CHAPTER TWO

Mechanical Behavior of Materials

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS (DEFINITION, MEASUREMENT,

SIGNIFICANCE)

 TENSILE TEST AND ALL DERIVED PARAMETERS

 TRUE STRESSES AND STRAINS

 FLOW STRESS EQUATION AND ITS PARAMETERS (STRENGTH COEFFICIENT AND STRAIN
HARDENING COEFFICIENT)

 IDEALIZED STRESS-STRAIN RELATIONSHIPS

 STRAIN RATE SENSITIVITY

 PLANE STRAIN CONDITION

 HARDNESS

 RESIDUAL STRESSES

 AVERAGE FLOW STRESS

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 Mechanical Behavior of Materials
The objective of materials processing is to convert raw material into finished products. The mechanical properties of the raw material
forms constraints on the manufacturing process (such as amount of deformation or speed of deformation) and the requirements for the
processes (such as needed power). At the same time, the manufacturing process changes the original properties of the material (e.g.,
strength and hardness) based on the processing conditions (e.g., temperature). Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanical
behavior of materials during processing.

There are three main types of mechanical stresses and strain: (a) Tensile (b) Compressive (c)
Shear. All deformation processes in manufacturing involve strains of these types. Tensile
strains are involved in stretching sheet metal to make car bodies, compressive strains in
forging metals to make turbine disks, and shear strains in making holes by punching. Other
processing methods, such as casting processes involve less mechanical stresses.

initial volume = final volume (V0=Vf )

Shear Strain:

True stress True strain

Engineering stress Engineering Strain:

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 Tensile-Test
There are two types of SS curves: engineering SS and true SS curves.
Engineering SS curves use engineering stresses and engineering strains,
while true SS curves use true stresses and strains as derived earlier. In this
course we only use true SS curves and relationships.
Tensile test is performed by stretching a standard size/shape specimen of a
specific material until fracture. The relationship between the applied force
The SS curve starts with a linear relationship and it becomes nonlinear until
and elongation is used to develop a stress-strain (SS) curve for the material.
fracture. The linear part of the curve is know as the “elastic zone” and the
Each material has a unique SS curve of its own.
nonlinear part is known as the “plastic zone”.

Video: Mechanical Properties Several mechanical properties can be derived from the stress-strain curve
such as:
- Yield strength (Y): the stress at which plastic deformation starts;
measured at the end of the linear part of the curve. It is usually found by
drawing a line parallel to the linear part of the curve at an offset on the
x-axis equal to 0.002. The intersection of the parallel line with the curve
is the yield point.

- Ultimate tensile strength (UTS): the maximum stress a material

withstands before it starts to fail; measured at the highest point of the
curve (y-axis).

- Ductility: the amount of strain a material undergoes before it fractures,

measured as the width of the curve (x-axis).

- Elastic Modulus (E): the resistance to elastic deformation; measured as

the slope of the linear part of the curve; also known as “Young’s
modulus of elasticity”

- Toughness: amount of energy absorbed (or needed) at fracture;

measured as the area under the curve (also known as specific energy)
multiplied the volume of the fractured material.
FIGURE 2.2 (a) Original and final shape of a standard tensile-test specimen. (b)
- Modulus of Resilience: amount of energy absorbed (or needed) to start
Outline of a tensile-test sequence showing different stages in the elongation of
plastic deformation; measured as the area under the linear part of the
the specimen.
curve (elastic zone)

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 Mechanical Properties

TABLE 2.1 Typical mechanical properties of various materials at room temperature.

See also Tables 10.1, 10.4, 10.8, 11.3 and 11.7. E – Elastic Modulus (stiffness)

Y – Yield strength (resistance to plastic

deformation

UTS – Ultimate Tensile Strength (resistance to

failure)

Elongation % at Fracture – Ductility

Poisson’s Ratio – ratio between lateral strain

(e.g. diametrical) to longitudinal strain (length) in
tensile testing.

