Chapter 4

Mechanical Testing
Department of Mechanical & Aerospace
Engineering
Hong Kong University of Science &
Technology
Outlines
Introduction to Tension Test
Engineering Stress-Strain Properties
Trends in Tensile Behavior
True Stress-strain interpretation of Tension
Test
Compression Test
Hardness Test
Notch Impact Test
Bending and Torsion Tests
Introduction
Different sample
geometries are
designed in order to
measure their strength
or other properties of
interest
Think about why the
test samples are to be
Un-notched
Notched
Pre-cracked
Test Equipment
Equipment of a
variety of types is
used for applying
forces to test
specimens
Standard Test Methods (1)
In order to make sure the measurements are
performed in a consistent way amongst different
laboratories, Standard test methods are necessary
Examples
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
British Standard (BS)
Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS)
Standard Test Methods (2)
Figure 4.4 Modern closed-loop servo hydraulic
testing system. Three sensors are employed: (a)
load cell, (b) extensometer, and (c) LVDT.
Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) (also called
just a differential transformer
[1]
) is a type of electrical
transformer used for measuring linear displacement (position).
Tension Test
are based on the initial (undeformed)
dimensions, A
i
and L
i
, where P is
the load and L is the change of the
length.
i
A
P
= o
i
L
L A
c =
Engineering
stress
Engineering
strain
Brittle & Ductile Failure in Tension Test
Ductile -> brittle
Engineering Measures of Strength (1)
Ultimate tensile
strength, o
u

highest
engineering stress
prior to fracture
Fracture Strength,
o
f
stress at
fracture
o
u
= o
f
brittle
materials
Engineering Measures of Strength (2)
3 approaches to determine yielding strength
Proportional limit first departure from linearity
Elastic limit highest stress without plastic deformation
Offset limit a straight line parallel to the elastic slope with
a 0.002 offset in strain
Engineering Measures of Ductility
Ductility ability of a material to accommodate inelastic
deformation without breaking
Engineering Fracture Strain, c
f
For ductile materials having large plastic deformation, elastic
deformation can be ignored.
For brittle and semi-brittle materials we should consider the elastic
strain recovered after fracture
Another measure of ductility is the percent reduction in area, %RA
i
i f
f
L
L L

=
E

f
f pf
=
Necking Behavior & Ductility
Ductile behavior
under tension
Standard ratio of
gage length to
diameter
US Standard: L
i
/d
i
=4
International Standard:
L
i
/d
i
=5
hot-rolled AISI 1020 steel gray cast iron
Energy Capacity of Materials(1)
Total work done from x x
Work done per unit volume x x
Resilience (= power or ability to return to the
original form, position, etc.)
: Elastic (recoverable) energy upon
unloading
}
=
'
x
0
Pdx U
} }
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
= =
' '
x
0

0
i i i
d
L
x
d
A
P
L A
U
u
( )
2E

2

u
2
p p
r
= =
Energy Capacity of Materials (2)
Tensile toughness, u
f
area
under the entire engineering
stress-strain curve
The area can be
approximated by the
rectangle as seen from the
figure
For materials to fail in brittle
manner with parabolic curve
f f f

