1.

- Properties of materials
Part II

Grau Superior de Disseny en Fabricació

Mecànica
M08 – Materials (MATFA)
UF1 – Propietats dels materials

Professor: Lluís Clapés i Badia

 UF Index
1. Preliminary knowledge
2. Physical and chemical properties
3. Mechanical properties
1. Quick summary
2. Understanding stress and strain
3. The tensile test
4. Properties
4. Manufacturing properties
5. Other: cost, environmental, non tangible
6. Material selection process
 3.1 Quick summary

Mechanical properties: Tests:

• Strength • Tensile test
• tensile • Compressive test
1.Yield strength (Re) • Beaming or flexural test
2.Ultimate strength (Rm)
• compressive strength • Shear test, bending test, torsional, .
• flexural strength
• torsional, shear • Hardness test
• Stiffness - Elasticity (E) – Rockwell
• Elongation (ductility) (A) – Brinell
– Vickers
• Hardness (H)
– Shore, knoop
• Resilience & toughness (KV)
• Impact test
• DBTT – Charpy (V-notch test)
• Fatigue limit – Izod
• Creep • Fatigue test

• Fracture toughness (Kic)

• Creep test
... • ...
 3.2 Understanding
stress and strain
Types of mechanical load (when external forces
are applied to pieces):

TENSILE COMPRESSIVE
(i.e. a cable) (i.e. a column)

BENDING OR FLEXURAL
(i.e. a beam)

SHEAR TORSION
(i.e. a pin or a key) (i.e. a screw driver)
 3.2 Understanding
stress and strain
• Suppose a mechanical
component 2 tones
• Load this component 18 12
applying a 20.000 N (2
tones) external force as
picture shows.
• In this case, the
component is mainly
subjected to a tensile load
(also bending and shear
load exist).
 3.2 Understanding
stress and strain
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?:
• Each particle of material is
subjected to STRESS (tensió).
• Engineering units are MPa
(N/mm²). In the past Kg/mm² ().
• 10 MPa ~ 1 Kg/mm²
• Knowing the loads, engineers
can calculate the stress:

F

A
20.000 N 20.000 N
  2
 93MPa
12mm·18mm 216mm
 3.2 Understanding
stress and strain
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?:
• The load deform the piece.
Strain is the measure of the
deformation.
• As much stress, as much
strain.
• The strain can be:
– ELASTIC: if material returns to
to the original form when the
load disapears.
– PLASTIC: if strain remains
when the load disapears.
– VISCOELASTIC,
VISCOPLÀSTIC: when a lot of
time is needed for strain
happens.
 3.2 Understanding
stress and strain

Elastic
deformation

Plastic
deformation
 3.3 The tensile test
• The most fundamental mechanical
test you can perform on a material
• A standard specimen is stretched
slowly and progressively until it
breaks.
• Load (force) and strain is
measured and recorded
continuously during the test.
• It’s a destructive test SPECIMEN
• The specimen is only subjected to
tensile load.
• Standards: UNE-EN 10.002-1
(metals at ambient Tª), UNE-EN-
ISO 527 (plastics), ...
 3.3 The tensile test

• Test will be done in a special

hydraulic machine (tensile or
universal testing machine).
• Force is measured with a load cell.
• Strain is measured with a
extensometer gauge. Usually will be
enough measuring the strain when
specimen is already broken.
• Virtual test:
http://www.engsc.ac.uk/an/mini_projects/
tensile/tensile_laboratory.html
 3.3 The tensile test

1. The machine has recorded, a great number of

dates:
F LOAD FORCE (N)
l DEFORMATION (mm)

2. With calculation, we must change load to stress

and deformation to strain.
F

A0
l A0 is the section of the specimen
 A   ·100
l0 l0 is the measuring lenght of the specimen.

