Small punch tests on steels for steam power plant (I) - Ductile-brittle transition temperature

Conventional test methods for measuring fracture toughness require the removal of large material samples from in-service component. However, recent developments of small punch test technique using miniature specimens have proved its usefulness and accuracy to evaluate the mechanical properties of components. Correlations have been obtained between mechanical characteristics determined from small punch test and uniaxial tensile test. Furthermore, the study showed that an appropriate empirical based-approach could be used to evaluate the Charpy-FATT of as-received and ex-service materials from small punch test.