Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
This contribution presents the results obtained by a Mexican laboratory in the Asia-Pacific Economy Cooperation Interlaboratory Comparison (IC) on mechanical properties by nanoindentation from 2008 using fused silica and polycarbonate as samples. Reduced modulus and indentation hardness are the parameters asked to be measured and compared. The aim for this paper is to show and to discuss the so called “indentation size effect” (ISE) on the indentation hardness of fused silica. Using the spherical formulation of the ISE model for crystalline materials, the macroscopic hardness and material length scale of fused silica are determined as (7.34 ± 0.085) GPa and (166.36 ± 14) nm, respectively.