Industrial applications of small punch test

Small punch test is an advantageous method for evaluation of mechanical properties of components especially in cases, where it is technically difficult or even impossible to obtain enough bulk material for standard tests. Therefore, the method is very well applicable in power industry, for example in residual lifetime assessment of critical parts of components and structures after long-term operation. The testing material is sampled by using special sampling device that ensures no component damage and the amount of material being sampled is so small that obviously no component repair is necessary after sampling. Small punch testing is exploited not only for evaluation of mechanical properties, but also microstructural and chemical analyses can be performed from the obtained sample and complex actual material characteristic of component can be assessed. Company MATERIAL AND METALLURGICAL RESEARCH, Ltd., has more than 20 years of experience with small punch testing in industrial applications and several examples of its application for analysis of material properties and residual lifetime assessment are presented in this paper