Determination of mechanical properties direct from production components

Abstract

The ability to determine in situ mechanical properties of components would be of great value in monitoring the effect of processing condition excursions on service performance and for quality control. An approach to this problem based on testing small rectangular bars prepared directly from a component by water-jet cutting and subsequent grinding is presented. Impact resistance, tensile strength and transverse rupture strength values obtained from a PM synchroniser hub are consistent with those obtained for conventional tensile specimens, within the limits of experimental error. The specimen types are shown to have similar compositions and microstructures when processed under the same conditions. The new method has been applied to assess the effects of processing variations on the mechanical properties of a synchroniser hub.