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Introduction
Any machine or a structure must have sufficient strength to avoid collapse when full design
or probable loading is imposed. The collapsing may be in different manners involving the entire
solid, or localized and confined to one portion. Though solids may have sufficient strength, they
may exhibit excessive deflection. Strength of material is a branch of mechanics that deals with
analytical methods for determining the strength (stresses), stiffness (strains and deformations) and
stability (slenderness and buckling loads).
Elastic Limit
The ordinate of a point almost coincident with P is known as the elastic limit, i.e. the
maximum stress that may be developed during a simple tension test such that there is no permanent
or residual deformation when the load is entirely removed.
Elastic and Plastic Ranges
That region of the stress – strain curve extending from the origin to the proportional limit
is called the elastic range. The region of the stress – strain curve extending from the proportional
limit to the point of rupture is called the plastic range.
Yield Point
The ordinate of the point Y at which there is an increase in strain with increase in stress is
known as the yield point of the material.
Tensile Strength
The ordinate of the point U, the maximum ordinate to the curve, is known as tensile strength
of the material.
Breaking Strength
The ordinate of the point B is called the breaking strength of the material.
For example we consider a brittle material like concrete for the compression test. The
sample of concrete is poured and left for 28 days to harden. Then it is used for the compression
test. The following result is obtained for the stress and strain relationship of the concrete.
To find the stress-strain relationship for the ductile material we use the tensile test. The
stress-strain relation for the ductile material is show in the figure below:
Beyond the yield point B, there is large increase in the strain produced in the material for
a small increase in the stress. This region accounts for the plasticity/ductility of the material and
the material starts to elongate. For ductile materials this regions is large and body deforms greatly
without breaking. But after point C the material starts to develop necking and finally breaks. The
breaking point of the material is D.
Thus ductile material has wide range for the plastic behaviors and deforms under constant
stress.
Universal Testing Machine
A universal testing machine is specially designed to carry out all type of testing like, tensile
test, compressive test, torsion test, shear test etc.
The simple design of a universal testing machine is given below.
There are many type of universal testing machine available today. Some of them operate
mechanically, some are electronically controlled and some are hydraulically driven. Commonly
used are the hydraulically driven universal testing machines.
Hydraulic testing machine are easy to operate and can perform most tests on most materials.
Although technology has surpassed them, it is incorrect to call them obsolete. They are still the
appropriate machine for most quality control tests.
These machines provide a controlled method of giving desired load to the testing material
and recording the corresponding data. Usually all type of materials can be tested for their various
properties.
Compression Testing Machine
A compression test determines behavior of materials under crushing loads. The specimen
is compressed and deformation at various loads is recorded. Compressive stress and strain are
calculated and plotted as a stress-strain diagram which is used to determine elastic limit,
proportional limit, yield point, yield strength and, for some materials, compressive strength.
Axial compression testing is a useful procedure for measuring the plastic flow behavior
and ductile fracture limits of a material. Measuring the plastic flow behavior requires frictionless
(homogenous compression) test conditions, while measuring ductile fracture limits takes
advantage of the barrel formation and controlled stress and strain conditions at the equator of the
barreled surface when compression is carried out with friction. Axial compression testing is also
useful for measurement of elastic and compressive fracture properties of brittle materials or low-
ductility materials. In any case, the use of specimens having large L/D ratios should be avoided to
prevent buckling and shearing modes of deformation.
The Rockwell scale is a hardness scale based on indentation hardness of a material. The
Rockwell hardness test determines the hardness by measuring the depth of penetration of an
indenter under a large load compared to the penetration made by a preload. There are different
scales, denoted by a single letter, that use different loads or indenters. The result is a dimensionless
number noted as HRA, where A is the scale letter.
When testing metals, indentation hardness correlates linearly with tensile strength. The
simple graphical structure of a Rockwell hardness testing machine is given below: