HND/C MECHANICAL

ENGINEERING
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Tensile Test
Minh To

Objectives
This lab has the following objectives:
Develop an understanding of the basic material
properties from the perspective of manufacturing
and metal forming.
Determine the material properties by conducting a
uniaxial tensile test under ASTM (American
Society for Testing and Materials) or ISO:9001
specifications.

Fracture Mechanics
Fracture mechanics study of cracks and
crack like deflects, e.g. a welds to
understanding temperature effect weld and to
predicting the cracks growth.

The differences between quantitative

and qualitative test
A quantitative test is on that provides data that
will be used for:
The tensile test
A qualitative test is one where the results will
be used for making:
Brinell hardness or Charpy impact test

Background to mechanical testing

Mechanical testing is carried out to provide
information that may be used for the design of
engineering components, structures or
mechanisms.
The tensile test is an excellent example of
mechanical testing that may be used either to
determine the yield strength of a steel for use in
design calculations or to ensure that the steel
complies with a particular set of specifications.

Why Tensile test?

Tensile tests are simple, relatively inexpensive
and fully standardised. By applying a force on
a material using a uniaxial load, the reaction of
the material can be readily recorded and
analysed. This data can then be used to
predict how the material will react to forces
being applied in practical situations such as in
bridges or in airframes.

 A lot can be learned about a material form

tensile testing. As the material is stretched until
it breaks, a comprehensive tensile profile will
result producing a curve showing how it reacted
to the forces being applied. This curve is
commonly referred to as a Load-Extension
diagram.
The load at which the material fails is of much
interest on these diagrams as is the maximum
load the material can withstand the Ultimate
Load (maximum load).

A load-extension diagram, however has limited

use, because its data can only be used to
analyse specimens of exactly the same size and
shape. To overcome this problem load is
converted into stress and extension is
converted into a percentage of the original
specimen length, or strain. In this way, direct
comparisons can be made from the results
carried out on different size and shape
specimens tested on any machine in the world. It
is important to note that the shape of the loadextension diagram does not change when
converted to a stress-strain diagram.

The measuring units for tensile

testing are:

Load Newton (N), or more commonly kN

Extension metres (m), commonly m, mm
Stress Pascal (Pa), commonly N/m2 or kN/m2
Strain percentage (%)

Tensile Test Machine

Tensile Test Machine

Specimen

Motor

Assembly of specimen, clamp, collar

and pin

Specimen installed in tensometer

Fracture of a Tensile-Test Specimen

Figure 2.22 Sequence of events in necking and fracture of a tensile-test specimen: (a) early stage of necking;
(b) small voids begin to form within the necked region; (c) voids coalesce, producing an internal crack; (d)
the rest of the cross-section begins to fail at the periphery, by shearing; (e) the final fracture surfaces, known
as cup- (top fracture surface) and cone- (bottom surface) fracture.

Failures of Materials and Fractures in Tension

Figure 2.19 Schematic illustration of
types of failures in materials: (a)
necking and fracture of ductile
materials; (b) Buckling of ductile
materials under a compressive load;
(c) fracture of brittle materials in
compression; (d) cracking on the
barreled surface of ductile materials in
compression.

Figure 2.20 Schematic illustration of the types of fracture

in tension: (a) brittle fracture in polycrystalline metals; (b)
shear fracture in ductile single crystals--see also Fig. 1.6a;
(c) ductile cup-and-cone fracture in polycrystalline metals;
(d) complete ductile fracture in polycrystalline metals,
with 100% reduction of area.

Str e s s -Str ain Plots for Diffe r e nt Car bon Conte nts

12 0 0

10 0 0

800

600

400

200

0
0 .0 0 0

0 .0 50

0 .10 0

0 .150

0 .2 0 0

0 .2 50

0 .3 0 0

0 .3 50

St rain
0 .1%C

0 .15%C Drawn

0 .2 %
C

0 .4 %C

0 .54 %C

0 .8 5%C

1.15%C

Cast Iro n

 When a load-extension diagram is obtained

from a tensile test, it soon becomes clear that
a relationship exists between the applied load
and the elongation of the specimen upon
which the test was conducted. Similarly with
the relevant stress-strain diagram.

A typical tensile test curve for the mild steel

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Points of the graph

(A) So it is evident form the graph that the stress is
proportional to strain or elongation is proportional to
the load giving a straight line relationship. This law
of proportionality is valid upto a point A.
or we can say that point A is some ultimate point
when the linear nature of the graph ceases or there
is a deviation from the linear nature. This point is
known as the limit of proportionality or the
proportionality limit.
(B) For a short period beyond the point A, the
material may still be elastic in the sense that the
deformations are completely recovered when the
load is removed. The limiting point B is termed as
Elastic Limit .

(C) and (D) - Beyond the elastic limit plastic deformation

occurs and strains are not totally recoverable. There will
be thus permanent deformation or permanent set when
load is removed. These two points are termed as upper
and lower yield points respectively. The stress at the
yield point is called the yield strength.
(E) A further increase in the load will cause marked
deformation in the whole volume of the metal. The
maximum load which the specimen can with stand
without failure is called the load at the ultimate strength.
(F) Beyond point E, the bar begins to forms neck. The
load falling from the maximum until fracture occurs at F.

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Find the yield point or yield strength

In this method a line is
drawn parallel to the
straight line portion of
initial stress diagram by
off setting this by an
amount equal to 0.2% of
the strain as shown as
below and this happens
especially for the low
carbon steel.

Yield Point
yield

load where yield begins to take place

original cross sectional area

yield = yield stress (N/m2) or (MN/m2)

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Maximum Tensile Strength

max

max Force (F)

original X sectional Area (A)

Maximum Tensile Strength (max) N/m2

Force N
Cross-sectional Area (A) m2

Strain

l
= strain (no units)
x = extension (m)
l = gauge length (m) [initial length]

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Youngs modulus of Elasticity

yield
E

E = Youngs modulus of Elasticity (N/m2)

yield = yield stress (N/m2)

= strain

Percentage reduction in area

A%

Aoriginal Afinal
Aoriginal

100%

A% = percentage reduction in area

Aoriginal = original cross-sectional area (m2)
Afinial = final cross-sectional area (m2)

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Percentage of elongation

l%

lfinal loriginal
loriginal

100%

Types of fracture

Ductile fracture

Brittle fracture

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F OR C E- EXT EN SION P LOT S F OR D IF F ER EN T A LLOY C ON T EN T S

12000

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

0
0.000

2.000

4.000

6.000

E X T E N S IO N

8.000

10.000

12.000

14.000

(mm)

A l & Mg Al l oy

Al HE 9

A l HE 30- TF

A l HE 14S

A l HE 15U

Al HE 15V- TF

B r ass 70/ 30

Copper HD

Al HE 15T

Questions?

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