Compressive Stress (Carver Press)

Carl Apoldom C. Delmoa, John Mark L. Osiasa, Jamaica C. San Pedroa, Aaron V. Talusana
a

Author, Student CHE150-1L/A41, School of Chemical Engineering , Biological Engineering and Material Science Engineering
Mapua Institute of Techology, Intramuros, Manila

INTRODUCTION
When a specimen of material is loaded in such a
way that it extends it is said to be in tension. On the
other hand if the material compresses and shortens
it is said to be in compression. On an atomic level,
the molecules or atoms are forced apart when in
tension whereas in compression they are forced
together. Since atoms in solids always try to find an
equilibrium position, and distance between other
atoms, forces arise throughout the entire material
which oppose both tension and compression. The
phenomena prevailing on an atomic level are
therefore similar (Pytel and Singer, 1987).
The strain is the relative change in length under
applied stress; positive strain characterizes an object
under tension load which tends to lengthen it, and a
compressive stress that shortens an object gives
negative strain. Tension tends to pull small
sideways deflections back into alignment, while
compression tends to amplify such deflection into
buckling (Beer et al., 1992).
Stress is defined by the force acting on a unit area
and internal forces acting within a member caused
by an applied load. The types of stresses resulting
from different force orientation are tensile stress,
compressive stress and shear stress. A particular

kind of stress which is used in the experiment is

compressive stress (AZO Materials, 2013).
Stress =

Applied Force( F)
CrossSectional Area( A)

(1)

Compressive stress is the stress on materials that

leads to a smaller volume. By compressive stress
the material is under compression. Compressive
stress to bars, columns, etc. leads to shortening. One
can increase the compressive stress until
compressive strength is reached. Then materials
will react with ductile behavior (most metals, some
soils and plastics) or with fracture in case of brittle
materials (Gutierrez and Ngo, 2005).

Figure 1.Typical diagram of a Carver press

Compressive strength is measured on materials,
components, and structures (Beer et al., 1992;

Experiment No. 6 June 10, 2015

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Brady & Brown, 1993). In mechanics, compression

is the application of balanced inward (pushing)
forces to different points on a material or structure,
that is, forces with no net sum or torque directed so
as to reduce its size in one or more directions (Beer
et al., 1993). It is contrasted with tension or traction,
the application of balanced outward (pulling)
forces; and with shearing forces, directed so as to
displace layers of the material parallel to each other.
The compressive strength of materials and
structures is an important engineering consideration.
OBJECTIVES
1. This experiment aims to enable the students
to determine the maximum amount of stress
that a material can handle using the UTM
(universal testing machine).

Figure 2. Loading Unit

2. This experiment aims to enable the students

to interpret a stress-stroke graph.
EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS
To perform the experiment, the main apparatus to
be used is the Universal Testing Machine (UTM).
It consist a Loading unit and a Measuring unit
together with a computer for analysis of data. The
UTM is used to test the tensile and compressive
strength of different materials, components, and
structures.
The materials to be tested are (a) hollow block, (b)
cylindrical concrete block, (c) wood prism with
the smallest surface area receiving the load and
(d) wood prism with the highest surface area
receiving the load, and lastly (e) a piece of
engineering plastic.

Figure 3. Measuring Unit

PROCEDURE
1. Measure the dimensions of the material to
be tested.
2. Place the material to be tested in the loading
unit.
3. Arrange the safety barriers around the
loading unit.
4. Input the dimensions of the material into the
computer program.
5. Start the UTM.

Experiment No. 6 June 10, 2015

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6. Stop the UTM when the graph being shown

by the measuring unit reaches its peak.
7. Gather the data from the computer.
8. Repeat procedures 1 to 7 for all test
materials.

Experiment No. 6 June 10, 2015

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DATA SHEET
School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry
Mapua Institute of Technology
Chemical Engineering Laboratory 1

DATA SHEET
Experiment 6
COMPRESSIVE STRESS
(Carver Press)

_____________________________
Students Name

_____________________________
Instructors Name

_____________________________
Subject and Section/ Group No.

_____________________________
Date of Submission

DATA AND RESULTS

Shape: __________
Type of
Material

Thicknes
s
(mm)

Width
(mm)

Height
(mm)

Break
Force
(kN)

Break
Stress
(kN/mm2)

Maximu
m
Force
(kN)

Maximum
Stress
(kN/mm2)

Shape: __________
Type of
Material

Diameter
(mm)

Experiment No. 6 June 10, 2015

Height
(mm)

Break
Force
(kN)

Break
Stress
(kN/mm2)

Maximum
Force
(kN)

Maximum
Stress
(kN/mm2)

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SAMPLE DATA SHEET

School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry
Mapua Institute of Technology
Chemical Engineering Laboratory 1

DATA SHEET
Experiment 6
COMPRESSIVE STRESS
(Carver Press)

Delmo, Carl Apoldom C.

