| Abstract: | Polymer coatings are widely used to protect glass from indentation damage. A model for the strength degradation that occurs when a sharp indenter penetrates through the coating is developed by accounting for the indentation load shared by the coating and substrate. This model accounts for the additional load supported by the coating due to the pile-up of coating material underneath the indenter. The model predicts the strength degradation as a function of indentation load, coating and substrate hardnesses, and coating thickness. Comparison of the model to experimental data for a wide range of polymer coatings (two epoxies, epoxy acrylate, and urethane acrylate) on soda-lime glass substrates shows good agreement. |
