MANUAL

TERCO MT 3037
UNIVERSAL TESTING MACHINE
The Equipment
MT 3037 shown in Figure 1 is a universal testing machine capable of a wide range of tensile and
compression test.

Figure 1: Terco MT3037 Universal Testing Machine

The machine is especially designed for teaching purpose, and it is very easy to handle. With the
standard unit, tensile test can be performed on various metal test pieces as well as compression tests
and hardness test according to Brinell.
Using different accessories, bending test, folding tests, shearing tests as well as deep-drawing tests
can be carried out. The machine is fully automatic and the power is generated by a motor driveb
hydraulic cylinder.
It can be controlled both manually or by computer. The speed of the cylinder can be manually
adjusted to the requirement of the test. The powder is transferred extremely smoothly and with
constant speed, thus giving best possible test results.
The power as well as the extension will be displayed on the monitor both as digital values and as bar
diagrams.
After the test a complete diagram, with values sampled 4 times/sec is displayed both as diagram. The
diagram can be printed out
How to get the equipment ready.
1:0 Check the equipment
-

The MT 3037
Digital indicator
Signal cable to the dL indicator
9 pin RS 322 cable to the PC
Main cable 5 pin 3 phase
Tool box.

1:1 Connect the main cable with main supply

1:2 Connect the PC cable and dL indicator cable in the contacts as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: MT3037
Instrument Panel
1:3 Start the Pump.
Start the pump
motor
by
pushing
the
main
contact
button on the
side of the
machine. It is
black
or
green. The red
button is the off
button.

1:4 Change of Phase Sequence.

Please note that, if the pump in the machine does not work, the direction of the phase sequence
must be changed.
This can easily be done with screw driver by twisting/ changing position of two pins as shown in
Figure 3.
Figure 3: How
to Change
Phases
1:5 Put the left
switch on the
instrument
panel to ON
1:6 Switch on
the
dLindicator.
1:7 Start the PC and enter the software program.
1:8 Install the program.
Start windows
Insert Installation diskette.
From Program Manager choose Run.
Type a:/Install and click OK.
When the installation window is shown on the screen, click install.
The program creates catalogues and copies files to the hard disk. The program also creates a new
program manager TERCO MT 3037.
1:9 Program Start.
Start Windows.
Choose TERCO MT 3037 from the Program manager. Start the program with a double-click on
the tensile test icon.
Click the measurement icon in the tool bar on top of the screen. A measuring window is shown on
the screen. In the window, the powder and the expansion of the test piece is shown in digital mode
as well as in analogue mode.
Max. Power
The pump is calibrated at the factory and will stop at 30 kN which is maximum.

When the equipment is used without computer, the power will be displayed on the instrument panel as
a bar graph.
Speed adjustment value
The valve is very sensitive and a good testing speed is achieved by opening valve 1/16 of turn,
anticlockwise (mechanical valve).
Instrumental panel
Includes besides the Pressure Indicator also the contacts OFF-ON, the meaning is obvious. MAN-PC
to use the equipment through PC or to use it manually.
Up Down
Up Down, to control the direction of the cylinder. This can only be done in MAN-mode

LAB 2: TENSILE TESTING

The tensile test is one of the most important of all materials tests. The information from such a test is
more accurate and gives more details on the strength of materials. It is especially suitable for steel of
low carbon content (0.12 0.25%). Low carbon steel is the most important of construction steels and
is used in the manufacture of cars, ships and bridges. Other materials can of course, be tensile tested
on the tensile test machine.
Introduction :
Tensile testing is one of the most fundamental tests for engineering, and provides
valuable information about a material and its associated properties. These properties can
be used for design and analysis of engineering structures, and for developing new
materials that better suit a specified use.
Aim:
To complete a tensile test on four different materials.
Objectives:
1. To derive the modulus of elasticity, E for four different materials.
2. To determine the stiffness, toughness, ductility, yield strength and ultimate tensile strength for
four different materials.
Apparatus:
Terco MT3017 Universal Testing Machine
PC with Terco MT3037 software installed.
Dial indicator
Four different test pieces: i.e. mild steel, copper, brass and aluminium.

