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Technical College-Baghdad

Tensile Test

1. Tensile Test
1-1 Objective

 Plotting the engineering and true stress-strain curve for different materials.
 Determining the modulus of elasticity (Young’s modulus), yield stress, ultimate
tensile stress, ductility, toughness, strength coefficient and strain hardening exponent
for each material then comparing between them. .
.

1-2 Introduction

The mechanical behavior of materials is described by their deformation and fracture


characteristics under applied tensile, compressive, or multiaxial stresses. Determination of
this mechanical behavior is influenced by several factors that include metallurgical/material
variables, test methods, and the nature of the applied stresses. This article focuses on
mechanical behavior under conditions of uniaxial tension and compression. The main
emphasis is on mechanical behavior during the engineering tension test, which is widely used
to provide basic design information on the strength of materials and as an acceptance test for
the specification of materials. In this test procedure, a specimen is subjected to a continually
increasing uniaxial load (force), while simultaneous observations are made of the elongation
of the specimen. In this article, emphasis is placed on the interpretation of these observations
rather than on the procedures for conducting the tests.

1-3 Theory

A tensile testing machine applies a known force to a material sample and measures the
resulting extension. Using simple hydraulics samples will be placed in tension and stretched.
A load cell measures the force applied; an extensometer measures the extension of the
sample. Using the tensile testing machine, you will be able to obtain a force-displacement
curve for each material.

1-3-1 Engineering Stress-Strain Curve

In the conventional engineering tension test, an engineering stress-strain curve is


constructed from the load-elongation measurements made on the test specimen (Fig. 1-1).
The engineering stress (σeng.) used in this stress-strain curve is the average longitudinal stress
in the tensile specimen. It is obtained by dividing the load (P) by the original area of the cross
section of the specimen (A◦):

The engineering strain, εeng., is obtained by dividing the elongation of the gage length of
the specimen (∆L) by its original length (L◦):

− ° ∆
= = = (1 − 2)
° °

Prof. Adnan N. Abood


Asst. Lec. Zainab Waheed
1
Technical College-Baghdad
Tensile Test
The stress at which plastic deformation or yielding is observed to begin depends on the
sensitivity of the strain measurements.

Fig. 1-1; Typical engineering stress-strain curve

With most materials, there is a gradual transition from elastic to plastic behavior, and the
point at which plastic deformation begins is difficult to define with precision. In tests of
materials under uniaxial loading, three criteria for the initiation of yielding have been used:
the elastic limit, the proportional limit, and the yield strength.
Elastic limit, shown at point A in Fig. 1-2, is the greatest stress the material can withstand
without any measurable permanent strain remaining after the complete release of load. With
increasing sensitivity of strain measurement, the value of the elastic limit is decreased until it
equals the true elastic limit determined from microstrain measurements. The elastic limit is
greater than the proportional limit.
Determination of the elastic limit requires a tedious incremental loading-unloading test
procedure. For this reason, it is often replaced by the proportional limit. Proportional limit,
shown at point Aʹ in Fig. 1-2, is the highest stress at which stress is directly proportional to
strain. It is obtained by observing the deviation from the straight-line portion of the stress-
strain curve. The yield strength, shown at point B in Fig. 2, is the stress required to produce a
small specified amount of plastic deformation. The usual definition of this property is the
offset yield strength determined by the stress corresponding to the intersection of the stress-
strain curve offset by a specified strain (see Fig. 1-1 and 1-2). In the United States, the offset
is usually specified as a strain of 0.2 or 0.1% (ε = 0.002 or 0.001):

( . )
= (1 − 3)
°

Fig. 1-2; Typical tension stress-strain curve for ductile


metal indicating yielding criteria. Point A, elastic limit;
point A′, proportional limits; point B, yield strength or
offset yield strength.