3
2
u ~
Trends for Different Materials (1)
Engineering metals are strong in strength and ductility
Rubber and rubber-like polymers (elastomers) have very low elastic moduli
and strengths
The tensile behavior of composite materials is highly dependent on the
reinforcement properties and amounts
General Failure Behaviors of Different Materials
Polymers
Al alloys
Steels
Crazing (1)
Formation of very localized yielding region
Formation of small and interconnected
microvoids
Fibrillar bridges form & these microvoids
wherein molecular chains become oriented
These bridges elongate and break, causing
the microvoids to grow and coalesce
As the microvoids coalesce, cracks begin to
form
Crazing (2)
Crazing is a form of
tension-induced
deformation consisting
of microscopic cracks
spanned by load-
bearing fibrils. Crazing
is generally considered
to be the primary source
of plastic strain
response of rubber-
modified thermoplastics
to applied tensile
stresses.
The atomic force microscopy image (1 m
x 1 m) of a crack in a thin polymer
membrane reveals the fibrils that connect
one side of the crack to the other before
the complete separation of the two sides of
the sample.
Effects of Temperature and Strain Rate
(Loading Rate)
Deformation takes time.
Elastic deformation is usually regarded to be instant
because of the high speed of elastic waves in solids.
Inelastic deformation takes time.
In general, the higher the temperature is, the more
ductile the material behaves; the lower the loading
rate is, the more ductile the material will be.
There exists a brittle-ductile transition temperature in
some materials such as steels.
Creep
Time-dependent inelastic deformation
Loading rate+ Experimental (deformation)
Time | Deformation (strain) |
More significant near the glass transition
temperature, T
g
in Polymers
In Metals & Ceramics, creep is more severe
around 0.3 ~ 0.6 of the melting point T
m
Effect of Strain Rate (Loading Rate)
The effect of strain rate
on material response is
also highly dependent
on the testing
temperature
General Observations
Under fixed temperature:
|strain rate | strength,
+ ductility
Under fixed strain rate:
+temperature |
strength, + ductility
Copper
Epoxy
True Stress-strain Interpretation of Tension Test
True stresses and strains have to
be considered in the case of large
strains
Relation between true stress and
engineering stress
Relation between true strain and
engineering strain
(4.17)
A
A

~
A
P
;
A
P

~
current
initial
initial current
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
= =
( ) 1 ln
L
L
1 ln
L
L L
ln
~
L/L L, L L
(4.19)
L
L
ln
L
dL
L
L

~
i i
i
i i
L
L
i j
j
i
+ =
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
+
=
= + =
= = =
}

1
~
at coeff strength - H slope; - n
log log

~
H
~
n
=
=
us strain tress vers plot of s -
Constant Volume Assumption
Elastic deformation
changes the
deformed volume.
Plastic deformation
does not change the
deformed volume.
( )
d
d
2ln
A
A
ln
~
1
~
4.19 & 4.17 Eqs into Sub
1
L
L L
L
L
A
A
AL L A
Volume Constant Assuming
i i
i
i
i
i
i i
= =
+ =
+ =
+
= =
=

Volume Change in Elastic deformation
Final dimensions: a(1+c) (along the loading direction), b(1-uc),
c(1-uc)
Final volume: abc(1+ c)(1-uc)(1-uc) abc(1+ c-2uc)
Volume change: abc(1+c-2uc) abc = abc c(1-2u)
Dilatation:
( ) ( ) 2 1
E

2 1
V
V
e = = =
Limitations on True Stress-strain Equations
After necking, the
deformation is not
homogeneous any more.
Once necking starts,
true strain and true
stress are calculated
from the cross-sectional
area of the necked
region and thus are
valid only for this region.
Bridgman Correction for Hoop Stress
To interpret the true stress
from the tensile test with a
large amount of necking
o o
~ ~
B
B
=
c
~
log . . 186 0 83 0 = B
True Stress-Strain Curve and True Strain
at Necking
The strain hardening exponent, n, is approximately
equal to the true strain at necking.
c
o
o
~
~
~
~ ~
~
d
A
= =
= + =
=
dA

d
0 Ad dA dP
A P
True Stress-Strain Curve
n
Hc o
~ ~
=
At necking, the load, P, reaches its maximum vale, from which we have:
c
~
= n
Compression Test
Common ratio of length to diameter, L/d = 3 (ductile);
1.5~2 (brittle)
Large L/d ratio provides more accurate elastic modulus
However, buckling may occur if the L/d ratio is too large
There should be no buckling under PERFECT
longitudinal compression test; however, small
imperfections in test specimen geometry and alignment
to the testing machine are both unavoidable
Small L/d ratio the result is affected by the specimen
ends conditions
Friction resists the
specimen ends
deformation
Barrel shape
Compression Test (2)
Grey
cast
iron
Al alloys
Hot
rolled
steel
Materials Properties in Compression
Increasing cross-sectional area under
compression causes the stress-strain curve
to rise rapidly rather than showing a
maximum
No load maximum in compression prior to fracture
Trends in Compressive Behavior
Brittle materials show
inferior properties in tension
when compared with
compression presence of
flaws
Nearly identical initial
portions of stress-strain
curves in tension and
compression
Material showing brittle response in
tension, but ductile response in
compression
Hardness Test
Hardness
resistance of a
material to
indentation
Plastic deformation
beneath the indenter
is formed
Brinell Hardness Test
A relatively large steel BALL (or tungsten
carbide) is pressed on the surface with a high
force (Hard material ~ 3000kg; Soft material
~ 500kg)
Brinell Hardness
P (kg) applied force; D (mm) ball diameter;
d (mm) indentation diameter
( ) | |
5 . 0
2 2
2
d D D D
P
HB

