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BY JOHNH. HOLLOMON,*
JUNIORMEMBERA.I.M.E.
(Ncw York Meeting. February 194si)
INrecent papers, O'Neill,' Vivian,= and where e is the strain and AO and A are,
Zener and Hollomon3 have reviewed some respectively, the original and instantaneous
of the information concerning the relations areas.
between stress and strain during plastic
The results of the tensile tests can be
deformation. Since further information has more effectively presented and interpreted
been obtained since these reviews were if the stress* (load divided by actual
published, this paper attempts to further area). is .lotted as a function of the strain
coordinate and amplify the knowledge as defined above. A schematic curve of this
concerning the plastic deformation of type is presented as Fig. I .
metals in simple tension.
In a previous paper,6 the concept of
Ordinarily the results of tensile tests Ludwik7 concerning the flow and fracture
of metals are presented as graphs in which of metals was successfully employed to
the load divided by the original area is explain some of the puzzling results of
plotted as a function of thc percentage of notched-bar impact tests of steel. I t
elongation measured over some specified appears that the use of this concept ii;
gauge length. The interpretation of graphs very fruitful and should be kept in mind
of this sort is limited, since the stress in any study of the deformation characrequired to deform the metal at any stage tcristics of metals. I,udn.ik considered that
of the deformation is actually the load a flow stress-strain curve of a metal was
divided by the instantaneous rather than essentially a locus of points that described
the original area. Furthermore, each the stress required for plastic flow of an
increment of the deformation is performed infinite numbcr of specimens, each with
on metal that has been previously dc- a different strain history determined by
formed, and, as pointed out by L ~ d r n i k , ~the preceding part of the flow curve
the strain could be more effectively defined: Each of these specimens can also be considered to have a fracture strength.
4' o f
E = Ill Uniortunatcly (or fortunately depending
A
I11
upon the point of view), all the specimens,
The statements or opinions in this article
are those of the author and do not necessarily
except the one deformed to the fracture
express t h e views of the Ordnance Department.
strain, flow and do not fracture. Even
Manuscript received a t the office of the
Institute Dec. 1 9 . 1944. Issued as T.P. 1879 in
though the metals do not fracture, the
METALSTECHNOLOGY,
June 1945.
* Captain. Ordnance Department, U. S. concept of a fracture-strength curve seems
JOHN H. HOLLOMON
269
FIG.I.-SCHEMATICSTRESS-STRAIN CURVE.
I. Intercept.
Y. Yield strength.
T. Point at which necking begins.
F. Fracture strength.
* The little space assigned to elastic deformation should not be taken to imply that its
study or a discussion of the properties of
metals in this region is not important. The
author understands that C . Zener will shortly
publish a paper summarizing the inelastic
effects in the elastic region.
f The entire specimen does not deform
uniformly, but regions of the metal at angles
of nearly 4 5 O to the axis of the specimen
deform. The deformation starts at stress concentrations and then transverses the specimen
(see Nadai'o).
2 70
TENSILE DEFORMATION
tion o f t h ~cart)irles, and the more spheroidal the carbides, the more likely is
the occurrence of the Piobert effect. This
point of view is confirmed by the data of
Gensamer and collaborators,17 who found
that in eutectoid steels the heterogeneous
yielding occurred a t higher yield strengths
when the carbides were spheroidal than
when they were lamellar. In the latter
case, it is difficult to imagine a continuous
path in the ferrite from boundary to
boundary (at the specified angle of nearly
45' to the axis of the specimen), except
when the pearlite is very coarse. With
spheroidal carbides (tempered martensitic
steels), a continuous path in the ferrite
is possible, even for relatively numerous,
dispersed particles. I t is not yet possible
to apply this reasoning quantitatively to
FIG. 2.-SCHEMATICSTRESS-STRAIN CURVE OF A the yielding phenomer~on,since the exact
METAL HAVING DROP I N LOAD A T YIELDlNt:.
mechanism of the phenomenon is not
Y'. Upper yield stress.
known.
Y A . Lower yield strain.
T. Point at which necking begins.
The height of the stress-strain curves
F. Fracture strength.
for polycrystalline single-phase metals
to the knowledge of this phenomenon. I t seems to be governed
by the strength of the
is generally conceded that in steels the single crystals of the metal, as modified
presence of carbides or nitrides prccipitated by the grain-boundary restraint. Sachs18
in the grain boundaries during cooling is and G. I. Taylorlg have discussed in
responsible for this type of yielding. A detail the stress-strain curves of such
possible mechanism has been suggested by metals. Norburyzo pointed out that the
several inve~tigators,Nadai15 in particular, hardening effect of elements in solid
and has been discussed f r e q ~ e n t l y . ~ , ~ ' , ' ~ solution was related to the difference in
i, Gensamer and LowlBhave shown that if
size between the solvent and solute atoms.
