Uncertainty Analysis of Mechanical Properties from Miniature Tensile Testing of High Strength Steels

This Miniature mechanical testing study is concerned with the use of miniature specimens to identify the mechanical properties of stainless steel Type 304, sensitized Type 304 and SA516 Grade 70 carbon steel as a viable replacement for the standard sized mechanical testing. The study aims at obtaining suitable specimen geometry and tensile testing procedure for miniature mechanical testing whose mechanical properties are comparable to that of conventional specimens of ASTM A370-10 of the same steel. All specimens are at and the gauge length cross section will be varied to obtain suitable geometry. The miniature tensile testing results are further validated by using Monte Carlo Method (MCM) for uncertainty estimation in order to know the probability distribution of mechanical properties. Miniature specimens with a cross section of 3 mm2 and 12 mm gauge length are found to produce equivalent mechanical properties as tested from standard-sized specimens. If a reasonable agreement is received, it will provide us with a very useful tool to evaluate mechanical properties of de- graded materials, which cannot be removed from service for standard testing, for repair and service life evaluation