=
t
Vickers Hardness Test
Same general principles as
the Brinell test, except the
indenter in a pyramid-
square based shape
In a Vickers indenter
h = 1/7 d
Vickers hardness number
d (mm); P (kg)
2

sin
d
2P
HV
2
=
Rockwell Hardness Test (1)
Cone shaped indenter
(known as Brale) 120
o
inclined angle
Differ from other
hardness tests, the
depth of the indentation
is measured
2 steps loadings are
applied minor load
(e.g. 10kg) & major load
(e.g. 60kg in HRA)
Brinell
Rockwell
Rockwell Hardness Test (2)
Rockwell hardness
number
Ah=h
2
-h
1
M=100 (for X=A,C,D)
M=130 (for X=B,E,M,R)
002 . 0
h
M HRX
A
=
Hardness Correlations and Conversions
Hardness measurement
involves plastic
deformation of the material,
in which the required load
should be similar to the
ultimate tensile strength in
a tension test
However, the material
cannot freely flow outward
in the hardness test, and a
complex triaxial state of
stress is induced
Empirical correlations
between brinell hardness
and tensile properties:
MPa HB
u
) ( 45 . 3 = o
Nanoindentation (1)
Measurement
Modulus of elasticity
Hardness
Coefficient of friction
Triboindentor Platform
Specification
Maximum peak load/force :
10000mN
Load Resolution: < 1 nN
Displacement Resolution:
0.0002 nm
Maximun Z range: 5um
Maximum X and Y range:
80um
Nanoindentation (2)
Imaging on 3m indented area
Notch-Impact Tests
To measure the
fracture resistance of
a material
Energy required to
break the sample by
comparing the initial
and final height of the
pendulum swing after
breaking the sample
2 main types:
Charpy V-notch, Izod
Notch-Impact Tests
Figure 4.37 Broken Charpy specimens, left to right, of gray cast iron, AISI 4140
steel tempered to
u
1550 MPa, and the same steel at
u
950 MPa. The specimens
are 10 mm in both width and thickness. (Photo by R. A. Simonds.)
Trends in Impact Behavior and Discussion
Material response is
sensitive to the
temperature
Brittle response (low
energy absorption):
smooth fracture surface
Ductile response (high
energy absorption):
highly deformed
appearance (regions of
shear)
Normalized plain carbon
steels of various carbon
contents
Bending Tests (1)
Bending (flexure test) evaluate
tensile strengths of BRITTLE
materials
Fracture stress
Elastic modulus from the initial
portion of the load (P)-deflection
curve (v)
f fb
P
tc
L
2
8
3
= o
|
.
|

\
|
=
dv
dP
tc
L
E
3
3
32
Bending Tests (2)
Reasons for the difference between the moduli
in bending and tensile test
Extensive local elastic or plastic deformations at the
supports/load point
The beam is too small where significant shear
stress is expected which cannot be considered in
the ideal beam theory
The material may have different elastic moduli in
tension and bending
Bending Tests (2)
Heat-Deflection Test of Polymers
Beams 2c=13 mm deep, and t=3 to 13 mm thick, are loaded over a
span of L=100 mm. A force, which is calculated based on the
elastic beam theory, is applied to generate the maximum bending
stress 0.455 MPa or 1.82 MPa. The temperature is then increased
at a rate of 2 C per minute until the deflection of the beam
exceeds 0.25 mm, at which point the temperature is noted and
called the heat-deflection temperature.
The heat-deflection temperature is an index to compare the
resistance of polymers to excessive softening and deformation as
a results of heat.
Torsion Tests
In a torsion test, the
applied load is torque T
and the deformation is
measured by the twist
angle, u.
In elastic deformation,
the shear modulus can
be determined from the
slope of T over u.