A small specimen testing method to determine tensile properties of metallic materials

Abstract A stable uniaxial tensile testing method has been proposed for small specimens that can obtain stress-strain relations and strength of metallic materials. Based on energy equivalent assumptions, a semi-analytical model with five parameters has been put forward. Those parameters can be determined by a small amount of finite element analysis (FEA), and more extensive numerical validation is carried out on the model. By designing a simple installation fixture for the small specimens of which the parallel section is 1.2 mm in width and 5 mm in length, a series of uniaxial tensile tests have been performed with small specimens. It shows that the stress-strain relations and strength obtained by the small specimen testing method are consistent with those from standard round bar specimens. The small specimen test method will help to obtain the mechanical properties of materials in nuclear industry and other fields.