Material Removal of Aluminate Magnesium Spinel based on Nanoindentation and Microscratch Test

The material removal mechanism of aluminate magnesium spinel was investigated by nanoindentation and microscratch test. The hardness increases with the increase of load. The influence of scratch speed and scratch load on the removal mechanism of spinel was analyzed based on the penetration depth, tangential force and acoustic emission (AE) signal. It was found that with the increase of scratch speed, the area of elastic-plastic removal and brittle plastic transition increased. The AE signal appears at the beginning of a brittle plastic transition for the first time. Moreover, the tangential force growth rate of spinel in the elastic-plastic stage is lower than that in the brittle removal stage. The results indicated that improving scratch speed and reducing the scratch load is beneficial to reduce the range of brittle removal of spinel, thus increasing the range of plastic removal and brittle plastic transition.