NAZARBAYEV UNIVERSITY

Course code and title: EME 254 Mechanics of Materials

Experiment No: 1
Title of the experiment: Tension Tests

Name: Azamat Amzebek (ID 201493886)

Date of Experiment:

15/11/2016

Date of Submission:

23/11/2016

Introduction
Tensile test plays an important role in understanding the mechanical properties of materials.
Unlike torsion or compression, this test shows easiness and consistency of experimental
results.
In this experiment three types of specimens will be conducted to tensile test. Using universal
load frame specimen can be elongated and amount of force applied and change in length can
be recorded. This results can be used for calculation of yield stress, elastic modulus and
constructing stress-strain diagram.
Equipment and apparatus

A 30 kN electro-mechanically controlled operated universal tension/compression load

frame
3 metal specimens made of Steel, Brass and Aluminum

Theory
The result of experiment consists force applied and elongation of specimen.
Stress can be calculated using following formula:
F
A

formula for strain:

=

L
L0

Formula for Youngs modulus:

E=

Yield stress is the amount of stress, after which plastic deformation starts to form.
Area reduction can be used as a good indication of ductility of material. If it is high the
material is ductile, otherwise brittle.

Experimental Procedure
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Measure mean initial diameter value.

Load the test specimen into the load frame.
Measure the gage length.
Observe as the instructor conducts tensile testing.
Show the net graphs for each specimen.
Measure mean final diameter value.
Calculate stress/strain values.

Results and Discussion

Table 1. Length and Diameters of specimens

Steel
di(mm)
df(mm)
L0(mm)

5.11
4.04
41

Aluminu
m
5.1
3.94
41

Brass
5.1
4.64
41

Figure 1. Force elongation diagram for steel

7.00E+08
6.00E+08
5.00E+08
4.00E+08
3.00E+08
2.00E+08
1.00E+08
0.00E+00

Diagram 1. Stress strain diagram for steel

Figure 2. Force elongation diagram for aluminum

3.50E+08
3.00E+08
2.50E+08
2.00E+08
1.50E+08
1.00E+08
5.00E+07
0.00E+00

Diagram 2. Stress strain diagram for aluminum

Figure 3. Force elongation diagram for brass

6.00E+08
5.00E+08
4.00E+08
3.00E+08
2.00E+08
1.00E+08
0.00E+00

Diagram 3. Stress strain diagram for brass

The ultimate stress:

u=

Pmax 4Pmax
=
2
Ai
d i

For aluminum:

Pmax =6345.8 N ,

u =310.6 MPa

For steel: Pmax =12374 .2 N , hence,

For brass:

u =603.4 MPa

Pmax =10710 .8 N , hence, u =524.3 MPa

Youngs Modulus or Modulus of Elasticity:

E=

2 1

= 2 1
2 1 l 2 l 1

l
l

For aluminum:
E Al=

2 1

( 20261.2 )106
= 2 1 =
=1.41108 Pa
2 1 l 2 l 1
0.0340.024

l
l

The same for brass and steel:

EBrass =2.4910 8 Pa
Esteel =3.01108 Pa
Yield strength

Diagram 4. 0.2% offset method for aluminum

For aluminum, y =301.4 MPa

For brass, y =510.8 MPa
For steel, y =618.4 MPa
Reduction of area
By using the formula and placing the values on the Table 1, %RA can be found easily,
1. Aluminum
d 2i d 2f

A Af
4
4
%RA=100 i
=100
=40.32
2
Ai
d i
4

2. Brass %RA = 17.23%

3. Steel %RA = 37.49%
Steel has greatest yield stress, which means that it is more sustainable to elastic deformation
than other two specimens.
Youngs modulus of material is an indication of stiffness. The pattern for these specimens are
as follows: aluminum > brass > steel
The reduction of area is least for brass, which indicates that it is the most brittle.
Steel has the largest tensile strength and highest elastic modulus, also it is ductile which
makes it an ideal tool industrial usage and engineering design.
Ductile materials tend to form cap and cone after fracture, which can be observed in this
experiment. But for brass, which brittle, perpendicular fracture has been observed.
Conclusion
Three specimens have been analyzed using tensile test and stress-strain diagrams has been
plotted. The ultimate strength and maximum load, yield strength have been calculated using
taken data. Results indicate that aluminum is highly ductile and brass brittle. Unique
characteristic features of steel has been pointed out.