TABLE 2.2 Comparison of engineering and true strains in

tension

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Loading & Unloading Elongation
If the load is released while the material is still in the When looking up the “Elongation %” for a specific material from reference tables
elastic zone, the material recovers to its original shape such as Table 2.1, it is important to keep in mind that these numbers are measured
(known as “full elastic recovery”. If the load is released in on 2-inch samples and the actual elongation% for longer samples will be smaller
the plastic zone, the material recovers some elastic (since it is a percentage of the original length). For example, for Copper (shown
deformation (i.e., partial elastic recovery), however it below) the %elongation at fracture is about 20% when the part is 2 inches long,
sustains some plastic (permanent) deformation. which is 0.4 inch (0.2x2"). However, if the part is 10 inches long, the %elongation at
fracture drops to about 5% which totals 0.5 inch (0.05x10").

FIGURE 2.4 Total elongation in a tensile

test as a function of original gage
length for various metals. Because
necking is a local phenomenon,
elongation decreases with gage length.
Standard gage length is usually 2 in. (50
mm), although shorter ones can be
used if larger specimens are not
available.

FIGURE 2.3 Schematic illustration of loading and

unloading of a tensile-test specimen. Note that during
unloading the curve follows a path parallel to the
original elastic slope.

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 True Stress - True Strain Curve
K and n are material properties, therefore each material has its
own K and n values under certain conditions (i.e., these values
change when varying conditions such as temperature and
pressure)

Yf - Flow stress: Amount of stress needed to deform a material

to a given strain ε1.

Flow rule:

FIGURE 2.5 (a) True stress--true strain curve in tension. Note that, unlike in an engineering stress-strain curve, the slope is always positive and that
the slope decreases with increasing strain. Although in the elastic range stress and strain are proportional, the total curve can be approximated by
the power expression shown. On this curve, Y is the yield stress and Yf is the flow stress. (b) True stress-true strain curve plotted on a log-log scale.
(c) True stress-true strain curve in tension for 1100-O aluminum plotted on a log-log scale. Note the large difference in the slopes in the elastic and
plastic ranges. Source: After R. M. Caddell and R. Sowerby.

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 Power Law Flow Rule

K – Strength Coefficient: A material property which describes

the strength of the material. The higher the K value the stronger
the material is, which means the higher the stress that is needed
to cause plastic deformation.
It is measured on the stress strain curve when the strain is equal
to 1.

n – Strain Hardening Coefficient: A material property which

describes the sensitivity of the material to work hardening. The
higher the value of n the higher the sensitivity of the material to
deformation due to strain hardening. Strain hardening is the
strengthening of the material due to deformation which causes
changes in the lattice structure of the material such as
entanglement of edge dislocations and grain boundaries thus
making deformation more difficult and therefore the material
appears stronger. This is important in deforming processes (such
as forging and rolling) where the material becomes stronger
during the process (for example between passes).

TABLE 2.3 Typical values for K and n in Eq. 2.11 at room temperature.

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 True Stress-True Strain for Various Materials

FIGURE 2.6 True stress-true strain curves in tension at room temperature for various metals. The point of
intersection of each curve at the ordinate is the yield stress Y; thus, the elastic portions of the curves are not
indicated. When the K and n values are determined from these curves, they may not agree with those given in
Table 2.3 because of the different sources from which they were collected.

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 Idealized Stress-Strain Curves
FIGURE 2.7 Schematic illustration of various types of idealized
stress-strain curves.