Procedures:
1. Check the measurements of the test piece as required by the experiments.
2. Insert the test piece.
2.1 Put the middle switch on the instrument panel on Man.
2.2 Use the right switch to vertically adjust the main cylinder, to be able to insert the test
piece.
2.3 The test piece should be pre-stressed by turning the upper part of the main cylinder
clockwise, or by tightening test piece holder.
2.4 The pre-stress value should be about 1.0 kN.
3. Set the dL-indicator to Zero.
3.1 Push the dL-indicator stop upwards, so it just touches the indicator tip.
3.2 As soon as the dL-indicator starts to show figures, the tip is reached.
3.3 Then press the button marked origin until the display shows 0000 only.
4. Put the middle control switch to PC and go to the PC.
4.1 Click Measurement and you will get a window with 0-15 kN and 0-30 kN.
4.2 Click your choice.
4.3 Please note, that the machine is programmed to show 0 until the pressure is 1.5 kN. The
reason for this is residual pressure in the system that cannot be avoided. This does not
harm the experimental value.
5. CLOSE THE PLASTIC SAFETY DOOR!
5.1 The plastic safety door has a safety contact.
5.2 If the does is not shut, the machine will not work!
6. START THE EXPERIMENT
6.1 Click the start button on the Screen.
6.2 The machine starts and the cylinder moves slowly upwards.
6.3 Meanwhile, the measuring values are stored in a table with four measurements per sec.
6.4 The table can hold maximum 300 measurements which correspond to 70 seconds
measuring time.
6.5 If the test is performed too fast (or too slow), the speed can be adjusted by turning the
valve under the instrument panel.
6.6 A normal test should take 25-30 seconds and will give 150-180 measurements.
6.7 This is achieved by opening the valve 1/16 turn from closed position.
7. End of Test: When the test piece brakes, the power goes down very quickly and the machine
stops automatically.
8. Table: After the test is finished, click table and the complete table is shown on the screen.
9. Diagram: In case you want a diagram, click the table icon, and the measuring values are
transferred to a diagram. The diagram cab be maximised by using the maximise icon,
according to the standard windows method.
10. Save: Only the table can be saved.

10.1 To activate the Table window, click the table window. A coloured title bar confirms
activation.
10.2 Click the storing icon (look like a diskette)
10.3 Choose a proper name.
10.4 The file extension is always .tbl and does not need to be typed.
10.5 Click OK and the table is stored.
10.6 The table can be transferred to Microsoft Excel.
11. Open: Previously stored tables can be shown on the screen by clicking the open icon, and
by choosing a file name.
12. Printing of Diagram: Click menu title graph, Choose print graph, and click OK. The
printer will print the diagram.
13. Close the program: Click File and choose EXIT. You have closed the program.

NOTE!
1. Measurement values can only be stored as table files but they cannot be printed.
2. Do not forget to switch off the dial gauge after the test, in order to save the battery.
3. Some words are in Swedish due to the Swedish windows version we used. We hope this is
of no consequence.

Observation:
Initial diameter of specimen, d1 = ________
Initial gauge length of specimen, L1 = ________
Initial cross-section area of specimen, A1 = ________
Load of yield point, Ft = ________
Ultimate load after specimen breaking, F = __________
Final length after specimen breaking, L 2 = _________
Diameter of specimen at breaking place, d2 = ________
Cross-section area at breaking place, A2 = ________
Calculation:
Ultimate tensile strength = _______
Percentage elongation % = ________
Modulus of elasticity, E = ________
Yield stress = _________
% reduction in area = _________
Discussion