Prof. Adnan N. Abood


Technical College-Baghdad
Tensile Test
In the elastic region, stress is linearly proportional to strain. When the stress exceeds a
value corresponding to the yield strength, the specimen undergoes gross plastic deformation.
If the load is subsequently reduced to zero, the specimen will remain permanently deformed.
The stress required to produce continued plastic deformation increases with increasing plastic
strain; that is, the metal strain hardens.
The tensile strength or ultimate tensile strength (σu) is the maximum load divided by the
original cross sectional area of the specimen:

= (1 − 4)
°

The ductility can be obtained from the tension test and can be expressed by the
engineering strain at fracture (εf) (usually called the elongation) and the reduction in area at
fracture (RA). Elongation and reduction in area usually are expressed as a percentage. Both
of these properties are obtained after fracture by putting the specimen back together and
taking measurements of the final length, Lf, and final specimen cross section, Af :

− °
% = 100 (1 − 5)
°

° −
%= 100 (1 − 6)
°

Modulus of Elasticity is the slope of the initial linear portion of the stress-strain curve, or
Young's modulus. The modulus of elasticity (E) is a measure of the stiffness of the material.
The greater the modulus, the smaller the elastic strain resulting from the application of a
given stress. Because the modulus of elasticity is needed for computing deflections of beams
and other members, it is an important design value.


= (1 − 7)

The toughness of a material is its ability to absorb energy in the plastic range. Toughness
is a commonly used concept that is difficult to precisely defined. Toughness may be
considered to be the total area under the stress-strain curve. This area, which is referred to as
the modulus of toughness (UT) is an indication of the amount of work per unit volume that
can be done on the material without causing it to rupture.
Several mathematical approximations for the area under the stress-strain curve have been
suggested. For ductile metals that have a stress-strain curve like that of the structural steel,
the area under the curve can be approximated by:

= (1 − 8)

For brittle materials, the stress-strain curve is sometimes assumed to be a parabola, and the
area under the curve is given by:

Prof. Adnan N. Abood


Asst. Lec. Zainab Waheed
3
Technical College-Baghdad
Tensile Test 2
= (1 − 9 )
3

1-3-2 True Stress-Strain Curve

The engineering stress-strain curve does not give a true indication of the deformation
characteristics of a metal because it is based entirely on the original dimensions of the
specimen, and these dimensions change continuously during the test. Also, ductile metal that
is pulled in tension becomes unstable and necks down during the course of the test. Because
the cross-sectional area of the specimen is decreasing rapidly at this stage in the test, the load
required to continue deformation falls off. The average stress based on the original area
likewise decreases, and this produces the fall-off in the engineering stress-strain curve
beyond the point of maximum load. Actually, the metal continues to strain harden to fracture,
so that the stress required to produce further deformation should also increase. If the true
stress, based on the actual cross-sectional area of the specimen, is used, the stress-strain curve
increases continuously to fracture as shown in Fig. 1-3.

Fig. 1-3; Engineering and true stress-strain curves

If the strain measurement is also based on instantaneous measurement, the curve that is
obtained is known as true stress-true strain curve. This is also known as a flow curve because
it represents the basic plastic-flow characteristics of the material. The true stress (σtru) is
expressed in terms of engineering stress (σeng) by:

= +1 = +1 (1 − 10)
°

The true strain, εtru, may be determined from the engineering or conventional strain (εeng)
by:

= ln + 1 = ln (1 − 11)
°

For the ductile materials, the values of necking radius and minimum diameter at fracture
for tensile specimen have been measured using profile projector apparatus to guarantee
plotting accurate true stress-strain curve of the region after σu as shown in Fig. 1-4:

Prof. Adnan N. Abood


Technical College-Baghdad
Tensile Test

Fig. 1-4; Sketch showing the location of R and Dmin

= (1 − 12)
Where:

1
= (1 − 13)
4
1+ ln 1 + 4

R: Necking radius (mm)


D: Diameter at fracture zone (mm)

So

= (1 − 14)
4
1+ ln 1 +
4

1-3-3 Mathematical Expressions for the Flow Curve

The flow curve of many metals in the region of uniform plastic deformation can be
expressed by the simple power curve relation:

σ = K εn (1-15)

Where n is the strain-hardening exponent, and K is the strength coefficient. A log-log


plot of true stress and true strain up to maximum load will result in a straight line as shown in
Fig. 1-5.

Fig. 1-5; Log-log plot of true stress-true strain curve n is the strain-hardening exponent; K is the strength
coefficient

Prof. Adnan N. Abood


Technical College-Baghdad
Tensile Test
The linear slope of this line is n, and K is the true stress at ε= 1. For n = 0 perfectly plastic
solid and n = 1 elastic solid. For most metals, n has values between 0.10 and 0.50.

