Development and Standardization of Small Punch Testing Techniques in China

Abstract

In the recent years, small punch testing (SPT) techniques has made great progress in China. The SPT was studied to estimate the tensile properties, the fracture toughness and ductile-to brittle transition temperature, and the creep behavior. In 2012, a standard of small punch testing was issued in China and the application of SPT in power generation and petrochemical industry has become a prime candidate. The present paper concentrates on progress of technique and standardization and industrial acceptance in assessing the structure integrity in China. China has carried out close cooperation with Material & Metallurgical research Ltd in Czech to compare Standards between China and EU code. The size of specimen and jig was researched and compared each other. The influence of jig and test machine was researched and improved the specific requirement of jig and test machine. The evolution of stress state of deformation process of specimen in SPT was clarified. The results showed that at initial stage the elastic bending stress is predominant and then the stress state dominated by membrane stress with the decreasing of elastic bending stress and the increasing of punch displacement. The reason for introducing the specimen thickness h2 to the equation for correlating yield load of SPT with yield strength, and the reason for introducing specimen thickness h to equation for correlating the maximum load of SPT with tensile strength were provided respectively. The correlation equation of ductile to brittle transition temperature and SPT energy transition temperature TSP was established and it was successfully used to evaluate embrittlement of hydrogenation reactor. Small punch creep testing by reverse finite element simulation was carried out and used to evaluate the creep life in power generation industry. Fracture toughness and Master curve using SPT by reverse finite element simulation combined with local approach was studied.