the carbon and nitrogen are removed from For irons that showed little or no iniron the metal does not yield initially homogeneous initial yielding, Gensamcr
in this manner. If, on the other hand, as and'lacyz1found that increase in strength
little as 0 . 0 0 2 per cent of either of these due t o the introduction of solute elements
elements is reintroduced into the metal, was related to the atomic percentage of the
the Piobert effect is again manifest. I t alloying elements in the following manner:
appears that in steels there are at least
two conditions that must be fulNled
before this type of initial heterogeneous where A S is the increase in strength
yielding occurs. Not only must there be a characteristic considered (tensile strength,
precipitate on the grain boundary, but etc.), x is the atomic percentage of solute,
also the carbide distribution within the n a number of the order of magnitude of
grains must make possible a free path of
YL and k a constant that depends on the
ferrite from grain boundary to grain added element. The value of k is larger
boundary. The more random the distribu- the greater the lattice distortion of the
JOHN H. HOLLOMON
*7I
srnam
FIG. 3.-LO~ARITHMIC
STRESS-STRAIN
S.A.E.
Holl~mon.~')
CURVES OF
I020
STEEL
(0.20 PER
CENT C).
(From
FLOWOF DEFORMED
METALS
After the initial yielding, the shapes of
the stress-strain curves of all metals are
similar;* the stress increases with strain
a t a decreasing rate. Little attention has
been given to the relation between stress
and strain in this region, or to the effect
of changes in metallurgical structure on
the shape of this portion of the curve.
I t has been suggested, however., b y Norris2'
272
TENSILE DEFORMATION
and by Nadailo that the logarithm of the dium steel containing 0.45 per cent carbon,
stress is very nearly a linear function of which were quenched to martensite and
the "true tensile elongation,"* and Mac- tempered a t five temperatures for one hour.
G r e g ~ r Gensamer
,~~
and collaborators17~2Vhestress-strain curves for this steel are
STR.11
FIG. 4.-LOGARITHMIC
STRESS-STRAIN CURVES
OF
S.A.E. 1045
STEEL
Hollo?~~on.~')
S=So
- K(e)m
prcsented in Fig. 8. The chemical composition of the steel \?as: C, 0.45 per cent;
Mn, 0.75; Si, 0.34; S, 0.016; P, 0.022;
Cr, 1.02; Mo, 0.38; \I, 0.14. The specimens
were 94 in. round, taken transverse to forging direction, arlstenitized a t 165oOF. for r
hr. and quenched in oil and tempered I hr.
at temperatures indicated in Fig. 8.
I t is to be noted that for all the data
the logarithm of the stress is essentially
a linear function* of the logarithm of the
strain, f ~ o mstrains of about 0.01 to about
0.4. For strains larger than about 0.4.
the data in most cases diverge upward from
thc straight lines. The upward divergence
from strains of about 0.4 to the fracture
strain may possibly be associated with
anisotropy, which, of course, will depend
on the manner in which the strain occurs.
I n order to illustrate that the divergence
of the stress-strain curves from linearity
JOHN H. HOLLOMON
FIG.5.-LOGARITHMIC
STRESS-STRAIN CURVES O F S.A.E. 1055 STEEL (0.59PER
A-I. 1600F. water quench; draw I~ooOF.
I hour.
A - 2 . 1600F. water quench; draw rzooF. I hour.
A-3. 1600F. water quench; draw IIOOOF.I hour.
A-4. 1600F. water quench; draw 1ooo0F.I hour.
CENT
C).
STRAIN
h2.
6.-LOGARITHMICSTRESS-STRAIN
CURVES
(0.78 PER
CENT
FIG. 7.-LOGARITHMICSTRESS-STRAIN
CURVES OF 0.45 PER CENT C ALLOY STEEL AT VARIOUS STRENGTH LEVELS (ALL SPECIMENS
TEMPERED MARTENSITE; SEE FIG.8).
JOHN H. HOLLOMON
275
STRAIN
FIG. 8.-STRESS-STRAIN
CURVES FOR 0.45
CHROMIUM,
278
TENSILE DEFORMATION
STRAIN
FIG.11.-STRESS-STRAINCCRVES
OF
70.30BRASS OF DIPFERENT
specimen
xo. Annealing Tern-
peraturo. Deg. C .
Grain Size,
Mm.
As recd.
505
515
4
5
GRAIN SUES
(FOBSHALL STRAINS).
* ~,,,,t
,,,published
data obtained by
Rridgman indicate that for copper in conipression the linearity oE the logarithmic stressstrain curves extends to strains of about 3 . 5
JOHN H. HOLLOMON
279
3 80
TENSILE DEFORMATION
[IO]
JOHN H. HOLLOMON
as indicated in
carbon steels
strengthTand
will determine,
FIG. 13.-VARIATIONOF
281
LEVEL,
Eq. 10, the slope of the logarithmic stressstrain curve (in the range of strain from
0.01 to 0.4). For most practical purposes,
the value of 0.94 may be made equal to
one with the following result:
m=-
K
So.01
['I]
282
TENSILE DEFORMATION
JOHN H. HOLLOMON
283
FIG. 15.-EFFECTOF
TENSILE DEFORMATION
-VARIATIONOF
PSII
FIG. I 7.-SLOPE
After Zener and Hollomon3 except for the straight line, which is after Lacy and Gen~amer.~'
JOHN H, HOLLOMON
FIG. 18.-EFFECT
285
CUHVE.