1-4 Specimens

Tensile test specimen geometry is often influenced by metal product form. For example,
only test pieces with rectangular cross sections can be obtained from sheet products. Test
pieces taken from thick plate may have either flat (plate type) or round cross sections. Most
tension-test specifications show machined test pieces with either circular cross sections or
rectangular cross sections. Nomenclatures for the various sections of a machined test piece
are shown in Fig. 1-6. Most tension-test specifications present a set of dimensions, for each
cross-section type, that are standard, as well as additional sets of dimensions for alternative
test pieces. In general, the standard dimensions published by ASTM, ISO and DIN are
similar, but they are not identical.

Fig. 1-6; Nomenclature for a typical tension test piece

Gage lengths and standard dimensions for machined test pieces specified in ASTM E 8
are shown in Fig. 1-7 for rectangular and round test pieces. From this figure, it can be seen
that the gage length is proportionally four times (4 to 1) the diameter (or width) of the test
piece for the standard machined round test pieces and the sheet type, rectangular test pieces.

Prof. Adnan N. Abood


Technical College-Baghdad
Tensile Test

Fig. 1-7; Standard specimen for tensile test; a) rectangular and b) round

1-5 Procedures

1. Preparation of the tensile test machine.


2. Measurement of dimensions of tensile test specimens.
3. Gage length marking of tensile test specimens.
4. Zeroing of the testing machine.
5. Gripping of the test specimen.
6. Applying the load gradually until the specimen fractured with recording the specimen
extension.
7. After the test has been completed, it is often required that the cross-sectional
dimensions again be measured to obtain measures of ductility.

1-6 Results and Calculations

After registration the applied load and resulted elongation, fill the following table:

P kN ∆L mm σeng. εeng. σtru. εtru.

After calculating the values of engineering and true stress and strain can be plotting the
engineering stress-strain curve and true stress-strain curve with correction factor (if required)
for each material, then comparing between them and determined the following:
 Yield strength.
 Ultimate tensile strength.
 Young's modulus.
 Ductility.
 Toughness.

Prof. Adnan N. Abood


Technical College-Baghdad
Tensile Test
 Strength coefficient.
 Strain hardening exponent.

1-7 Problems

1- The following engineering tensile stress-strain data were obtained for a 0.2% C plain-carbon steel.
Stress (MPa): 0 207 379 414 469 496 510 517 524 517 503 476 448 386 352
Strain (%): 0 0.1 0.2 0.5 1.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 19.0

Plot engineering and true stress-strain curves then determine the σy, σu, K, n and toughness.

2- The engineering tensile stress-strain data were obtained for PVC shown below:
σeng. 0 25 33 44 50 53 54 55 56 56 55 51 38
εeng. 0 0.0129 0.0158 0.022 0.0269 0.0329 0.0406 0.0501 0.0585 0.0676 0.0838 0.098 0.111

Plot the engineering and true stress-strain curves then find the followings:
σy, σu, K, n and toughness.

3- The engineering tensile stress-strain data were obtained for AA6061-T6 aluminum alloy
shown below:
σeng 0 52 159 287 325 329 337 334 314 294 266 226
εeng. 0 1.07 1.70 2.23 3.07 4.80 7.13 9.13 11.33 12.97 14.40 16.10

Plot the engineering and true stress-strain curves then determine the followings:
σy, σu, K, n, toughness and ductility if you know L◦ = 30 mm, D◦ = 6 mm and Lf = 33.7 mm,
Df =4.5 .

1-8 Discussions
Discuss or explain each of the followings:
1. Effect of the carbon percentage on the shape and magnitude (mechanical properties)
of stress-strain curve. .
2. Effect of the material heat treatment on the shape and magnitude of the stress-strain
curve.
3. Differentiate between the behaviors of metallic and non-metallic materials under
tensile test.
4. Affect of prior history of plastic deformation on the shape and magnitude of the
stress-strain curve. .
5. Effect of the strain rate and temperature on the shape and magnitude of the stress-
strain curve. .
6. Effect of the material grain size on the shape and magnitude of the stress-strain curve.
.
References:
 ASTM E8- Standard Test Methods for Tension Testing of Metallic Materials.
 ASTM B557- Standard Test Methods for Tension Testing of Wrought Aluminum
Alloys.
 ASM Handbook, "Mechanical Testing and Evaluation", Vol. 8, 2000.
 "Materials Science and Engineering, An Introduction", William D. Callister, Jr.,
United States of America, 2007.

Prof. Adnan N. Abood


Asst. Lec. Zainab Waheed
8

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