Effect of friction coefficient on the small punch creep behavior of AISI 316L stainless steel

Small punch creep testing has received attention due to the convenience of using smaller specimens than those of conventional uniaxial creep tests, which enables creep testing on developing or currently operational components. However, precedent studies have shown that it is necessary to consider friction between the punch and specimen when computing uniaxial equivalent stress from a finite element model. In this study, small punch creep behaviors of AISI 316L stainless steel, which is widely used in high temperature-high pressure machineries, have been compared for the two different ceramic balls such as Si₃N₄ and Al₂O₃. The optimal range of the friction coefficient is 0.4-0.5 at 650°C for the best fit between experimental and simulation data of AISI 316 L stainless steel. The higher the friction coefficient, the longer the creep rupture time is. Therefore, the type of ceramic ball used must be specified for standardization of small punch creep testing.