Evaluation of Tensile Properties of Cast Stainless Steel Using Ball Indentation Test

To investigate the applicability of automated ball indentation (ABI) tests in the evaluation of the tensile properties of cast stainless steel (CSS), ABI tests were performed on four types of unaged CSS and on 316 stainless steel, all of which had a different microstructure and strength. The reliability of ABI test data was analyzed by evaluating the data scattering of the ABI test and by comparing tensile properties obtained from the ABI test and the tensile test. The results show that the degree of scattering of the ABI test data is reasonably acceptable in comparison with that of standard tensile data, when two points data that exhibit out-of-trend are excluded from five to seven points data tested on a specimen. In addition, the scattering decreases slightly as the content of ${\delta}-ferrite$ in CSS increases. Moreover, the ABI test can directly measure the flow parameters of CSS with error bounds of about ${\pm}10\%$ for the ultimate tensile stress and the strength coefficient, and about ${\pm}15\%$ for the yield stress and the strain hardening exponent. The accuracy of the ABI test data is independent of the amount of ${\delta}-ferrite$ in the CSS.