Development and Validation of Small Punch Testing at NIST

Published

April 16, 2020

Author(s)

Enrico Lucon, Jake T. Benzing, Nikolas W. Hrabe

Abstract

Small Punch (SP) testing is a methodology that uses tiny disks (generally 8 mm in diameter and 0.5 mm thick) to estimate mechanical properties of metallic materials, such as tensile properties, fracture toughness, and ductile-to-brittle transition temperature. Empirical correlations are typically used to infer conventional mechanical properties from characteristic forces and displacements obtained from the SP test record. At NIST in Boulder, Colorado, we recently developed experimental and analytical procedures for running SP tests on various materials. We conducted SP tests on three steels with widely different tensile and fracture properties. The NIST setup was successfully qualified by comparing our results on A533B steel to the results obtained in an international round-robin, and also by comparing empirical correlations between SP data and tensile properties to similar relationships published in the literature. We also tested specimens with different surface roughness, to investigate the influence of surface finish on SP test results.

Citation

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 8303

Report Number

8303

NIST Pub Series

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

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DOI Link

Keywords

Empirical correlations, international round-robin, Small Punch, surface roughness, tensile properties

Citation

Lucon, E. , Benzing, J. and Hrabe, N. (2020), Development and Validation of Small Punch Testing at NIST, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8303 (Accessed July 24, 2025)