limited peak loads.