Estimation of creep-fatigue damage through indentation test method

Creep, creep-fatigue damage is often estimated through in-situ metallography, tensile testing of specimens. However, these methods require specimen preparation which includes specimen extraction from critical components. Automated ball indentation testing has been used as an effective tool to determine the mechanical properties of metallic materials. In this work, the tensile properties of materials subjected to controlled levels of damage in creep, creep-fatigue is studied. It is found that the tensile properties such as yield strength and UTS deteriorates with creep damage, whereas the same specimens show an improved UTS values (at the cost of ductility) when subjected to creep-fatigue interactions. Copyright © 2011 by ASME.