CHAPTER 6:

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
ISSUES TO ADDRESS...
• Stress and strain: What are they and why are
they used instead of load and deformation?
• Elastic behavior: When loads are small, how much
deformation occurs? What materials deform least?
• Plastic behavior: At what point do dislocations
cause permanent deformation? What materials are
most resistant to permanent deformation?
• Toughness and ductility: What are they and how
do we measure them?

1
 Mechanical Behavior/Properties of Materials

• The mechanical behavior of materials is the relationship

between the APPLIED LOAD OR FORCE and the
RESPONSE OR DEFORMATION
• Important Mechanical Properties are: Strength, Stiffness,
Ductility, Toughness, and Hardness
• Tests Commonly Used are: Tensile Test, Impact Test
and Hardness Test
• The tests are standardized by different agencies: The
Most Common One is ASTM (American Society of
Testing Materials)
• Metals are the most important structural materials and are
discussed in detail
2
• Mechanical properties are required to design a structure
so that deformation is not excessive and fracture des not
occur

• Loads possible are:

– Tensile
– Compressive
– Shear

3
 ELASTIC DEFORMATION
1. Initial 2. Small load 3. Unload

bonds
stretch

return to
initial

F

• Elastic means reversible!

• Can be Linear or Non-Linear

4
 PLASTIC DEFORMATION (METALS)
1. Initial 2. Small load 3. Unload

Plastic means permanent!

linear linear
elastic elastic

plastic 5
 TENSILE TEST
• Most Common Test
• Several Mechanical Properties can be
Obtained/Measured
• A specimen is deformed, usually to fracture, with a
gradually increasing tensile load that is applied
uniaxially along the long axis of specimen
• Load versus Elongation data is recorded on computer
or strip chart
• Load and Elongation are Normalized to Engineering
Stress and Engineering Strain

6
 Tensile Testing Setup (1)

• Tensile testing requires a

stiff testing frame and
control, and a setup for
measurement of
displacement

• The displacement gives

the tensile strain

• The load is measured with

the help of a load cell
Tensile Test Frame
7
 Tensile Testing Setup (2)
• Schematic Test Frame

Extensometer to measure strain

8
 Tensile Testing Setup (3)

• A standard tensile test specimen

Dimensions are standardised to ensure reproducible

results between different laboratories
E.g. ASTM E8 standard
9
 ENGINEERING STRESS
• Tensile stress, s: • Shear stress, t:

Ft
s
Ao
original area * Shear Stress
before loading Stress has units: Parallel to Area
N/m2 or MPa

Stresses are Normalized Internal Resistive Forces as opposed to Pressure

 ENGINEERING STRAIN
• Tensile strain: • Lateral strain:
/2

Lo
wo
/2
L/2 L/2
• Shear strain:
/2

 = tan  Strain is always

dimensionless.
/2 - 

/2 /2
11
Stress States

Forces can act in three dimensions, so

three dimensional states of stress
occur.
12
 Tensile Testing

• The Force vs Displacement Strain Hardening Necking/Tensile Strength

curve shows the elastic
deformation, yielding, Failure/Ductility
necking and failure of the
sample

Force
• The Engineering Stress vs
Strain curve has the same Yielding/
shape as the Force vs Plastic Deformation
Displacement curve; only
normalized with respect to
Elastic Behavior
original area and length

Displacement

13
 Elastic Deformation: s- Behavior
• For most materials, at low level of stresses, Stress
and Strain are proportional:
s   and s = E  (Hooke’s Law)
• Constant of proportionality E is the Modulus of
Elasticity or Young’s Modulus
• For most typical metals E ranges from 45 to 400 GPa
• Modulus can be thought of as STIFFNESS or a
material's resistance to elastic deformation
• The modulus is an important design parameter used
for computing elastic deformations

14
 Elastic Behaviour-Linear

• Elastic deformation is
Stress
recoverable.
• In most materials, elastic
deformation is linear. Unload
• In some materials, elastic
deformation is non-linear
Slope = modulus
of elasticity
• Modulus of Elasticity, E s=E
(also known as Young's modulus)
Load Hooke's Law
• Units GPa
Strain
15
 Elastic Behaviour-Non-Linear
• For some materials the initial elastic portion of stress-
strain curve is non-linear
• For this non-linear behavior tangent or secant modulus is
normally used

