☼ Ainun Ainuddin ☼ Lecture 3 ☼

CHAPTER 2:
Mechanical Test

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Content

• 2.1 Hardness testing

• 2.2 Tensile testing
• 2.3 Compression testing
• 2.4 Creep and Fatigue testing

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2.2 TENSILE TESTING

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• Tensile tests apply controlled loads to samples and measure the
deformation (strain) of the sample
• Measures the ability of a material to support a stress (force per
unit area).
• Sample is held between a fixed and a movable arm
• A perpendicular force upon the face of test piece is exerted by
slowly driving the movable cross-head away from the fixed arm
• The response of a tensile sample to the application of an
increasing stress can be described in terms of elastic and plastic
behavior
• Initially the sample undergoes elastic elongation as it is pulled. As
increasing stress is applied, the sample undergoes permanent
deformation; that is plastic strain.
• A strain gage or extensometer
• to monitor the change in gage length (ΔL)
• A load cell:
• measure load (F) is simultaneously
 Standardized tensile specimens.
(a) Tensile specimen with a circular cross section.
(b) Tensile specimen with a rectangular cross section.

Circular cross section m and n = gauge section Rectangular cross section

l = gauge length
• Diameter : • rectangular cross section of area:
d A
• Usual required gauge length:
• Usual required gauge length : l = 11.3 A
l = 10d @
@ l = 5.56
l = 5d.
Standards for Tensile Test
No Standard Details
1 ASTM E 8 Standard Test Methods of Tension Testing
Metallic Materials
2 ISO 6892 Metallic Materials –
Tensile Testing at Ambient Temperatures

3 DIN Metallic materials – Tensile testing –

EN 10002-1 Part 1: Method of testing at ambient
temperature
4 JIS Z 2241 Method of tensile test for metallic materials

5 BS 18 Methods for tensile testing of

metals (including aerospace materials
TENSILE STRESS & STRAIN
TENSILE STRESS TENSILE STRAIN
• Tensile stress,, on the • Change in longitudinal
sample, which is defined dimension in response to
to be the force, F, per stress is called strain,
unit area, A0
• Force is measured in • Strain is unitless
Newtons (1 N = 1 kg m s2)
• Stress is given in Nm-2 or
pascal (Pa)
is defined as the ratio of the lateral and axial strains
Elastic deformation
Plastic deformation
 Information from Stress-Strain Diagram - Regions

Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) • PLASTIC REGION:

• Some of the deformation of the
Yield Strength material becomes permanent
Breaking Strength
• NECKING:
• Localized decrease in the cross-
• Young’s Modulus sectional area starts to occur

• ELASTIC REGION:
• During initial  period, the elongation of the material responds to  in a linear fashion
• Samples reverts back to its original length upon relief of the load
• Offset yield strength:
• Why? no well-defined yield strength in the stress–strain diagram
• Line parallel to the initial segment in the stress–strain curve is constructed at the
distance  = 0.2%.
• Intersect of this line with the stress–strain curve yields 0.2
• As the stress is caused to increase to the upper yield point, no significant
plastic deformation is encountered
• But the material will yield, with a drop in the flow stress, (i.e., the stress at
which a metal will flow) resulting in a lower yield point and plastic
deformation at virtually constant stress
• Yield strength in these cases is defined as the average stress that is
associated with the lower yield point

Upper and lower yield points observed:

for example, in iron and low carbon steels
Typical stress-strain curve

(a) brittle materials,

(b) & (d) ductile materials
(c) & (e) materials with low ductility
Brittle and Ductile
• Brittle material:
• Ceramics
• Thermoset
• No separate yield strength, tensile strength, or
breaking strength
• Possess essentially no plastic (ductile) region
• Thus, break before the yield strength is reached

• Ductile material:
• Metals & alloys
• Withstand a large amount of permanent
deformation (strain) before they break
Ductile

• Thermoplastic polymers
 Ductility Toughness
• Ductility is a measure of the • Toughness is the ability to
deformation at fracture absorb energy up to fracture
• Defined by: • The total area under the
• % elongation strain-stress curve up to
fracture

• Units: the energy per unit

• % reduction in area volume, e.g. J/m3
 Example:
A tensile stress is to be applied along the long axis of a cylindrical
brass rod that has a diameter of 10 mm. Determine the
magnitude of the load required to produce a 2.5 x 10-3 mm
change in diameter if the deformation is entirely elastic. Given
the Modulus of Elastic is 97 GPa and Poisson’s ration is 0.34.
2.3 COMPRESSION TESTING

