Indentation of a viscoelastic half-space

In this chapter, we consider frictionless indentation problems for a viscoelastic half-space. We note that, throughout the chapter, the indenter displacement is denoted by w(t). Previous notation has been altered to avoid confusion with Dirac’s delta function δ(t), as well as with the loss angle δ(ω). As is well known, a viscoelastic material is characterized by a number of time-dependent moduli, and a certain combination of them, called the indentation relaxation modulus and denoted by M₃(t), will determine the material’s response to indentation. Depending on the type of loading protocol, different information can be gathered from the indentation test about the indentation relaxation modulus and its inverse counterpart C₃(t), called the indentation creep compliance.