Material Science Studio Lab

Tensile Test of Thin Engineering Sheet Materials

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this lab is to determine the material property when subjected to tensile load for
various materials - the relationship between axial engineering stress (normal stress) and
engineering strain.

INTRODUCTION AND THEORY

The tensile test is a common material testing procedure for determining material response to axial
pulling of a sample until total fracture occurs. Information gained from the test is the following:
Youngs Modulus, elastic limit, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, percent elongation and
area reduction.
The data measured in the experiment are load and length change of the sample. The load versus
the length change data can be used to generate the engineering stress-strain curve. If one
considers the elongation and its associated reduction in area then a true stress-strain curve can be
developed.
In the tensile test when a load is applied to a sample it deforms or elongates in a way that obeys
Hooks Law. This deformation is considered to be elastic and will be restored when the load is
removed provided the elastic limit has not been exceeded. If the elastic limit is exceeded then the
deformation is plastic and that amount above the elastic limit cannot be recovered with the
removal of the load.

The ratio of the force (F) applied to the original cross-sectional area (Ao) of a material is
called the stress:
F
units: Newton per square meter (N/m2) or Pascal (Pa)
Stress =
Ao

Stress (N/m2)

The ratio of the change in length (L) to the original length (Lo) of a material is called the
strain:
L
no units (mm/mm)
Strain =
Lo

Plastic Region

Yield Point
Elastic Region

Strain

Figure 1: Stress-strain curve

The initial slope of this curve gives Youngs Modulus for the material. The point at which the
curve deviates from being linear is called the elastic limit. Stress values above the elastic limit
result in permanent deformation or plastic strain, which are not recoverable by the removal of the
stress. The yield strength most engineering material is identified by construction a line on the
stress-strain graph parallel to the Youngs Modulus with a 0.2% offset on the strain axis. The
intersection of the constructed line with the stress-strain curve denotes the yield strength. The
yield strength on the graph is denoted by a change in the slope of the curve. Some materials
exhibit a pronounced change in slope at the yield point whereas it may be slight change in slope.
Ductile materials exhibit large strains prior to fracture. In contrast brittle materials have limited
strain prior to fracture. As the material resists deformation more dislocations are generated and
their interaction occurs with the result being work hardening of the material. In samples that have
polished surfaces the generation and motion of dislocation can be observed in the form of Luders
bands. If the stain hardening is rapid and uniform over the gage length this causes a constant
reduction in the area over the gage length and the sample elongates uniformly. However, if the
strain hardening is slow or non-uniform then an area of localized reduction in cross sectional area
occurs which is called necking. The highest stress the material obtained is called the Ultimate
Tensile Strength (UTS). The toughness of the material can be related to the area under the stressstrain curve.

SET-UP for ScienceWorkshop System

1. Plug the sensors into the interface. Connect the Force Sensor to Channel A of the interface.
Connect the yellow plug of the RMS to Channel 1 and the black plug to Channel 2.
2. Prepare DataStudio. Start DataStudio and open the activity file MENG3331 Tensile
Test.cap.

1. Rotary Motion Sensor (RMS)

2. Force Sensor
3. Force Sensor Attachment
4. Setscrew
5. Stress-Strain Platform
11. Thumbscrew

6. 3- Step Pulley
7. Belt
8. Groove
9. Coupon Clamps
10. Lever Arm

Figure 2: Apparatus Setup

3. Check RMS orientation. While monitoring data, turn the crank clockwise. Watch the
"Displacement" digits display. If displacement decreases, swap the positions of the yellow
and black RMS plugs on the interface.

PROCEDURE
DATA COLLECTION
1. Mount a coupon. Remove the calibration bar and restore the clips and nuts. Place one end of
the coupon under one of the clips. Adjust the crank so that the opposite end of the coupon can
slip easily under the other clip. Tighten both nuts with the wrench. With no force applied to
the coupon, as little twist as possible should be visible in the coupon. The clips should hold
the coupon tightly enough that it will not slip when force is applied. However, overtightening the nuts will damage the bolts. Use your best judgment. If in doubt, error on the
side of under-tightening (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Coupon attachment

2. Place the lever arm in the starting position. Turn the crank counter-clockwise and pull the
lever arm away from the Force Sensor (Figure 2).
3. Collect Data. Press the Tare button on the Force Sensor. Click the Start button. Wait until the
digits of the experiment clock turn yellow. Turn the crank clockwise. Starting just before the
lever arm comes into contact with the Force sensor, turn the crank very slowly. When
finished collecting data, click Stop. (If the maximum force is reached, DataStudio will stop
automatically.) If the coupon breaks, it should break in the middle. If the coupon breaks near
the end, it was probably twisted slightly when it was mounted, resulting in a point of higher
stress where it broke.
4. Rename the data run to identify the coupon. Use the same method used to rename the
calibration data.

