Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 March 2012
The signification of the correction factor β that we defined for elastic material [J.M. Meza et al. J. Mater. Res.23(3), 725, (2008)] does not correspond to that of factor β in the Sneddon relationship between unloading contact stiffness, elastic modulus, and contact area as remarked by Durst et al. in their Comment (doi:10.1557/jmr.2012.41). To complete the results of Durst et al., the calculation of β is extended to a larger penetration depth range. It is shown that β depends on the depth to tip radius ratio, h/R, and on the Poisson’s ratio according to dimensionless analysis. The variation range of β is about 1.02–1.09 for 0.3 < h/R < 3 for purely elastic materials but can be much larger in case of elastic–plastic materials as shown [F. Abbes et al. J. Micromech. Microeng.20, 65003 (2010)].