 TENSION TEST

Also known as a tensile test, is a mechanical test that measures a material's strength and how much it can
stretch before breaking.

It’s primary purpose is to measure the material’s mechanical properties like:

1. Tensile Strength (Ultimate or maximum strength)

 the maximum amount of tensile stress a material can withstand before breaking
 tension stress – defined as force per unit area which is associated with stretching

Tensile Stress:
𝜎 = F/A

where:
𝜎 – tensile stress ; 𝑁/𝑚 ; Pa; psi; MPa (1𝑥10 𝑃𝑎)
F – force acting ; 𝑁
A - cross-sectional area; 𝑚

Example: Imagine pulling on a wire until it breaks. The "tensile stress" is the force applied to the wire divided
by its cross-sectional area at any given point during the pull, while the "tensile strength" is the maximum
stress the wire could withstand before breaking

2. Ductility
 measured by the elongation or reduction in cross-sectional area after fracture
• Elongation – it can determined by placing the parts of the broken specimen closely together
and holding them in place by a vice. The distance between gauge marks may be measured
by means of dividers. It is how much a material can stretch before breaking.
*Percent elongation is also called strain.
*“Stress" refers to the force applied per unit area on a material, while "strain" is the resulting
deformation or change in shape of that material due to the applied stress; essentially, stress
is the cause, and strain is the e ect on the material

𝑙 −𝑙
𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛; 𝜀 = 𝑥 100
𝑙
where:
𝑙 – original length
𝑙 – final length

• Reduction of area – it is how much the material's cross-sectional area decreases before
breaking. It is calculated by measuring the test piece diameter at the point of fracture,
calculating the cross-sectional area at this point, and expressing it as a percentage of
original area.
𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 𝑥 100
where:
𝐴 – original area
𝐴 – area at fracture

3. Modulus of Elasticity; 𝑬
 the slope of the stress-strain curve in the elastic region, indicating sti ness.
 it indicates resistance to elastic deformation.
 ;
𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦; 𝐸 = ; MPa
;

Note: Proof stress is the stress at which the stress strain curve departs from a straight line by not more
than 0.1 percent of length of the test piece. The material is said to have passed the proof stress test if the
application of certain load for 15 seconds does not produce more than 0.1 percent in elongation.

Material Young’s Modulus of Shear Modulus (G), Bulk Modulus (K),

Elasticity (E), GPa GPa GPa
Aluminum 70 25 75
Brass 90 35 60
Cast Iron 110 44 140
Copper 60 25 50
Iron 210 77 160
Lead 16 6 41
Nickel 210 78 170
Steel 200 75 160

Graph of stress-strain curve

The di erent regions in the stress-strain diagram are:

(i) Proportional Limit
It is the region in the stress-strain curve that obeys Hooke’s Law. In this limit, the stress-strain ratio
gives us a proportionality constant known as Young’s modulus. The point OA in the graph represents
the proportional limit.

(ii) Elastic Limit

It is the point in the graph up to which the material returns to its original position when the load acting
on it is completely removed. Beyond this limit, the material doesn’t return to its original position, and
plastic deformation starts to appear in it.

(iii) Yield Point

The yield point is defined as the point at which the material starts to deform plastically. After the yield
point is passed, permanent plastic deformation occurs. There are two yield points
• Upper Yield Point
• Lower Yield Point
𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡
𝑦𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝜎 =
𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
 (iv) Ultimate Stress Point
It is a point that represents the maximum stress that a material can endure before failure. Beyond this
point, failure occurs.

(v) Fracture or Breaking Point

It is the point in the stress-strain curve at which the failure of the material takes place.

𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑
𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 =
𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
(vi) Modulus of toughness
For ductile material (like steel etc.), the modulus of toughness is given by:
𝜎 +𝜎
𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 = 𝑥𝜀
2
where:
𝜎 – yield strength
𝜎 – ultimate tensile strength
𝜀 – strain at fracture

Note: for brittle material like cast iron, concrete, the modulus of toughness is determined by multiplying two-
thirds of the ultimate strength by the strain at fracture

𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 = (2/3)𝜎 𝑥 𝜀

(vii) Resilience
Capacity of a material to absorb energy when it is deformed elastically and then, upon unloading, to
have this energy recovered.
The associated property is the modulus of resilience, 𝑈 , which is the strain energy per unit volume required to
stress a material from an unloaded state up to the point of yielding.
1
𝑈 = 𝜎 𝜀
2
where:
𝑈 – modulus of resilience
𝜎 – yield strength
𝜀 – yielding strain