Osias, John Mark L.
San Pedro, Jamaica C.
Talusan, Aaron V.

Prof. Allan N. Soriano

CHE150-1L, A41/Group No.4

June 03, 2015

DATA AND RESULTS

Shape: Plate
Type of
Material

Thicknes
s
(mm)

Width
(mm)

Height
(mm)

Break
Force
(kN)

Break
Stress
(kN/mm2)

Maximum
Stress
(kN/mm2)

24.9688

Maximu
m
Force
(kN)
42.0625

Hb-1

100

24.9688

Swood

35

35

75

46.3906

0.03787

Hwood

34

145

37.7

50

0.01014

42.0625

Shape: Rod
Type of
Material

Diameter
(mm)

Height
(mm)

Break
Force
(kN)

Break
Stress
(kN/mm2)

Maximum
Force
(kN)

Maximum
Stress
(kN/mm2)

Plastic 1

41.3

32.88

112.281

0.08381

Concrete
Cylinder

74

151

46.3281

0.01077

25.25

0.00587

Experiment No. 6 June 10, 2015

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TREATMENT OF RESULTS
The data was computed and got from the computer.

Lwood is much greater than that of the Swood. This

is due to the fact that for Swood the force was
exerted along the grain of the wood, while for
Lwood it was along the grain.

Table 1. Recorded Data

Type of materials

Area

Break Force

Hollow block
Cylindrical concrete
Wood (small)
Wood (big)
Engineering plastic

(m m )

(kN )

1.00
4300.84
1225.00
4930.00
1339.65

24.9688
25.25
-.-.-.-

The stress could also get in manual operation.

First, compute for the cross-sectional area of the
material.
Second, get the reading of the force from the
apparatus which is used to read the force.
Then, use this equation:

Stress ( ) =

Force ( F )
Area ( A ) ,

to compute for the stress of the material.

Break Figure
Stress 2 on the other hand shows the graph for the

cylindrical shaped test subjects. The two materials

were and engineering plastic and a concrete
24.9688
cylinder. According to the graph, the maximum
0.00587
force that the cylinder could handle would be
46.3281kN while its break force would be 25.25kN.
Comparing the cylinder with the hollow block we
can see that their break force is relatively close to
each other. This may be due to the fact that they are
made of the same material.
Figure 2 also shows the graph for the engineering
plastic. The data presented however is erroneous.
This is because the engineering plastic did not break
at all. Since plastic has elastic properties it did not
break, rather it expanded. However when we
stopped subjecting the engineering plastic to stress,
it did not return to its original form. Also, applying
any more force to the test subject would simply
make it expand even more thus applying even more
force would be a waste of time, so the machine was
stopped.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
Figure 1 shows the plot of the force applied against
the stroke. According to the graph the maximum
force that the hollow block could accommodate
would be 42kN. This however is not the case. This
is due to the fact that the dimensions of the hollow
block were not actually specified, and the fact that it
is a hollow object was also unaccounted for.
However, the fact that its break force remains as
24.9688kN remains true.
Figure 1 also shows the maximum force that the
same block of wood can handle. The block of wood
is made up of the same material, but the way it is
oriented is different. For Swood, it is oriented in
such a way that the area in contact with the UTM is
minimized. For Lwood on the other hand, it is
oriented to maximize the area in contact with the
UTM. However even if the contact with the UTM
was maximized, we see that the max force of the
Experiment No. 6 June 10, 2015

REFERENCES
AZO Materials. (2013). Mechanical Properties of
Materials Tensile, Compressive, Shear, Torsional
and Yield Strength Defined.

Beer, F. P. Johnston, E. R. DeWolf, J. T. (1992).

Mechanics of Materials.McGraw-Hill Professional.

Brady, B. H. G. Brown, E. T. (1993). Rock

Mechanics For Underground Mining 3rd edition.
Kluwer Academic Publisher. pp. 17-29.

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Gutierrez, C. L., Ngo, R. L. (2005). Chemical

Engineering Laboratory Manual Part 1.Mapua
Institute of Technology.

Experiment No. 6 June 10, 2015

Pytel, A. Singer, L. (1987). Strength of Materials 4th

edition.Harper and Row Publications.

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