CHAPTER 7

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

Two Basic Quantities

STRESS

Measures the
force required to
deform or break a
material

STRAIN
Measures the
elongation for a
given load

STRESS

Stress is defined as the intensity of the internally

distributed forces or components of forces that resist
a change in the form of a body.
For example, consider a wire or cylinder, anchored at
the top, and hanging down.
Lo

Ao is the original crosscross-sectional area of the wire,

and Lo is the original wire length.
Stress is commonly measured in units newtons per
square meter (N/m2) or megapascals (MPa).

There are five basic types of loading (F):

 Tension
 Compression
 Shear
 Torsion
 Flexure / Bend
Torsion

Flexure / Bend
Tension Compression

Shear

In tension and compression tests, the load is

applied to determine the effect on the
specimen
specimens cross section.

In torsion testing, the load is applied
through a twisting motion.

In shear testing, the load is applied to shear
or cut the material, similar to cutting a piece
of wire with a pair of wire cutter.

In flexure testing, both tensile and
compressive forces are developed on the
bottom and top of the material specimen.

There are three types of stress:

 Tensile
 Compression
 Shear
The tension and compression are called direct
stresses.

Bulging due to
compressive stress

Necking down due

to tensile stress

Dislocation due
to shear stress

Compression
Tensile

Shear

STRAIN
Strain is defined as the ratio of increase in length to
original length.
length.
Specifically, when force is applied to the wire, its
length L increases, while its crosscross-sectional area A
decreases, as sketched:
Lo

L
F

The dimensions of strain are unity, i.e. strain is

nonnon-dimensional.
dimensional.

STRENGTH
Strength is the property that enables a
material to resist deformation under load.
The ultimate strength is the maximum strain a
material can withstand before it is ruptured.
Tensile
strength
Compressive
strength
Shear
strength
Impact
strength

Tensile Test Specimen

TENSILE STRENGTH
Tensile strength UTS is a measurement of the resistance
to being pulled apart when placed in a tension load.
The tensile strength of a material is the maximum
amount of tensile stress that it can be subjected to before
failure.
There are three typical definitions of tensile strength:
 Yield strength
The stress at which material strain changes from
elastic deformation to plastic deformation, causing it
to deform permanently.
 Ultimate strength
The maximum stress a material can withstand.


Breaking strength
The stress coordinate on the stress-strain curve at the
point of rupture.

Tensile Stress-Strain Curve



Engineering stress
E = F/A0

Engineering strain
E = (l- l0) / l0

Measures of Ductility:
% Elongation
= (lf - lo) / lo x 100%
% Reduction area
= (Ao - Af) / Ao x 100%

Stress-Strain Curve
for tensile
Breaking strength
(failure)

Proportional Limit / Elastic Limit

Yield strength

Stress

Ultimate strength
/Tensile Strength

0.2% Offset Line

plastic region
elongation at break
yield elongation

Strain
elastic region

Elastic Limit

Proportional Limit

Yield Strength

The greatest stress the Highest stress at which The minimum stress
material can withstand
stress is directly
which produces
without any measurable proportional to strain.
permanent plastic
permanent strain
deformation.
It is the highest stress at
remaining on the
which the curve in a
It is usually defined at a
complete release of
Stress-Strain Curve is a
specific amount of
load.
straight line.
plastic strain, or offset,
which may vary by
Proportional limit is
material and or
equal to elastic limit for
specification.
many metals.
The offset is the amount
that the stress-strain
curve deviates from the
linear elastic line.
The most common
offset for structural
metals is 0.2%.

ELASTICITY
Elasticity is the property of a material that allows
it to return to its original shape after having been
deformed and to exert a force
force while deformed.
Elasticity, the ability of a body to resist a
distorting influence or stress and to return to its
original size and shape when the stress is
removed.
All solids are elastic for small enough
deformations or strains, but if the stress exceeds
a certain amount known as the elastic limit or
proportional limit,
limit, a permanent deformation is
produced.

YOUNGS MODULUS
For elastic materials, stress is linearly proportional to
strain.
strain.
Mathematically, this is expressed by Hooke's law,
law,
which states

E=

where E = Young's modulus,

modulus, also called the modulus
of elasticity.
elasticity.
Young's modulus is assumed to be constant for a
given material.
Hooke's law breaks down when the strain gets too
high, beyond the elastic limit or proportional limit.

How is Toughness Different From

Strength?
STRENGTH
tells how much force is needed to break a sample

TOUGHNESS
tells how much energy is needed to break a sample

TOUGHNESS
Toughness is the property that enables a material to
withstand shock and to be deformed without
rupturing.
Toughness may be considered as a combination of
strength and plasticity.
It is defined as the amount of energy per volume that
a material can absorb before rupturing.
rupturing.
A material with high strength and high ductility will
have more toughness than a material with low
strength and high ductility.
Can be found by taking the area underneath the
stressstress-strain curve from a tensile test.
Toughness is measured in units of joules per cubic
meter (J/m
(J/m) in the SI system.

TYPICAL STRESS-STRAIN CURVES

The shape of the stressstress-strain curve gives a clue

to the material's behaviour.

A hard, brittle material shows a large initial
slope and fails with little strain.

A soft and tough material, on the other hand,
exhibits a very small initial slope, but strain
hardens and withstands larger strains before
failure.

The stressstress-strain curve also indicates the overall
toughness of the material.

