Abstract: The effects of maximum load, load time and hold time on the determination of nano-indentation hardness for polymer resins were investigated in this paper. The results indicated that the maximum load and load time had few influences on the test result of nano-indentation hardness, but the hold time exhibited a significant effect. The test results decreased gradually with an increase of hold time.

Key words: nano-indentation, instrumented-indentation, test parameter, polymer resin