A data-driven method for estimating the plastic properties of alloys through Vickers hardness tests

An efficient and accurate estimation of the plastic properties of alloys is crucial for material design, selection, and characterization. This study proposed a data-driven method to estimate the stress–strain relationships of alloys using the Vickers hardness ( HV ) test coupled with the finite element method (FEM). A modified constitutive model combining the power-law and linear hardening behaviors was developed to characterize the intermediate material responses between these two classical models. High-throughput FEM simulations were conducted to construct response surfaces based on the HV values and indentation pile-up heights. Using these response surfaces, the material constants were uniquely determined from the experimental HV measurements and the corresponding pile-up data without requiring additional experimental inputs. The proposed method’s validity and accuracy were evaluated using Fe–36Ni (at%) and SUS316L stainless steel alloys. The estimated and experimentally measured stress–strain curves exhibited significant consistency, demonstrating the approach’s reliability. The method demonstrated high accuracy, with deviations of 7.4% for yield strength, 4.8% for ultimate tensile strength, and 5.9% for flow stress in Fe–36Ni, and corresponding deviations of 0.7%, 2.3%, and 1.7% in SUS316L. Compared with conventional methods that rely on instrumented indentation, the Vickers-based methodology provides a simple, cost-effective, and accessible approach suitable for rapid mechanical characterization, facilitating the efficient construction of material databases for data-driven materials research.