The area under the curve, in units of megapascal
(MPa), is a measure of a its toughness.

The greater that area, the tougher the material,
and the greater the amount of energy required
breaking it.

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DUCTILITY
Ductility is an ability of a metal to plastically
deform without breaking or fracturing, with the
cohesion between the molecules remaining
sufficient to hold them together.
Ductility is important in wire drawing and sheet
stamping.
The metal must neither break nor be scraped off
during these processes.
Ductility may be expressed quantitatively as
either percent elongation or percent reduction in
area.
area.

 The percent elongation is the percentage of

plastic strain at fracture:

% elongation = Lf Lo x 100%
Lo
Lf = elongation at break (fracture length)
Lo = initial length

 The percent reduction in area:

% reduction = Ao Af x 100%
Ao
Af = final area of specimen
Ao = original area of specimen

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BRITTLENESS
Brittleness is the property of a material that makes it
break easily without bending.
It is the opposite of ductility and toughness.
toughness.
Brittle materials are approximately considered to be
those having a facture strain of less than about 5%.
Generally, brittle metals are high in compressive
strength but low in tensile strength.
E.g : cast iron is not used for fabricating support beams
in a bridge.
Materials become more brittle as temperatures
decrease.
E. g. : Titanic hull sank at Atlantic Ocean
Low temperature: material become more brittle.
So when it hit the iceberg, it broke sank.

MALLEABIILITY
It can be defined as the property of a metal to be
deformed by compression without breaking,
cracking or rupturing.
Malleability,
Malleability, property of a metal describing the ease
with which it can be hammered, forged, pressed, or
rolled into thin sheets.
Pure gold is the most malleable.
Some heating usually increases malleability.
 E.g:
E.g: Zinc, at ordinary temperatures is very brittle,
but is malleable in the temperature range from
about 120
120C to 150
150C.
Impurities adversely affect the malleability of
metals.

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HARDNESS
Hardness is the important property of metals
Hardness is define as a measure of the resistance to
deformation or a measure of resistance to
penetration
Both definition refer to resistance of a metal surface
to damage or dented. Force

penetrator

sample

Relationship of hardness with

other properties
Hardness can relates to several key properties
of metal
Strength

Brittleness
& ductility

Hardness

Others

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Categories of Hardness
Scratch hardness:
 Moh Hardness Testing
 File Hardness Testing

Penetration hardness:
 Brinell Hardness Testing
 Vickers Hardness Testing
Vickers
 Knoop Hardness Testing
 Rockwell Hardness Testing
 Rockwell superficial Hardness Testing

Brinell

Hardness Scales

Brinell
Vickers
Knoop
Rockwell

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Brinell Hardness Number

BHN =

load (kg)
surface area (mm2)

BHN =

F
D
(D D 2 d
2

F = Force or Load in Kilogram

D= Diameter of the ball penetrator in mm
d= Diameter of indentation in mm

Typical BHN values

Cold Rolled Steel (unquenched) 150 BHN
Quenched Steel

600 BHN

Stainless Steel (unquenched)

150 BHN

Cast Iron

200 BHN

Wrought Iron

100 BHN

Aluminum

100 BHN

Annealed Copper

45 BHN

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BHN vs. Tensile Strength

Vickers Hardness Number

VHN

LOAD (kg)
SURFACE AREA (mm2)

= 1.85 F

d2
Where
F = load in kg
d = Diagonal length of indentation in mm

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Advantages of Vickers hardness testing

Vickers testing can be used on harder materials
because the pointed penetrator can probe into a
hard surface more easily than a ball penetrator
can.
Vickers testing can be used on smaller areas.
Vickers testing requires a smaller load.

IMPACT TESTING
There are 2 standard impact tests:
 Charpy
 Izod

The two tests use different specimens and

methods of holding the specimens, but both
tests make use of a pendulum-testing machine.
For both tests, the specimen is broken by a
single overload event due to the impact of the
pendulum.

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The purpose of impact testing is to measure an

object's ability to resist high-rate or shock
loading.
Which determines the amount of energy
absorbed by a material during fracture.
Energy is defined as an ability to do work.
This absorbed energy is a measure of a given
material's toughness.
Tough materials absorb a lot of energy, whilst
brittle materials tend to absorb very little energy
prior to fracture.

Charpy Impact Test

Charpy impact test, also

known as the Charpy vnotch test.
The Charpy test measures
the total energy absorbed
during specimen fracture.
Standard specimen size is
10x10x55 mm3 with a V
notch of 2 mm deep, 45o
angle and 0.25 mm root
radius.
The specimen is hit by a
pendulum at the opposite
side of the notch and the
energy required to break
open is measured.

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Izod Impact Test

This test is similar to Charpy

test.
The specimen placement are
different.
The pendulum strikes the
front face of the test
specimen.
Standard specimen size is
10x10x75 mm3 with a V notch
of 2 mm deep, 45o angle and
0.2 mm root radius.

Impact Toughness

The energy that absorbed by the specimen is

also called as impact toughness.
SI unit = Joule

Where :
ho = starting hammer position
h1 = ending hammer position
OR
m = mass of pendulum
2
E = mgr (cos
(cos cos ) g = 9.8 m/s
r = length of pendulum
= initial angle
= final angle
E = mg (ho h1)

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Specimen for Impact Testing

Pendulum Test Machine

Starting
position

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