DATA ANALYSIS
On the Stress-Strain graph, identify and record the elastic region, the plastic region, the yield
point, and the break point (if available). To calculate Young's modulus, select a data region
covering the linear, lower left-hand part of the graph. (The very first part of the plot may not be
linear. This nonlinearity likely is due to the straightening of bends and twists in the coupon as
force is first applied. Do not include this region in the selection.) Apply a linear curve fit to the
selected data. The slope of the line is Young's modulus in units of MPa (MN/m2) or Pa (N/mm2).
Record Youngs Modulus.
Test more coupons. To test another coupon, hide previous runs. From the Data button at the top
of the Stress-Strain graph, deselect data runs that need to be hidden.
Return to item 2 Prepare the calculation for Stress. Enter the appropriate values for the
calculation of Stress and Strain in the Calculator dialog for the new coupon. Continue with data

collection.

DETAIL REQUIREMENT
Overall Required Format:
ASME two column format
Each student only required to study one material
Abstract (10 points)
1. Briefly state what you did in this experiment (2-3 sentences)
2. List your major (3-4) findings and results (list numerical values), e.g. Youngs Modulus,
Yield Stress, Tensile Strength.
Introduction/Theory (5 points)
1. Provide background information of tensile test
2. Introduce what are stress, strain and stress-strain curve. Define engineering stress,

engineering strain, true stress and true strain in your own words and include a sketch.
Discuss what is physically happening to a coupon when it is experiencing stress and
strain.
3.
4.

What is the stress-strain curve used for?

What is included in this report?

Method/Procedure (10 points)

1. Clear state what you did in this experiment
a. Do not use bullet
b. Do not use instruction tone
Data (5 points)
1. List your data in tables (e.g. dimensions of samples, displacements and loads)
a. Tables must have Title, Table number, unit
2. Plot data in figures (e.g. displacements and loads)
a. Plot all the curves of a material in one figure to show the repeatability
b. Figures must have Title, Table number, unit
3. Introduce your tables and figures in text.
Resultsincluding sample calculations (20 points)
1. Calculate stress and strain, list the results in tables
2. Must include samples of calculations
3. Plot all stress-strain curves of a material in one figure to show the repeatability
4. Determine Youngs Modulus, yield stress, tensile strength and elongation
a. How to determine E
b. How to determine yield stress, tensile strength
c. Show detail procedure (0.2% off set)
Discussion (20 points)
1. Discuss displacement-load curves and stress-strain curves of
a. Same material
b. Different material
2. Compare your results with known values
3. Compare your results of different materials

Summary Conclusion (5 points)

1. Briefly state what you did and list your major findings and results
Grammar/ Structure/Style (25 points)

Material Properties
Item
Cross-sectional
area
Tensile
strength
Tensile
elongation
Modulus of
elasticity

cold-rolled
steel
0.303 mm2

annealed steel

aluminum

brass (thin)

brass (thick)

0.303 mm2

0.303 mm2

0.303 mm2

0.506 mm2

620 MPa/
90,000 psi

300 MPa/
44,000 psi

145 MPa/
21,000 psi

430 MPa/
44,000 psi

430 MPa/
44,000 psi

none

42-45%

6%

25%

25%

200,000 MPa/
29,000,000 psi

200,000 MPa/
29,000,000 psi

69,000 MPa/
10,000,000 psi

117,000 MPa/
17,000,000 psi

117,000 MPa/
17,000,000 psi

Item

HIPS

Color code
Cross-sectional
area
Tensile strength
Tensile elongation
Modulus of
elasticity

ABS

polypropylene

orange
2.482 mm2

nylon 6(+ 15%

glass)
black
2.482 mm2

blue
2.482 mm2

white
2.482 mm2

23 MPa/
3410 psi
40%
2000 MPa/
280000 psi

98 MPa/
14000 psi
2.5%
2900 MPa/
420000 psi

47 MPa/
6800 psi
20%
2300 MPa/
380000 psi

34 MPa/
4900 psi
9%
1900 MPa/
239000 psi

LIST OF SAMPLES
No. of
Sample

Material

Detail Dimension of the Sample

Length
Thickness
Width
(mm)
(mm)
(mm)

Area
(mm2)

1
2
3
4
5

Signature of instructor: __________________________

Date:_________________