16
 Elastic Behaviour
• Elastic strain produces
small changes in inter-
atomic spacing and the
stretching of inter-atomic
bonds
• Elastic modulus thus
depends on the strength of
the bonds between the
atoms, i.e., bonding energy
• E  (dF/dr)ro
• It is not significantly Force vs displacement for interatomic bonds
affected by small changes
in composition or by
processing

17
 Effect of Temperature
and Melting Point on Modulus

• Elastic modulus is affected

by the strength of inter-
atomic bonds and
temperature
• Modulus decreases with
increase in temperature
• Modulus tends to increase
with melting point.
Effect of temperature on modulus

18
 YOUNG’S MODULI: COMPARISON
Graphite
Metals Composites
Ceramics Polymers
Alloys /fibers
Semicond
1200
1000 Diamond
800
600
Si carbide
400 Tungsten Al oxide Carbon fibers only
Molybdenum Si nitride
E(GPa) 200
Steel, Ni
Tantalum <111>
Si crystal
CFRE(|| fibers)*
Platinum
Cu alloys <100> Aramid fibers only
100 Zinc, Ti
80 Silver, Gold Glass-soda AFRE(|| fibers)*
60 Aluminum Glass fibers only
Magnesium, GFRE(|| fibers)*
40 Tin
Concrete

10 9 Pa GFRE*
Based on data in Table B2,
20
CFRE* Callister 6e.
10 Graphite GFRE( fibers)* Composite data based on
8 CFRE( fibers)* reinforced epoxy with 60 vol%
6
Polyester
AFRE( fibers)* of aligned
4 PET carbon (CFRE),
PS
2 PC Epoxy only aramid (AFRE), or
PP
glass (GFRE)
1 HDPE fibers.
0.8
0.6 Wood( grain)
PTFE
0.4

0.2 LDPE
19
 Poisson’s Ratio
• Tensile strain causes lateral
contraction in addition to
elastic elongation
• This is given by Poisson’s
Ratio, .
lateral strain

tensile strain

x y
  
z z

• Poisson's ratio, n:
metals: n ~ 0.33 Units:
ceramics: ~0.25 n: dimensionless
polymers: ~0.40 20
 Other Elastic Properties
t M
• Elastic Shear G
modulus, G: Simple
1  Torsion
t=G Test

• Elastic Bulk M
modulus, K:
P
P P
Pressure
Vo Test

• Special relations for isotropic materials:

E E
G K
2(1  n) 3(1  2n)
• FOR COMPLETE CHRACTERIZATION OF ELASTIC BEHAVIOR OF ISOTROPIC MATERIALS
TWO INDEPENDENT CONSTANTS ARE REQUIRED 21
 PLASTIC (PERMANENT) DEFORMATION
(at lower temperatures, T < Tmelt/3)

• Simple tension test:

22
 Plastic Deformation
• Plastic Deformation  Permanent or Non-recoverable
Deformation
• Elastic deformation for (most metallic materials) only to
strain of about 0.005
• Normally a curvature in Stress-Strain curve occurs at
the onset of plastic deformation
• ON ATOMIC SCALE: Plastic deformation involves
breaking and reforming of bonds

– For Crystalline Materials: Plastic deformation is by SLIP (Movement of

Dislocations)
– For Amorphous Materials: Plastic deformation is by viscous flow
mechanisms
23
 Yielding and Yield Strength (sy)
• Yielding or Yield Strength: The stress at which plastic
deformation begins or onset of plastic deformation
• Most structures are designed to ensure only elastic
deformation results when stress is applied
METHODS TO MEASURE YIELD STRESS:
1. Proportional Limit:
– Yielding defined as initial departure from linearity of s- curve
– If the position cannot be determined precisely, a straight line is constructed
parallel to the initial elastic portion of the s- curve at some specified
strain offset, usually 0.002. The yield stress is the intersection of this line
and s- curve.