The test results were consistent for each of the materials, where each of the three stress-strain curves
were approximately overlapping. An interesting observation can be made where sample one suddenly
loses stress as it is stretched. This sample may have fractured partially across the cross section before
complete failure, or a void could have caused a sudden release of stress. All of the other samples
exhibited consistent behavior. After the lab done, it is clear that the steel was the strongest material,
followed by aluminum, copper and brass respectively. The data was consistent and that the testing
procedure was valid and repeatable. The true fracture strength, shown gives a better view of the true
stress at fracture. The steel had the highest true fracture strength, followed by the aluminum, copper
and brass.
Although the steel had a much higher modulus of elasticity (209300
MPa, compared to 69460MPa for the 6061-T6 aluminum), and a higher ultimate tensile
strength, the yield strength is about the same as the 6061-T6. The higher ultimate stress is
due to work hardening as the material is plastically deformed. The introduction of
dislocations reduces their motion, and hardens the material. The 6061-T6 is a tempered
and aged alloy that is already precipitation hardened. It will not work harden as much as
the A-36 steel, resulting in a lower ultimate tensile strength. The standard deviations for
the yield strength and modulus of elasticity are also small compared to the average
values, proving the consistency of the data.
The modulus of resilience and the modulus of toughness are important values in
determining the energy that a material can absorb before yielding and before fracture.
The modulus of resilience is the area under the engineering stress-strain curve up until the
yield, and corresponds to the energy per unit volume that a material can absorb before it
yields. The 6061-T6 aluminum had the highest modulus of resilience, followed by A-36
13
steel, polycarbonate, and PMMA. The aluminum had the highest resilience due to the
high yield strength, and the low modulus of elasticity (compared to the A-36 steel), as
shown in Table 3. The low modulus of elasticity ensured that the aluminum was strained
more before yielding, allowing it to absorb more energy.
The modulus of toughness was the highest for the A-36 steel due to the high ultimate
tensile strength, and the ductility of the steel. The polycarbonate had a higher modulus of
toughness than the 6061-T6 aluminum due to its high ductility, even though it had a
lower yield and ultimate tensile strength. The acrylic had the lowest modulus of
toughness due to its brittle nature.
The percent reduction of area and the percent elongation are indicators of the ductility of
a material. All of these values are located in Table 4. A more ductile material will have a
greater percent elongation, and the material will neck down further, resulting in a greater
reduction of area. The A-36 steel samples had the greatest reduction of area due to the
large amount of necking just before fracture. The polycarbonate had the highest percent
elongation due to the straightening of the polymer chains. The polymer chains did not
neck down after they were straightened, which resulted in a smaller percent reduction of
area compared to the steel and aluminum samples. The aluminum did not elongate as far
as the steel due to the alloying of the material and the precipitation hardening that was
used to improve other properties. The PMMA had the lowest percent reduction of area
and the lowest percent elongation, indicating that it is a brittle material.
The true stress and true strain take into account the changing area of the cross section as
it is being elongated, and the strains that accompany the changing area. Accounting for
these two effects results in a final true stress that is much higher than the engineering
fracture stress and a greater amount of strain. As shown in Figure 7, the true stress

reaches a maximum at the point of fracture. At this point, the area is much smaller, so the
specimen cannot withstand a large load, which causes the engineering stress-strain curve
to drop off after necking. There is no ultimate tensile stress in the true stress-strain curve
14
as with the engineering stress-strain curve, and the true stress is always increasing up
until fracture.
The Ramberg-Osgood model proved to be excellent at determining the true stress at
higher values of true plastic strain, but had higher error at low values of true plastic
strain, especially near the yield strain, where plastic strain is essentially zero. Table 5
shows that near the ultimate tensile strain, the error is very small, but near the yield
strain, the error is rather high at 19.84%. The aluminum samples did not exhibit the
power hardening behavior that is typical of the Ramberg-Osgood model. The engineering
stress-strain curve was flat after yielding, and not curved like the model shows in Figure
8. Since the model was fitted to the data between three times the yield strain, and the
ultimate tensile strain, it does not fit the sample well at low values of true plastic strain.
This error could be alleviated by fitting multiple models to the curve, or by choosing a
different model that better fits the shape of the engineering stress-strain curve.
Questions:
1. What general information are obtained from tensile test regarding the properties of a material?
A tensile test, also known as tension test, is probably the most fundamental type of
mechanical test you can perform on material. Tensile tests are simple, relatively inexpensive,
and fully standardized. By pulling on something, you will very quickly determine how the
material will react to forces being applied in tension. As the material is being pulled, you will
find its strength along with how much it will elongate.
2. What kind of fracture has occurred in the tensile specimen and why?
3. Which is the most ductile metal? How much is its elongation?