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 Looks like the reverse of the tension test, but more skill is
required to obtain reliable stress–strain curves

 Test is also conducted using the universal material testing system

 Specimen in undergoes shortening instead of elongation

 Transverse section experiences expansion instead of contraction

 Measures the relationship between pressure and compressive
deformation, namely, the F–Δh curve
• In recent years, compressive tests have been most frequently used for
measuring strength of porous ceramics
• Can be adopted for a wide variety of industrial applications from filtration,
absorption, catalysts, and catalyst supports to lightweight structural
components
• For brittle materials, the compressive strength is relatively easy to obtain,
showing marked failure.
• Ductile materials do not exhibit the sudden fractures that brittle materials
present. They tend to buckle and "barrel out".
Compressive Behaviour
 When a solid is subjected to a compressive stress
 results a volume decrease
 the relative volume change (ΔV/V)
 thus adopts thus a negative value

 Slope of the hydrostatic stress vs relative volume change

curve in the linear region is:
 the compression modulus/ the bulk modulus/ the volumetric
modulus of elasticity
Compression Test Samples
• The samples are typically:
 Short cylinders (height-to diameter ratios between 2 and 3)
 Plates

• Thin plates - anti-buckling guides required.

Modes of Deformation in Compression Testing
a) Buckling, when L/D > 5
b) Shearing, when L/D > 2.5
c) Double barreling, when L/D > 2.0 and friction is
present at the contact surfaces
d) Barreling, when L/D < 2.0 and friction is present
at the contact surfaces.
e) Homogenous compression, when L/D < 2.0 and
no friction is present at the contact surfaces.
f) Compressive instability due to work-softening
material
Compression Test Curve

Compression flow
curve compared with
that in tension
 Nominal stress–strain curve obtained by the compression test  the
tension test
 the cross-sectional area increases with deformation

 Flow curves measured by the tension test and the compression test
should be compared in terms of true stress–strain curves

 Flow stress (true stress) in compression after some amount of tensile

plastic deformation is smaller than that for continuous tension
 Difference of Compressive Behaviour
High Ductility Materials Low Ductility Materials
• Will not fracture when • Prone to fracture
subjected to compressive • Measure the mechanical
deformation properties in the ductile state
• Can only measure elastic • purpose is only to evaluate its
modulus, proportional limit, adaptability to the machining
elastic limit, and yield strength process
• Cannot measure limit of
compressive strength
Compressive
curve

Cast iron Curves under compression Mild steel

Information from the compression
test:
1) the nominal compressive strength
2) shortening, the ratio
3) expansion ratio of the fracture
surface

Compressive load-deformation curve.

1. Ductile material.
2. Brittle material
 Standards for Compression Test
No Standard Details
1 ASTM E 9 Standard Test Methods for Compression
Testing of Metallic Materials at Room Temperature
2 ASTM E 209 Standard Practice for Compression Tests of Metallic Materials at Elevated
Temperatures with Conventional or Rapid Heating Rates and Strain Rates
3 DIN 50106 Testing of Metallic Materials – Compression Test
4 DIN EN 12290 Advanced Technology Ceramics –
Mechanical Properties of Ceramic Composites at
High Temperature in Air at Atmospheric Pressure –
Determination of Compressive Properties
5 ISO 604 Plastics – Determination of Compressive Properties
6 JIS K 7132 Cellular plastics, rigid – Determination of Compressive Creep under
Specified Load and Temperature Conditions
7 JIS K 7135 Cellular plastics, rigid – Determination
of Compressive Creep
Difficulties
 Sensitive to alignment – causes buckling
• Compression alignment is not satisfactory with respect to the specimen axis
• Length of the specimen should be designed taking the cross-sectional area into
consideration. Usually, the ratio of the diameter of the cross-sectional area d0 to
the length h0 is chosen as 1.0–3.0

 Friction between the sample and compression platens

• Friction between the specimen and the anvil must be minimized
• Use an appropriate lubricant such as graphite or Mo2S powder otherwise bulging
PROBLEM
A circular aluminum tube of length L = 400 mm is loaded in compression by
forces P.
The outside and inside diameters are 60 mm and 50 mm, respectively.
A strain gage is placed on the outside of the bar to measure normal strains
in the longitudinal direction.
a) If the measured strain is 550 X 10-6, what is the shortening of the bar?
b) If the compressive stress in the bar is intended to be 40 MPa, what should be
the load P?