The constitutive differential equations governing the time-dependent indentation
response for axisymetric indenters into a fractional viscoelastic half-space are derived,
together with indentation creep and relaxation functions suitable for the backanalysis
of fractional viscoelastic properties from indentation data. These novel fractional
viscoelastic indentation relations include, as a subset, classical integer-type
viscoelastic models such as the Maxwell model or Zener model. Using the
correspondence principle of viscoelasticty, it is found that the differential order of the
governing equations of the indentation response is higher than the one governing
the material level. This difference in differential order between the material
scale and indentation scale is more pronounced for the viscoelastic shear
response than for the viscoelastic bulk response, which translates, into fractional
derivatives, the well-known fact that an indentation test is rather a shear
test than a hydrostatic test. By way of example, an original method for the
inverse analysis of fractional viscoelastic properties is proposed and applied to
experimental indentation creep data of polystyrene. The method is based
on fitting the time-dependent indentation data (in the Laplace domain)
to the fractional viscoelastic model response. Applied to polysterene, it is
shown that the particular time-dependent response of this material is best
captured by a bulk-and-deviator fractional viscoelastic model of the Zener
type.