(a) Perfectly elastic: the material undergoes elastic deformation

only, which means it will stretch elastically until it fails, if the
load is released at any time before failure it will recover its
original shape.
(b) Rigid, perfectly plastic: the material resists any form of
deformation until the stress reaches the yield strength of the
material (Y), at which the material starts to deform
plastically (i.e., permanent deformation) at the same stress
level (Y) until it fails. There is no strain hardening during
plastic deformation (n=0). If the load is released at any point
after it starts deformation and before it fails, the material
maintains its current shape under loading.
(c) Elastic, perfectly plastic: the material undergoes elastic
deformation until the stress reaches the yield strength of the
material, after which the the material starts to deform
plastically (i.e., permanent deformation) at the same stress
level (Y) until it fails. Similarly, there is no strain hardening
during plastic deformation (n=0), if the load is released at
any point after it starts plastic deformation and before it
fails, the material maintains its current shape under loading.
(d) Rigid, linearly strain hardening: similar to (b) except the
FIGURE 2.8 The effect of strain- material experiences strain hardening during the plastic
hardening exponent n on the shape deformation stage (n>0).
of true stress-true strain curves. (e) Elastic, linearly strain hardening: similar to (c) except the
When n = 1, the material is elastic, material experiences strain hardening during the plastic
and when n = 0, it is rigid and deformation stage (n>0).
perfectly plastic.
The broken lines and arrows indicate unloading and reloading
during the test.

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 Temperature and Strain Rate Sensitivity
Strain rate is the rate (i.e., speed) at which deformation (i.e. strain) is applied to the material. It is calculated by dividing the amount of strain by the
deformation time. The unit of strain is (in/in) and the unit of strain rate is (in/in)/sec or s-1.

Strain rate sensitivity (m) is similar to strain hardening coefficient (n) in that it is a material property. Strain rate sensitivity (m) describes the sensitivity
(i.e. increase) of the material’s strength to increasing the rate of deformation (i.e. strain rate). Note that as the temperature increases, the slope (figure
2.10) increases. Thus, tensile strength becomes more and more sensitive to strain rate as temperature increases.

FIGURE 2.9 Effect of temperature on mechanical properties of a carbon steel.

Most materials display similar temperature sensitivity for elastic modulus, yield
strength, ultimate strength, and ductility. In general, strength (yield and UTS)
and stiffness (elastic modulus) decrease; whereas ductility increases with
increasing temperature.

FIGURE 2.10 The effect of strain rate on the ultimate tensile

strength of aluminum. Source: After J. H. Hollomon.

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 Typical Strain Rates in Metalworking
TABLE 2.4 Typical ranges of strain, deformation
speed, and strain rates in metalworking
processes.

In metal forming processes (forging, rolling, extrusion, drawing, etc.),

the speed of the operation determines the rate of deformation, i.e.,
strain rate. Ultimately, it is desired to run the process faster in order
to reduce cycle time and increase the throughput of the operations.
However, the faster the deformation process the higher the strength
of the material becomes (i.e., strain rate sensitivity) and therefore
the higher the necessary applied forces and needed press power
capacity.

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 Hydrostatic Pressure

When a brittle material such as cast iron is subjected to

hydrostatic pressure (by placing it in a sealed container
surrounded by pressurized hydraulic fluid such as oil), the
ductility improves with increasing the pressure.

This allows us to process brittle metals; such as cast irons,

under similar metal forming processes such as extrusion.

FIGURE 2.13 The effect of hydrostatic pressure on true strain at

fracture in tension for various metals. Even cast iron becomes ductile
under high pressure. Source: After H.L.D. Pugh and D. Green.

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 Plane-Strain Conditions

If the width of the workpiece (w) is

significantly higher than its thickness (h) and
the length of the deformation zone (b), it is
assumed that there will be insignificant
change in the width under loading
conditions; hence there will be changes in
two dimension only (length and thickness);
i.e. 2-D deformation. This is referred to as
“plane strain conditions”

The amount of stress needed under this

assumption (i.e. there will be no changes in
the 3rd dimension) is practically higher than
the theoretical stresses. For example, the
yield stress under plane-strain condition
assumption is approximately 15% higher
FIGURE 2.15 Schematic illustration of the plane-strain than the theoretical yield stress. Therefore:
compression test. The dimensional relationships shown
should be satisfied for this test to be useful and
reproducible. This test gives the yield stress of the material
in plane strain, Y’. Source: After A. Nadai and H. Ford.
Yield stress in plane strain:

