MAE 244 Laboratory 3

Tensile and Impact Test

Definition of strain and stress
P = applied load
Strain is defined
as:
∆L
ε=
L L + ∆L L
(original length)
(original length plus
Strain is very small in the elastic regime. change in length)

(on the order of 10-6 )

How to measure it?

Stress is defined
as:
P
σ=
A
P is the tensile load, A is the cross-section area of the
specimen
Tensile curve: plot σ ~ε
 Tensile testing

Tensile test machine

linear variable differential transformer
(LVDT) extensometer
Advantages of extensometer
Re-usable even if the specimen fails;
no need for bridge circuit; insensitive to temperature
variations;
no special preparations and mounting are required LVDT extensometer
 Tensile curve
Linear Elasticity
If the material is linear elastic, then the
slope of the stress-strain curve is a
constant, i.e.
σ
= constant = E or σ = Eε
ε

E is called the Young's modulus of the material, and relation (1) is usually
referred to as the uniaxial Hooke's Law.

During the uniaxial tensile test, the specimen exhibits a lateral contraction.
Further, for linear elastic materials there is a definite ratio between the lateral
(ε T) and longitudinal (ε L) strains, i.e.
εT
= constant = - ν
εL
The constant v is referred to as Poisson's ratio.
 Tensile curve
Elastic Limit: Last point from which after
removal of load, there is no permanent
strain. (Point b.)
Yield Point: Technically the same as the
elastic limit but usually associated with
the gross onset of permanent strain.
Many materials do not exhibit a clearly
defined yield point and so this point is
often taken to correspond to a certain
offset of strain. Point c is the yield point
for 0.2% (0.002 strain) offset.
Yield Strength: Stress at yield point, σ y.

Tensile Strength: Sometimes called the Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) and is the
maximum stress reached during the loading. Point d.
Material Toughness: The area under the elastic and the plastic portion of the stress-
strain curve. It is the total energy required to stress the material to the point of
fracture.
 Ductile and brittle fracture Brittle fracture:
fracture with very
Ductile fracture:
short time, without
Necking;
warning
with warning before fracture

http://www.sv.vt.edu/classes/MSE2094_NoteBoo
k/97ClassProj/exper/bailey/www/bailey.html

http://www2.umist.ac.uk/material/research/i
ntmic/features/charpy/notes.htm
Comparative Evaluations of Engineering
Materials
Material Property Aluminum Plexiglas Steel Specimen
Specimen 1018
6061-T6
Elastic Modulus, E (Msi) 9.9 0.48 30
Shear Modulus, G (Msi) 3.8 12

Poisson's Ratio, ν 0.33 0.32

Yield Stress, σ y (ksi) 36 4.83 36

Ultimate Stress, σ u (ksi) 42 6.43 55
Ultimate Strain, ε u 10 1.85 26
(%in/in)
Toughness (lb/in) 5400 71
 Toughness and impact energy
Material Toughness: the total energy required to stress the material to the point of
fracture.
The total energy consumed in the elastic deformation, the plastic deformation,
and the cracking propagation to final fracture .

Standard Charpy-V notch specimen [1]

Tough (high strength and ductile) materials absorb a lot of energy when
fractured, and brittle materials absorb very little energy. Brittle material is
fractured very fast without preacaution. Hence, brittle material are not used for
large-scale structural
Ref [1] http://www.twi.co.uk/j32k/protected/band_3/jk71.html
How to measure impact energy

total amount of “impact energy”

CV = mg(h-h') where:

CV : Impact Energy;
m : Mass of the pendulum
g: Acceleration of gravity h-h'
h : Original height of pendulum

Standard Charpy test machine [1]

Ref [1] http://www.twi.co.uk/j32k/protected/band_3/jk71.html

 Morphology of fracture surface

(A) Very brittle surface (B) Brittle surface (C) ductile surface
the fracture surface is the interior of the surface is entirely dull,
flat and shiny specimen still manifests And rough
a shiny "crystalline"
appearance, but the
periphery is dull;