Ryan M.

Sullenberger
Engineering Research Center
Colorado State University
1320 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1320

Attn: John McWilliams

Subject: Tensile Tests for 3 Metals and Hardness Testing
Re: Test Results
Date: February 12, 2009

Dear John McWilliams,

We have received your request to test three metal specimens including hot-rolled steel, cold-rolled steel
and aluminum that you obtained from your local extruding company. We performed the hardness tests
and the tensile tests using our Instron 4400R. Our results have been included in tabular and graphical
form.

Axial testing works by applying an increasing uniaxial tensile load to a material of known cross sectional
area and length. Tensile stress is calculated by dividing the applied load by the area of the specimen.
The strain of the material is calculated by dividing the elongation of the test piece by its original length.
These two quantities are then graphed together as something that is referred to as a stress vs. strain
curve. The stress vs. strain curve of a material can tell us many things: the modulus of elasticity is the
slope of the initial linear portion of the curve, ultimate stress can be chosen as the maximum stress
shown, and the yield stress is found by observing the highest stress region at the end of the initial linear
portion. For our experimental results dealing with Modulus of Elasticity, we used strain data provided
by a strain gage. This was used to more accurately measure the slope to obtain the Elastic Modulus.

Hardness testing is done by making an indentation into a material. Rockwell Hardness Testing is done by
comparing the depth of penetration of a large load to that of a preload. We performed Rockwell B
testing on the materials you sent us, which uses a 1/16 inch diameter sphere as the indenter. The RHB
value obtained for the materials were used to find tensile strengths.

The stress vs. strain curves we obtained for the three metals have been included in this letter and can be
found in Figures 1-3. Please refer to Table 2 for a list of our numerical experimental results for the three
samples you provided us. Table 1 contains all the expected values for the metals, and Table 3 shows the
percent error between expected and experimental data. For all three metals our experimental values
yielded higher ultimate stresses and yield stresses compared to the expected values.

There are two major deficiencies that occurred during testing that I would like to point out. When we
tested the cold-rolled steel the sample failed very close to the jaws of the machine. This may have
happened out of chance, but mostly happens because the jaws apply a compressive force to the sample,
so where the material meets the jaws the sample is not in pure tensile stress. We believe there is little
to worry about in this case because the ultimate load was reached before the sample fractured.

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 Table 1: Expected Values

Elastic Modulus (psi) Yield Stress(ksi) Ultimate Stress (ksi)

Hot-Rolled Steel 3.00E+07 36 58
Cold-Rolled Steel 3.00E+07 65 80
Aluminum 1.00E+07 21 30

Table 2: Experimental Values

Elastic Modulus (psi) Yield Stress(ksi) Ultimate Stress (ksi)

Hot-Rolled Steel 3.12E+07 47.4 64
Cold-Rolled Steel 2.87E+07 100.5 115.6
Aluminum 8.80E+06 33.1 38.6

Table 3: Percent Error

Elastic Modulus (psi) Yield Stress(ksi) Ultimate Stress (ksi)

Hot-Rolled Steel 4.05% 31.67% 10.34%
Cold-Rolled Steel -4.23% 54.62% 44.50%
Aluminum -12.05% 57.62% 28.67%

Table 4: Rockwell Hardness & Ultimate Tensile Strength

Rockwell B Ultimate Strength (ksi)

Hot-Rolled Steel 50.1 <56
Cold-Rolled Steel 111.8 >116
Aluminum 84.3 81

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 140000

120000

100000
Stress (psi)

80000

Aluminum
60000 CRS
HRS
40000

20000

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
Strain (in/in)

Figure 1: Stress vs Strain for Al, CRS, HRS

50000
y = 3.12E+07x - 5.99E+03
45000

40000
y = 2.87E+07x - 4.25E+03
35000

30000 Aluminum
Stress (psi)

CRS
25000
y = 8.80E+06x + 5.74E+02 HRS
20000
Linear (Aluminum)
15000 Linear (CRS)
10000 Linear (HRS)

5000

0
0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0025 0.003 0.0035 0.004
Strain (in/in)

Figure 2: Stress vs Strain for Al, CRS, HRS, linear region

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The experimental results were not exactly in line with the expected values, but this is not unheard of.
Variations in results can be caused by factors dealing with the manufacturing processes of the metals,
where the expected values are given as a standard for that specific material. Due to this, it is not
uncommon to come across samples of a material that have greater ultimate stress and yield stress than
advertised. We recommend if you are using these materials in high sensitive or high stress
environments that you obtain another three samples to be tested, just for good measure.

It has been a pleasure serving you and we hope you consider us in the future.

Sincerely,

Ryan M. Sullenberger
Project Engineer (Student)