Small punch test to estimate the threshold stress in aggressive environments by incremental step loading

The present work is a relevant advance in the validation of the incremental step loading technique (ASTM F1624 standard) when applied to Small Punch tests (SPT) for the threshold load determination of medium- and high-strength steels in aggressive environments, as a novel alternative to conventional...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Arroyo Martínez, Borja|||0000-0003-3037-652X; Andrea Calvo, Laura; Álvarez Laso, José Alberto|||0000-0003-0670-5100; Cicero González, Sergio|||0000-0002-3950-6071; Gutiérrez-Solana Salcedo, Federico|||0000-0003-2152-4148; Abarca González, Luis
Format: Article
Publication date:2024
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
Repository:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/35285
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10902/35285
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Threshold stress
Small punch test
Incremental step loading technique
Aggressive environment
Medium and high strength steels
Hydrogen embrittlement
Description
Summary:The present work is a relevant advance in the validation of the incremental step loading technique (ASTM F1624 standard) when applied to Small Punch tests (SPT) for the threshold load determination of medium- and high-strength steels in aggressive environments, as a novel alternative to conventional time-consuming tests under constant load. It completes previous works by the authors on this topic, extending a methodology to estimate the threshold stress from SPT tests in aggressive environments, covering the whole range of hardness marked by ASTM F1624 as the main goal. This is achieved by calibrating a model of the material`s hardness by the use of a coefficient in function of it. For this purpose, four medium- and high-strength steels of 33, 35, 50 and 60 HRC (Hardness Rockwell C) are exposed to three different cathodic polarization hydrogen embrittlement environments of 1, 5 and 1mA/cm2 in H2SO4 acid electrolyte connected to a platinum anode. Threshold stresses in these circumstances are obtained by uniaxial specimens following ASTM F1624 and compared to their homologous threshold loads obtained by Small Punch tests according to the authors' original methodology proposal. Finally, the aforementioned model, consisting of a correlation based on composing an elastic and a plastic part, is calibrated for a hardness ranging 33-60 HRC, this being the main original contribution of this work; the elastic part is dependent just on the elastic-to-plastic transition SPT load, while the plastic part is ruled by a material hardness-dependent coefficient. This technique supposes an advance in engineering tools, due to its applicability in situations of material shortage, such as in-service components, welded joints, local areas, complex geometries, small thicknesses, etc., often present in aerospace, automotive or oil-gas, among others.