 COMPRESSION TEST
Compression stress–strain tests may be conducted if in-service forces are of this type. A compression test is
conducted in a manner similar to the tensile test, except that the force is compressive and the specimen
contracts along the direction of the stress.
A compressive force is taken to be negative, which yields a negative stress. Furthermore, because 𝑙 is greater
than 𝑙 , compressive strains are necessarily also negative.
Tensile tests are more comon because they are easier to perform; also, for most materials used in structural
applications, very little additional information is obtained from compressive tests.
Compressive tests are used when a material’s behavior under large and permanent (i.e., plastic) strains is
desired, as in manufacturing applications, or when the material is brittle in tension.

 COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION

It is the material’s property that measures the degree to which a material expands or contracts when its
temperature changes. It is usually expressed as a fractioal change in length, area, or volume per unit temperature
change.
For linear expansion:
∆
= 𝛼 (𝑇 − 𝑇 ) or = 𝛼 ∆𝑇 or ∆𝑙 = 𝛼 𝑙 ∆𝑇

where:
𝑙 and 𝑙 – represent initial and final length respectively
𝑇 and 𝑇 - represent initial and final temperature respectively
𝛼 – linear coe icient of thermal expansion (units: (K^-1; °C^-1)

For volumetric expansion:

∆
= 𝛽(𝑇 − 𝑇 ) or = 𝛽∆𝑇 or ∆𝑉 = 𝛽𝑉 ∆𝑇
 where:
𝑉 and 𝑉 – represent initial and final volume respectively
𝑇 and 𝑇 - represent initial and final temperature respectively
𝛽 – coe icient of volumetric thermal expansion

 BEAM DEFLECTION
The deformation of a beam is usually expressed in terms of its deflection from its original unloaded position. The
deflection is measured from the original neutral surface of the beam to the neutral surface of the deformed beam.
The configuration assumed by the deformed neutral surface is known as the elastic curve of the beam.
The Beam is a long piece of a body that is capable to hold the load by resisting the bending. The deflection of the
beam towards in a particular direction when force is applied to it is known as Beam deflection.
The beam can be bent or moved away from its original position. This distance at each point along the member is
the representation of the deflection.
Cantilever beams are the special types of beams that are constrained by only one given support. These types of
objects would naturally deflect more due to having support at one end only. To calculate the deflection of the
cantilever beam we can use the below equation:
𝑊𝐿
𝐷=
3𝐸𝐼

where:
𝐷 – beam deflection
𝑊 – force at one end
𝐿 – length of the beam
𝐸 – young’s modulus
𝐼 – moment of inertia

 SHEAR/TORTION TEST
The shear stress 𝜏 is computed according to
𝐹
𝜏=
𝐴
where 𝐹 is the load or force imposed parallel to the upper and lower faces, each of which
has an area of 𝐴 . The shear strain 𝛾 is defined as the tangent of the strain angle 𝜃. The units for shear stress and
strain are the same as for their tensile counterparts.

shear strain, γ = tan θ

∆𝑥
tan 𝜃 =
𝑙
where:
∆𝑥 – length of deformation at its maximum
𝑙 – perpendicular length

Torsion
- is a variation of pure shear in which a structural member is twisted; torsional forces produce a rotational
motion about the longitudinal axis of one end of the member relative to the other end. Examples of
torsion are found for machine axles and drive shafts as well as for twist drills. Torsional tests are normally
performed on cylindrical solid shafts or tubes.
- torsional stress is a type of shear stress that occurs when a shaft is twisted. The torque applied to the
shaft causes a distribution of stress across the shaft's cross-sectional area. The polar moment of inertia
is a measure of how resistant the cross-section is to torsion.

𝜏 = or 𝜏 = where for solid rod 𝐽 =

where:
𝜏 – tortional stress (MPa)
𝑟 – radius (m)
𝑇 – torque (N.m)
𝐽 – polar moemnt of inertia (𝑚 ); resistance against twisting
𝐺 – modulus o rigidity (MPa)
 𝜃 – angle of twist (rad)
𝐿 – length (m)

References:
Textbooks:
Material Science & Engineering, Er. R.K. Rajput, 5th Edition

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