A Universal Scaling Law for Nanoindentation, But Not only

Abstract

In this letter we derive a universal law for nanoindentation, considering different sizes and shapes of the indenter. The law matches as limit cases all the well-known hardness scaling laws proposed in the literature. But our finding can also explain their deviations experimentally observed at the nanoscale. An even more general scaling law is then formulated, also in the fast and slow dynamics; it is based only on the surface over volume ratio of the domain in which the energy flux occurs: thus, its application in different fields, also for chaotic and complex (e.g., biological) systems, is demonstrated.