Tensile strength - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://simple.wikipedia.

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Tensile strength
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tensile strength measures the force required to pull something such as rope, wire, or a structural beam
to the point where it breaks.

The tensile strength of a material is the maximum amount of tensile stress that it can take before failure,
for example breaking.

There are three typical definitions of tensile strength:

Yield strength - The stress a material can withstand without permanent deformation. This is
not a sharply defined point. Yield strength is the stress which will cause a permanent
deformation of 0.2% of the original dimension.

Ultimate strength - The maximum stress a material can withstand.

Breaking strength - The stress coordinate on the stress-strain curve at the point of rupture.

Typical tensile strengths

Some typical tensile strengths of some materials:

Ultimate
Yield strength Density
Material strength
(MPa) (g/cm³)
(MPa)
Structural steel ASTM A36 steel 250 400 7.8
Steel, API 5L X65 (Fikret Mert Veral) 448 531 7.8
Steel, high strength alloy ASTM A514 690 760 7.8
Steel, high tensile 1650 1860 7.8
Steel Wire 7.8
Steel, Piano wire c. 2000 7.8
High density polyethylene (HDPE) 26-33 37 0.95
Polypropylene 12-43 19.7-80 0.91
Stainless steel AISI 302 - Cold-rolled 520 860 8.03;
Cast iron 4.5% C, ASTM A-48 130 (??) 200 7.3;
Titanium Alloy (6% Al, 4% V) 830 900 4.51
Aluminum Alloy 2014-T6 400 455 2.7
Copper 99.9% Cu 70 220 8.92
Cupronickel 10% Ni, 1.6% Fe, 1% Mn, balance
130 350 8.94
Cu
Brass 250
Tungsten 1510 19.25
4400 (3600 in
Glass (St Gobain "R") 2.53
composite)
Bamboo 142 265 .4
Marble N/A 15
Concrete N/A 3
Carbon Fiber N/A 5650 1.75
Spider silk 1150 (??) 1200
Silkworm silk 500
Kevlar 3620 1.44
Vectran 2850-3340
Pine Wood (parallel to grain) 40
Bone (limb) 130

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Nylon, type 6/6 45 75 1.15

Rubber - 15
Boron N/A 3100 2.46
Silicon, monocrystalline (m-Si) N/A 7000 2.33
Silicon carbide (SiC) N/A 3440
Sapphire (Al2O3) N/A 1900 3.9-4.1
Carbon nanotube (see note below) N/A 62000 1.34

Note: Multiwalled carbon nanotubes have the highest tensile strength of any material yet
measured, with labs producing them at a tensile strength of 63 GPa, still well below their
theoretical limit of 300 GPa. However as of 2004, no macroscopic object constructed of
carbon nanotubes has had a tensile strength remotely approaching this figure, or substantially
exceeding that of high-strength materials like Kevlar.

Note: many of the values depend on manufacturing process and purity/composition.

Young's Modulus Proof or yield stress Ultimate strength

Elements in the annealed state
(GPa) (MPa) (MPa)
Aluminium 70 15-20 40-50
Copper 130 33 210
Gold 79 100
Iron 211 80-100 350
Lead 16 12
Nickel 170 14-35 140-195
Silicon 107 5000-9000
Silver 83 170
Tantalum 186 180 200
Tin 47 9-14 15-200
Titanium 120 100-225 240-370
Tungsten 411 550 550-620
Zinc (wrought) 105 110-200

(Source: A.M. Howatson, P.G. Lund and J.D. Todd, "Engineering Tables and Data" p41)

Other pages
Tension (mechanics)
Tensile stress
Toughness
Deformation
Tensile structure
Universal Testing Machine
Specific Strength

Other websites
Tensile Strength Test (http://matse1.mse.uiuc.edu/~tw/metals/e.html)
January 2003 sci.physics thread on water tensile strength and trees (http://www.lns.cornell.edu
/spr/2003-01/msg0047472.html)
Theory re the discrepancy in static vs dynamic measurements of water's tensile strength
(http://stacks.iop.org/0022-3727/20/1080)
Engineering Stress-strain Curve (http://www.key-to-steel.com/Articles/Art43.htm)
Tensile Strength Testing (http://www.zwick.co.uk/links.php)

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