2. For Non-Linear Elastic Materials:

– Yield stress is defined as stress required to produce some amount of strain,
e.g. =0.005
24
3. Yield Point Phenomena (Upper and Lower Yield Point):
– Steels and some other material exhibit this phenomena
– The stress drops at the yield point showing upper and lower yield point
– Yield stress is taken as Lower Yield Point

25
Yield Strength Comparison

sy(ceramics)
>>sy(metals)
>> sy(polymers)

Room T values
Based on data in Table B4,
Callister 6e.
a = annealed
hr = hot rolled
ag = aged
cd = cold drawn
cw = cold worked
qt = quenched & tempered

26
 Tensile Testing

• The tensile test provides

most information about
mechanical properties of
materials, such as the
elastic modulus, yield
stress, tensile
strength,and ductility

27
 Tensile Strength (TS)
• After yielding the stress required to continue plastic
deformation increases to a maximum point called the Tensile
Strength (also called UTS or ultimate tensile strength)
• It is the maximum stress that can be sustained by a structure in
tension: If this stress is applied and maintained fracture will
take place
• Before the maximum point the deformation is UNIFORM over
the whole specimen
• At Maximum Stress a NECK begin to form at some point and
all the subsequent deformation is confined to neck
• Tensile strength varies from 50-300 MPa for metals
• Normally yield strength is used for design purposes

28
 Tensile Strength (TS)
• Maximum possible engineering stress in tension.

• Metals: occurs when noticeable necking starts.

• Ceramics: occurs when crack propagation starts.
• Polymers: occurs when polymer backbones are
aligned and about to break. 29
TENSILE STRENGTH: COMPARISON

Room T values
Based on data in Table B4,
Callister 6e.
a = annealed
hr = hot rolled
ag = aged
cd = cold drawn
cw = cold worked
qt = quenched & tempered
AFRE, GFRE, & CFRE =
aramid, glass, & carbon
fiber-reinforced epoxy
composites, with 60 vol%
fibers.
30
 Engineering Stress and Strain

• At small strains, the

engineering stress and strain se  F
are adequate descriptions of A0
the deformation
e   L
• At high strains True Stress 0
and True Strain are
sometimes more relevant Lo and Ao are the initial
dimensions of the gauge length

31
 True Stress and True Strain

• Since volume is conserved in

plastic deformation and the area
decreases as the specimen
lengthens, the engineering stress st  F A
i
is not a correct measure of the
stress at higher strains
• True stress and strain are based
1 dL  ln Li
L
on the actual area and
incremental change in length
t   L L0
L0
• After necking the True Stress-
True Strain curve continue to
increase Where Ai and Li instantaneous area and
instantaneous length, respectively

32
 Work or Strain Hardening
• An increase in yield or flow Stress
stress due to plastic deformation
• Work hardening can be True Stress/Strain
expressed as:

s t  K t n

• n is the strain hardening or work

hardening exponent. Engineering Stress/Strain
• Typically n has values between
0.05 (low work hardening) to 0.5
(high work hardening).
• n=0.15 for steels and n=0.5 for
copper Strain
33
 Ductility (%EL)
• Ductility is the measure of the degree of Plastic
Deformation shown by the material before fracture
• Brittle Materials are materials that experience little or no
plastic deformation before fracture
• Ductility measured quantitatively as percent elongation
and percent reduction in area
• Ductility important in both DESIGN and FABRICATION
• Unlike Modulus, Yield and Tensile Strength, Ductility
increases with temperature

34
 Ductility (%EL)
L f  Lo
• Plastic tensile strain at failure: %EL  x100
Lo
smaller %EL
Engineering (brittle if %EL<5%)
tensile
stress, s Larger %EL
(ductile if
%EL>5%)

Engineering tensile strain, 

Ao  A f
• Another ductility measure: %AR  x100
Ao
• Note: %AR and %EL are often comparable.
--Reason: crystal slip does not change material volume.
--%AR > %EL possible if internal voids form in neck.
35
 Resilience
• Resilience is the capacity of a material to
absorb energy when it is deformed elastically.
• Upon unloading this energy (the elastic strain
energy) is recovered
• Modulus of Resilience Ur: Area under the elastic
part of stress-strain curve
y
1 (For Linear Elastic s- curve)
U r   sd  s y y
0
2

