Deciphering deviation in mechanical properties of differently processed AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel using the small punch test

Suitability of small punch test (SPT) was studied by determining the mechanical behaviors of AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel samples with different crystallographic textures and similar grain size prepared by different modes of rolling and annealing treatment. It was demonstrated that SPT can capture differences in mechanical properties that arises from different crystallographic textures. Such capacity can be attributed to higher length scales involved in SPT which enables it to capture the effect of texture unlike routine micro-hardness measurements. It is also shown that important additional information like rate of strain hardening and mode of fracture that can be obtained from SPT is consistent with results expected from conventional tensile test.