3. And finally, draw a graphics that

y (vertical):  STRESS (MPa)
x (horiz.): , A STRAIN (-, %)
 3.3 The tensile test
Stress-strain curve

(MPa) Corba real

Rm tensile strength
Breaking point

Re yield strength
Striction zone



 PLASTIC ZONE

E Young modulus

0,2% (%)
ELASTIC A strain
ZONE
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Tensile strength, yield strength

Rm – TENSILE STRENGTH or UTS (MPa) (Resistència a tracció)

The highest stress in the stress-strain curve

Re – YIELD STRENTH (MPa) (Límit elàstic)

The stress applied to a material at which plastic deformation starts to occur
– Sometime is called “proof stress” Rp0,2 when offset method is used
– The most important property in structural materials.
– In brittle materials Rm = Re

Nanotubes of carbon
Carbon fibres Re=Rm~ 50.000 MPa
Re=Rm~ 3.500 MPa
Steel for cables
Structural steel Re=Rm= 1.800 MPa
Re = 275 MPa
Rm = 420 MPa
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Young modulus

E – YOUNG’S MODULUS or ELASTIC MODULUS (MPa)

It shows if a material is elastic or stiff.
The value of E is the slope of the stress-strain curve in the elastic zone.
It’s also the stress necessary to double the length of the specimen
stretching in elastic zone.

STEEL

DIAMOND +

RUBBER PP 1.100.000 MPa

210.000 MPa
- 1.500 MPa
10 MPa

3. Propietats mecàniques
3.6 Allargament
In a field, there was an oak at one end, and a
willow-tree at the other.
Whenever a wind moved through the field, the
willow swayed in the wind, while the oak remained
unmoved.
When this happened, the willow said to itself, “I wish I
was as strong as the Oak, instead of bending over
with every breeze“ then one day a large windstorm
whipped through the field.
When the storm passed, and the darkness lifted, the
willow looked across the field, and was shocked to
discover that the oak was laying on the ground,
broken. When the Gardener came into the field, the
willow said, “Oh sir, what happened to the Oak? How
is it that I survived the storm, weak as I am, and the
Oak fell?”
The Gardener said, “Oh little willow-tree, do you not
understand what happened? When the winds blow,
you bend with them, while the oak remains still. So
when a really powerful wind comes along, you can
bend with the wind, and survive it. But the Oak cannot
bend, and so if the wind is strong enough, it will break.
For the Oak had a secret, a weakness within that no
one looking at the outside could see”. And the
Gardener went on his way, leaving the willow to
ponder what he said.
Moral: Strength within and strength without are not the
same, and one should cultivate strength within first.
Also, when the winds of life blow, bend, and you may
survive the real storms when they come. Try and
resist them, and when the real storms come, you may
break instead.
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Strain

A – STRAIN (%) (allargament)

The ratio of the elongation to the original length (usually in %).

It shows if a material is ductile or brittle. Ductile materials can be shaped by

deformation processes.
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Compressive strength, bending s.

• In addition to the tensile test /

tensile strength, there are other
tests. Each type of load we saw
(compressive, bending, torsion
and shear) has its own test.

• COMPRESSIVE TEST: specially

used in ceramic materials for
construction.

• FLEXURAL TEST: We uses it for

brittle materials (we can’t test its
by tensile test). With the flexural
test results, it’s possible to
calculate the tensile strength.
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Toughness, resilience
RESILIENCE & KV - TOUGHNESS (J/m²) (tenacitat)
They show the capacity of a material to withstand impacts.
RESILIENCE is the maximum amount of energy per area unit with only elastic
deformation. TOUGHNESS is the amount of energy per area unit necessary to break the
material.
Theoretically they are the area under the stress-strain curve (only the elastic zone in
resilience and all the graphic in toughness case).
In practice, toughness is tested mainly with Charpy impact test (UNE 7475) or with Izod
impact test (less usual).

2
1 R
U   e ·Re  e
2 2·E
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Toughness and temperature
DBTT (Ductile Brittle
Transition Temperature)
Many of the ductile materials
(metals and plastics) turns to
brittle at low temperatures.
We can know the transition
temperature testing a set of
specimens at different
temperatures with a Charpy
impact test.
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Hardness
H - HARDNESS (duresa)
The resistance of a material to be penetrated or scratched.
The value depends of the type of test. Most usually tests and scales
are:
- HB, HBW (Brinell, UNE-EN-ISO 6506-1)
- HV (Vickers, UNE-EN-ISO 6507-1)
- HR_ (Rockwell, UNE-EN-ISO 6508-1)
- HS_ (Shore)
- HK (Knopp, microhardness)
Advantages of hardness test:
1. Usually is a non-destructive test (although little traces rest in
material)
2. Testing machines are cheap and we can perform the tests very
quickly.
3. Tensile strength can be approached from hardness value.
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Hardness

HARDNESS TESTS
• BRINELL TEST(HB): Uses a carbide ball as penetrator.
Shape is measured with a microscope..