• Units of Resilience are Pa or J/m3

36
 Toughness

• Toughness is the ability of the materials to

absorb energy up to fracture
• It is also defined as the energy to break a unit
volume of material
• Measured by (for different specimen geometry
and manner of load application):

1. AREA UNDER THE STRESS-STRAIN CURVES

2. IMPACT TEST
3. FRACTURE TOUGHNESS

37
 1. TOUGHNESS (using area under s- curve)

• Energy to break a unit volume of material

• Approximate by the area under the stress-strain
curve for the low strain rate (static) conditions

Engineering smaller toughness (ceramics)

tensile larger toughness
stress, s (metals, PMCs)

smaller toughness-
unreinforced
polymers

Engineering tensile strain, 

38
 2. TOUGHNESS (using Impact Test)
• Impact Test:
– Useful to measure toughness at high
strain rate with notch (or point of
stress concentration)
– Standard Notched Specimen
– Charpy and Izod Impact Testing
Machine

Steel
Fracture Energy

Aluminium

Temperature Impact Test

39
40
41
 HARDNESS
• Hardness is measure of a materials resistance to
localized plastic deformation, that is, a small indent or
scratch

• It is resistance to permanently indenting the surface

• Hardness tests are performed more than any other

mechanical tests because:
– They are simple and inexpensive
– Sample preparation is easy
– The test is non-destructive (the sample can be used afterwards)
– Tensile strength can be estimated from hardness test

42
 Hardness Testing
• There are several common
types of hardness tests
• The hardness test gives a
measure of strength and wear
resistance
• Large hardness means:
• resistance to plastic
deformation or cracking in
compression
• better wear properties
• The hardness is also affected
by work hardening of the
material around the
indentation Hardness Testers

43
 Hardness Testing Basics
• Earlier Hardness Tests were qualitative with the harder material defined as
one which can scratch the softer
• Mohs scale was later defined with 1 for talc (soft) and 10 for Diamond (hard)
• Current techniques involve small indenter forced in the surface of specimen
under controlled condition of load and rate of application
• Measured hardness are only relative (rather than absolute) and care should be
exercised comparing values from different techniques

44
45
 Rockwell Hardness Tests
• Constitute the most common test used to measure hardness because it is
simple, requires no special skills and all kinds of materials can be tested
• Rockwell Test consists of:
– Diamond Cone or Steel Sphere (1/16, 1/8, ¼, & ½ in)
– Indentation load depends on scale (15kg to 150kg)
– A hardness number is determined from the depth of penetration or
indentation from the application of an initial minor load followed
by the larger major load (utilizing minor load improves accuracy)
– Minor load can be 10 Kg and major load can be 60, 100 and 150 Kg
– 80 HRB represent Rockwell hardness of 80 on B scale
• Inaccuracies can result for a thin specimen and when indentation is too
close to edge
• For accuracy: The specimen thickness should be at least 10 times the
indentation depth and the specimen edge should be three indentation
diameters from the place to be tested 46
 Brinell Hardness Tests
• In Brinell test a hard spherical indenter is forced into the
surface of the metal to be tested:
– Diameter of indenter is10mm and is made of steel or
Tungsten Carbide
– Indentation load P ranges form 500 to 3000Kg in 500 Kg
increments
– The load is required to be maintained for a specified time (10-
30s)
• The Brinell hardness number is a function of both the magnitude
of the load and the diameter resulting form the indentation
(formula is shown in Table)
• The diameter is measured by a microscope and the appropriate
HB number is found by using a chart
47
Knoop and Vickers Microhardness Tests
• In these tests a very small diamond indenter having a
pyramidal geometry is forced into the surface of the
specimen:
– Applied loads are smaller than Rockwell and Brinell (1g to 1Kg)
– Impression is measured by microscope and then converted into a
hardness number (see table for formulae)
– The hardness number are designated as HK (Knoop) and HV
(Vickers)

• Both the tests are referred to as microhardness-testing

methods because of the small loads and indenter size
• It is difficult to convert one hardness number to another
because:
– Hardness is not a well defined property
– Experimental dissimilarities exist between different tests
48
 Correlation Between Hardness and Tensile Strength