(After Zener
and H o l l o r n ~ n . ~ )
SUMMARY
The general problem associated with
the study of mechanical properties of
metals can be considered to the first
approximation to consist of the separate
problems of determining the effects of
and the relations between the effects of
strain rate, temperature, stress distribution,
deformation and metalluraical
structure
on the tensile stress required for plastic
flow and on the stress required for fracture.
.
T E N S I L E DEFORMATION
PEARLITIC STEEL
/
C
K
i_
TWRRED
STRAIN
STRDIN
FIG. 19.-SCHEMATICCURVES OF
MARlENSITIC STEEL
287
JOHN H. HOLLOMON
L%
LOGARnWIC STRESS
&m
- STRAIN C U M
A- 3
LEGEND
A p p ~ ~ ~ n c . - S i m pMethod
le
of Determining
Approximate Stress-strain Curves
The relations developed in this paper
permit the approximate determination
of stress-strain curves by a very simple
procedure. I t is only necessary to measure
the initial diameter of the specimen, the
maximum load and the elongation or the
diameter a t which the maximum load is
reached. From these measurements, the
stress and the strain at maximum load
may be determined, and one point may
be plotted on the logarithmic stress-strain
curve. A straight line with a slope exactly
equal to the strain a t the maximum load
S
&
-UPPER
-m*
9 -STRAIN
Y I E U STRESS
AT LTIW WAD
A1 FRACTURE
2 88
TENSILE DEFORMATION
* Specimen having a long gauge length con?pared with the length over which necking
occurs is necessary for this determination.
? I n normal tensile tests, the breaking load
is difficult t o determine accurately, therefore
special care must be taken t o obtain accurate
results.
DISCUSSION
R. A. Wilkins and E. S. Bunn: Copper
and Copper-base Alloys. New York. 1943.
McGraw-Hill Book Co.
M. Gensamer: The Yield Point in Metals.
Trans. A.I.M.E. (1938) 128, 104-117.
E. L. Bartholomew: Stress-Strain Measurements in the Drawing of Cylindrical
Cups. Trans. Amer. Soc. Metals (1943)
. . .311 582-598
C. W. MacGregor: The Tension Test. Trans.
Amer. Soc. Test. Mat. (1940) 40,508-534.
W. Kuntze: For survey and bibliography,
see D. J. McAdams: Trans. Amer. Soc.
Mech. Engrs. (1941) 63, A-155 and
Trans. A. I. M. E. (1942). 150, 3JI.
D. J., McAdam. Jr.: The Technical Coheslve Strenath of Metals. Trans. Amer.
Soc. Mech. h g r s . (1941) 63,A155-A165.
Technical Cohesive Strength and Yield
Strength of Metals. Trans. A. I. M. E.
(19427 150s 311-357.
D. J. McAdam. ,Jr., and R. W. Mebs:
An Investigat~on of the Technical
Cohesive Strength uf Metals. This
volume, page 474.
N. Davidenkov and F. Wittmann: Mechanical Analysis of Impact Brittleness.
Tech. Phys.. U. S. S. R. (1937) 4 (4).
3-17.
G. Sachs and J. Lubahn: Effects of Notching on Strained Metals. Iron Age (Oct. 8
and 15, 1942) 150,31-38, 48-52.
Notched Bar Tensile Tests on HeatTreated Low-Alloy Steels. Trans. Amer.
Soc. Metals (1943) 31, 125-160.
Bursting Tests on Notched Alloy Steel
Tubing. Trans. Amer. Soc. Metals
(1943F31, 71-88.
G. Sachs. J. D. Lubahn, and L. J. Ebert:
Notched Bar Tensile Test Characteristics of Heat-Treated Low-Alloy Steels.
Trans. Amer. Soc. Metals (1944)
33,
. - ..
...
340-395.
The Effects of Notches of Varying Depth
on the Strength of Heat-Treated LowAlloy Steels. Amer. Soc. Metals Prepri~tl
I5 (1944).
G. Sachs, J. D. Lubahn. L. J. Ebert, and
E. L. Aul: The Effect of Fiber on
Notched-Bar Tensile Strength Properties of a Heat-Treated Low-Alloy Steel.
Amer. Soc. Metals Preprinl 14 (1944).
M. Gensamer: Strength of Metals undcr
Combined Stresses. Amer. Soc. Metals.
Cleveland. Ohio, 1941.
'
DISCUSSION
C. Z E N E R . * - T ~ ~ author has stated t h a t
the shape of his stress-strain curves for brass
indicates that the nature of the initial yielding
in this metal is similar to that of mild steel.
He may be interested to know that Sachs and
Shoji37 had ptcviously reported that in single
crystals of brass the i n i t ~ aportion
l
of the stressstrain curve is flat up to a strain of 0.1, and
Watertown, Mass.
37 G . Sachs and H. Shoji: Ztsch. Physik (1927)
289
290
T E N S I L E DEFORMATION
3.56
3.57
3.53
3.55
3.52
3.55