Ball Indentation Technique: A currently developed tool to study the effect of various heat treatments on the mechanical properties of En24 steel

Ball Indentation (BI) Technique has been used to evaluate the variation in mechanical properties due to heat treatment on as-received En steels. Increments in tempering temperature have softened the samples and thus decreased the strength but increased strain hardening exponent. Fully martensitic structure has formed in solutionised and oil quenched sample, which improved the strength. The obtained results of as-received En steel are validated by conventional test results. Optical microscopy and hardness values of heat treated En steels corroborated the BI obtained results. All evidences proved that BI technique is useful and an effective small specimen technique to evaluate small changes in mechanical properties without any prior analysis.