• Both tensile strength and

hardness measure materials
resistance to plastic
deformation
• The tensile strength of some
(not all) metals can be
estimated from the
hardnesss
• As a rule of thumb for most
steels, the HB and the
tensile strength are related
according to:
TS (MPa) = 3.45 x HB

49
 Variability of Materials Properties
• All Material Properties are variable……
• Measured materials properties are not exact quantities……
• Identical tensile samples (prepared from single bar of same
metal alloy) tested on same tensile testing machines will lead to
a range of Modulus of Elasticity, Yield Strength and Tensile
Strength values
• The reasons include:
– Difference in test method
– Variations in fabrication procedure
– Apparatus calibration
– Inhomogeneities within the same lot of material
– Slight compositional differences from lot to lot
50
 Variability of Materials Properties
• The statistical distribution of materials properties should
be measured and quoted
• To get a single property, MEAN or AVERAGE quantities are
specified
• The standard deviation or degree of scatter is also specified

=(520+512+515+522)/4

51
 DESIGN OR SAFETY FACTORS
• Design uncertainties in calculating the magnitude of the
APPLIED LOAD and variability of MATERIAL PORPERTIES
mean that design allowance must be maintained to protect
against the unanticipated failure

• One way of achieving this is defining Factor of Safety N as:

sy
s working 
N

• Often N is between 1.2 and 4

• Large value of N means safe design but may lead to over
design, that is, using more material or a more expensive
material

52
 • Ex: Calculate a diameter, d, to ensure that yield does
not occur in the 1045 carbon steel rod shown below.
Use a factor of safety of 5.

sy
s working 
N

220,000N
5
 
 d2 / 4 
 

s working = 62 MPa d = 47.5 mm

53
 SUMMARY
• Stress and strain: These are size-independent
measures of load and displacement, respectively.

• Elastic behavior: This reversible behavior often

shows a linear relation between stress and strain.
To minimize deformation, select a material with a
large elastic modulus (E or G).
• Plastic behavior: This permanent deformation
behavior occurs when the tensile (or compressive)
uniaxial stress reaches sy.
• Toughness: The energy needed to break a unit
volume of material.
• Ductility: The plastic strain at failure.

54
 Home Work # 3
ME 207: Engineering Metallurgy

Problem 1: For a brass alloy, the stress at which plastic deformation begins is
345 MPa, and the modulus of elasticity is 103 GPa.

(a) What is the maximum load that may be applied to a specimen with
a cross-sectional area of 130 mm2 without plastic deformation?
(b) If the original specimen length is 76 mm, what is the maximum
length to which it may be stretched without causing plastic
deformation? (Text Problem 6.7)

Problem 2: A cylindrical rod of copper (E=110 GPa) having yield strength of 240
MPa is to be subjected to a load of 6660 N. If the length of the rod
is 380 mm, what must be the diameter to allow an elongation of 0.50
mm? (Text Problem 6.8)

Problem 3: A cylindrical specimen of some metal alloy 10 mm in diameter is

stressed elastically in tension. A force of 15,000 N produces a
reduction in specimen diameter of 7 x 10-3 mm. Compute Poisson’s
ratio for this material if its elastic modulus is 100 GPa. (Text Problem
6.16)

Problem 4: A cylindrical rod 380 mm long, having a diameter of 10.0 mm, is to be

subjected to a tensile load. If the rod is to experience neither plastic
deformation nor an elongation of more than 0.9 mm when the applied
load is 24,500 N, which of the four metals or alloys listed below are
possible candidates? Justify your choice. (Text Problem 6.24)

Metal E (GPa) sy(MPa) TS (MPa)

Modulus of Elasticity Yield Strength Tensile Strength

Aluminum Alloy 70 255 420

Brass Alloy 100 345 420
Copper 110 250 290
Steel Alloy 207 450 550

55
Problem 5: The figure below shows tensile engineering stress-strain behavior for
a steel alloy. (Text Problem 6.25)
(a) What is the modulus of elasticity?
(b) What is the proportional limit?
(c) What is the yield strength at a strain offset of 0.002?
(d) What is the tensile strength?
(e) What is the approximate ductility, in percent elongation?

56