Correlations of mechanical properties by SPT (Small Punch Test) and conventional tensile test for Al 6061 – T6

Abstract

The Small Punch Test (SPT) was development by nuclear industries to analyses mechanical properties of irradiated materials principally by small volume of the samples. This technique intend to evaluate the materials behavior during the time life of nuclear reactors, where yours properties changed by irradiation intensity and exposition time. It is considered an almost ¨non-destructive” method [2] due to small sample volume and its applications are spreading for use in situations where conventional methods do not apply. SPT consists of pressing a sphere, with a diameter equal to 2.5 mm, in a miniaturized sample of circular geometry (diameter d = 8 mm and thickness about 0.5 mm)[1], which has fixed edges, tested in conventional mechanical testing machines with the aid of a device developed for their achievement. In this work, mechanical properties of aluminum (Al 6061-T6) were abstained by two different methods: conventional tensile test and the small punch test (SPT). The SPT results depends on graph interpretations and discussions take place at now. Correlations of results guide us in choosing the most appropriated method for interpreting the force x displacement graph from SPT.