Estimation of the Hall–Petch strengthening coefficient of steels through nanoindentation

A method to estimate the Hall–Petch coefficient k for yield strength and flow stress of steels through nanoindentation experiments is proposed. While determination of kf for flow stress is on the basis of grain boundary strengthening evaluated by sharp indentation, ky for yield strength was computed with pop-in data from spherical indentations. Good agreement between estimated and literature data, obtained from the tensile tests, validates the proposed methodology.