Hardness tester
•VICKERS TEST(HV): Uses a diamond pyramidal penetrator.
The shape is measured with a microscope. The most
universal hardness test (metals, ceramics, …).
•ROCKWELL TEST: Uses a steel or carbide ball (HRB) o
diamond cone (HRC). The device measures the distance
penetrated. More quick and cheap than others.
•SHORE TEST: It measures the bounce of a diamond-tipped
hammer. Applied mainly to rubber and plastic materials. The
device is known as scleroscope.
•KNOOP TEST (HK): Microhardness, it can measure thin
plates or coatings. Similar to Vickers.
•FILE PENETRATION: It’s a workshop quick test. If file
penetrates or not, material is more or less to 60 HRC
 CONVERSION TABLES FOR STEELS

Not tempered Quenched, tempered

Hardness
3.4 Mechanical properties
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Fatigue resistance
FATIGUE LIFE (N) and FATIGUE STRESS LIMIT (MPa)
Fatigue is a failure of a material due to cyclic loading. The maximum stress of every cycle is
less than the yield strength of the material.
Fatigue is a stochastic process. Dates are given for a specified probability.
Fatigue stress limit is the stress value necessary to fatigue damage occurs with a specified
number of cycles.
Fatigue life is the number of stress cycles (of a specified character) that a specimen sustains
before failure occurs.
Material performance against fatigue are commonly characterized by an S-N curve.
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Fatigue resistance

Example of fatigue collapsed shaft:

“COLLAPSE”
3) Final
fracture

“DAMAGE” 2) Lamelar tearing 1) Start point or

(“beaches”) nucleation
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Fatigue resistance

The Norwegian rig

“Alexander Kielland”
collapse at the North Sea in
1980.
Of the 212 people aboard,
123 died.
A fatigue failure of a steel
bracing was the cause of the
disaster. Fissure starts at a
poor profile of a hydrophone
fillet weld.
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Creep
CREEP (termofluència)
• Creep is a slow deformation of materials subjected to constant charges for long time,
even if stress is less than yield strength.
• Creep depends on temperature. It occurs up to 30% of melting point in metals and
up to 40-50% of melting point in ceramics.
• Creep is evaluated with tests (1000 to 10.000 hours). The result of tests are drew in
a graphic.

Larson-Miller graphic (stress-time-

Strain versus time temperature)
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Creep
• Jet turbine and steam turbine blades can
easily have a creep failure. They are
continuously subjected to centrifugal force
and high temperatures.

• The movement of ice in a glacier flow is an

example of creep.

• Creep occur in many plastics at room

temperature. Results of this are notorious in
daily objects:
– The wardrobe shelves (wood + plastic glues)
always increase deformation with time
– Plastic cable ties (“Unex”) always come loose
with time
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Toughness to fracture

KIT FRACTURE TOUGHNESS

Describes the ability of a material containing a crack, to resist the growing of this
fracture, avoiding a catastrophic failure in “brittle fracture” mode.
All the materials contain micro-fissures. There are a effect of stress concentration
in this points.
Ceramics and very hardened metals, aren’t good structural materials in tensile load
because they present brittle fracture.

Ductile fracture: Brittle fracture:

Deformation + breaking Only breaking
 3.4 Mechanical properties
Toughness to fracture
1944, Portland.
Suddenly, the USS T-2
Schenectady , cracked in half.
When the accident happened,
the ship were in port, in calm
weather, and not charged. The
water was cold.
It was de first accident of
nearly 800, involving the
Liberty, Victory and Tanker T-2
ship classes.
The cause of the failure was
not understood at the time.
Really, low-grade steel of hull
became brittle in low-
temperature.
Since then, naval engineers
have to consider the brittle
fracture in hull structural
materials and their welds.