LAB 3: BRINELL TEST

The hardness of a material is defined as its capacity to withstand indentation from another body. There
are many methods used in hardness testing and the results are difficult to compare as the indenting
body and pressures applied are so unlike. The most common tests are Brinell, Vickers and Rockwell.
The hardness of the material can be measured from the depth, size and shape of the indentation.
The hardness test that you will be performing is the Brinell test. A steel ball of diameter 2.5 mm, 5
mm or 10 mm is pressed into the surface of the material under a pressure of 1.25 to 30 kN. The load is
sustained for a certain period, depending on material (steel 15 s). The diameter of the indentation is
measured using a measuring microscope. The Brinell hardness, HB is defined as load divided by the
spherical indentation area according to equation (1) below:

(1)

HB

Load
2P

Surface Area of the Indentation

D D D 2 d 2

Where HB = Brinell Harness number

D = diameter of the steel ball
d = diameter of the indentation
P = applied load in kg
The Brinell test can be completed on soft and half hard materials. The indentation is relatively large.
Aim:
To determine the hardness of four materials using Brinell test.
Objectives:
1. To understand what hardness is, and how it can be used to indicate some properties of
materials.
2. To conduct typical engineering hardness test and be able to recognize commonly used
hardness scales and numbers.
3. To be able to understand the correlation between hardness number and the properties of
materials.
4. To learn the advantages and limitations of the common hardness test methods.
Apparatus:
Terco MT3017 Universal Testing Machine
Brinell test set
Four different test pieces: i.e. mild steel, copper, brass and aluminium.
Procedures:
1. Put in the Brinell anvil in the test machine.
1.1 Put the test piece in place on the Brinell anvil.

1.2 It is important that the distance of the indentation from edge of the test piece is 2,5 times
the indentation diameter.
2. Close the plastic door.
3. Adjust the switches.
3.1 Put the left switch on the Instrument Panel to ON.
3.2 Put the middle switch to MAN.
4. Adjust the speed.
4.1 Turn the speed adjustment valve 1/8 of a turn anticlockwise.
4.2 This will increase the speed of the main cylinder.
5. Start the experiment.
5.1 Push the left switch to down and hold it there during the test.
5.2 The indentor will reach the Test piece and start the indention.
5.3 The indention will reach a maximum of 30 kN.
5.4 The equipment has been pre-calibrated to 30 kN in the factory.
5.5 Let the indention have a duration of 15 sec.
6. Finish the experiment.
6.1 Push the left switch to up, enough to release the test piece.
6.2 Open the plastic safety door and take out the test piece.
7. Check the result.
7.1 Use the magnifier to check the diameter of the indention.
7.2 The hardness is identified as N/mm 2.
7.3 The applied force divided with the surface of the indention.
Questions:

1. Why do the instructions specify the period during which the pressure is to remain on
the Brinell ball?
2. Is the Brinell indentation truly spherical? Explain.
3. In a Brinell test why is a polished specimen surface more important for harder
materials?
4. Will side bulging resulting from a Brinell impression taken too close to the edge of a
specimen result in a hardness number greater or less than the value obtained by a
correct procedure?
5. Why is a minimum thickness of at least ten times the depth of the impression required
in the Brinell test? How should the value obtained be influenced by specimens, which
are too thin assuming they are tested on a heavy anvil, which is:
(a) Harder than the specimen?
(b) Softer than the specimen?
6. Is a hardness test normally employed because the property of hardness is desired?
Explain.
7. Can a satisfactory comparison of two dissimilar materials be obtained from hardness
numbers?