Application of a database in the evaluation of strengths of Cr-Mo steels by means of small punch test

Abstract Extracting accurate strength properties from small punch test (SPT) results is still a challenge. Previous studies on determining the strength of materials via SPT employed empirical correlations, but these correlations are not generally accurate enough. Here we developed a database method to efficiently evaluate the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength. First, a database containing force-deflection curves of SPT and corresponding strengths of materials is created using finite element simulations coupled with a large amount of hypothetical materials. The database is then used to process the force-deflection curve of an investigated material for estimating strength values. A series of hypothetical materials that are not in the database were adopted to explore the accuracy in determining strengths by this method. The results show the theoretical accuracy values of the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength achieve 92.0% and 99.0%, respectively. The proposed method was also applied to estimate the strengths of Cr-Mo steels. It is found that the obtained strengths agree well with those acquired by uniaxial tensile testing. Using a database to evaluate strength properties is a novel and simple approach that could be widely spread in the study of SPT.