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 Tension & Compression Baushinger Effect

Ytension 2Ytension

Ycompression

After tension:
Ycompression < Ytension
FIGURE 2.16 True stress-true strain curve in tension and
compression for aluminum. For ductile metals, the
curves for tension and compression are identical.
Source: After A.H. Cottrell.
FIGURE 2.17 Schematic illustration of the Bauschinger effect. Arrows show
loading and unloading paths. Note the decrease in the yield stress in
compression after the specimen has been subjected to tension. The same
result is obtained if compression is applied first, followed by tension,
whereby the yield stress in tension decreases.

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 Hardness Tests

HARDNESS is a material property which

describes its resistance to scratching (wear).
It is measured by an indentation test (called
hardness test) where an indenter with a
specific size and shape is pushed against the
surface of the specimen using a specific
force(s) leaving an indentation on the surface.
The dimensions of the indentation is
measured and used to calculate a hardness
number for the material, often referencing
the type of test used in the measurement;
example Brinell hardness number.

There exists a wide range of hardness tests

(as shown in figure 2.22) which differ in the
shape/size of the indenter and the amount of
forces applied. The reason for having
different tests is due to the wide variety of
materials: e.g. shapes, sizes, strengths,
surface condition, etc. For example, different
requirements are needed when testing the
hardness of an aluminum foil versus the
hardness of a block of tool steel.

FIGURE 2.22 General characteristics of hardness testing methods. The Knoop test is known as a
microhardness test because of the light load and small impressions. Source: After H.W. Hayden, W.G.
Moffatt, and V. Wulff.

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 Hardness Test Considerations

FIGURE 2.23 Indentation geometry for Brinell hardness

testing: (a) annealed metal; (b) work-hardened metal. Note
the difference in metal flow at the periphery of the
impressions.

FIGURE 2.25 Bulk deformation in mild steel under a spherical

indenter. Note that the depth of the deformed zone is about one FIGURE 2.24 Relation between Brinell hardness and yield stress for aluminum
order of magnitude larger than the depth of indentation. For a and steels. For comparison, the Brinell hardness (which is always measured in
hardness test to be valid, the material should be allowed to fully kg/mm2) is converted to psi units on the left scale.
develop this zone. This is why thinner specimens require smaller
indentations.

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 Residual Stresses
Step 3: unloading equivalent to applying an equal
Step 1: bending in the elastic zone
and opposite moment to the part

Step 2: bending in the plastic zone Step 4: residual stresses left in the part after
(strain hardening) the load is released.

FIGURE 2.30 Residual stresses developed in bending a beam made of an elastic, strain-hardening material. Note that unloading is
equivalent to applying an equal and opposite moment to the part, as shown in (b). Because of nonuniform deformation, most parts made by
plastic deformation processes contain residual stresses. Note that the forces and moments due to residual stresses must be internally
balanced.

Residual stresses can be relieved thermally by heat treatment (annealing) or mechanically by stretching.

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 Average Flow Stress and Work of Deformation

Specific energy (u): amount of energy (work) under stress-

strain curve per unit volume. Also known as “Work of
Deformation”

FIGURE 2.37 Schematic illustration of true

stress-true strain curve showing yield stress
Y, average flow stress, specific energy u1
and flow stress Yf.

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Ideal & Redundant Work

FIGURE 2.38 Deformation of grid patterns in a workpiece: (a) original

pattern; (b) after ideal deformation; (c) after inhomogeneous
deformation, requiring redundant work of deformation. Note that (c)
is basically (b) with additional shearing, especially at the outer layers.
Thus (c) requires greater work of deformation than (b).

Total specific energy (deformation work):

Efficiency:

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 End of Chapter 2

Review old exam problems on chapter 2

and make sure all answers are clear

20 CHAPTER 2: MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR