HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

D38TA: CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY 2

EXPLORATION 1: MECHANICAL
PROPERTIES OF STEEL

TAN XI LI
H00306617
INTRODUCTION

The mechanical properties of a material determine the usefulness of the material

and affect the service expected. This involved the deformation or fracture under
different forces, temperature, time or other conditions. The modulus of elasticity,
yield point, ultimate tensile strength, plasticity, toughness, ductility and fracture are
important in structure. The exploration is to examine the properties of a basic
structural material, steel.

Objective :

1. To study and observe the relationship between stress and strain of steel.
2. To determine the yield point, ultimate tensile strength and modulus of
elasticity of steel.
3. To study and differentiate the elastic, plastic and fracture behaviour of steel
when subjected to loading.

EXPERIMENT METHOD AND PROCEDURE

Materials and Equipment :

Galdabini testing machine, Vernier calliper, extensometer, ruler, marker pen, mild
steel plate.

Experimental Procedure :

1. Worked with lecturer and lab assistant to complete a tensile test with
Galdabini testing machine.
2. Measure and record the measurement of the mild steel plate include the
cross-sectional area and gauge length.
3. Mark the gauge length on the steel plate with a marker pen.
4. Place mild steel plate at the bottom grip and hold vertically, turn the handle of
bottom grip to grip the plate as tightly as possible.
5. Adjust the top grip with same instruction in procedure 1.
6. Start the Trapezium software which connected with the testing machine.
7. Both top and bottom grip move in opposite direction in a specific constant test
speed.
8. A graph of Load(N) versus Deformation(µm) will be generated during the
experiment.
9. As the steel plate broken, the testing machine stop automatically and remove
the plate from the machine.
10. Observe and record each of the data and graph obtain by the software during
the experiment.
 11. Identify elastic, plastic and fracture behaviour of steel.
12. Determine modulus of elasticity, yield point and ultimate tensile strength of
the steel plate.

Safety Precautions:

1. Clean up any broken fragments from the specimens after test.

2. Ensure closed shoe, long pants, lab coats and googles are always worn
during experiment to prevent injuries.

Relevant Relationship :

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

Measurements of specimen :
a) Initial diameter: 13.0mm e)
b) Initial length: 16.0cm f)
c) Initial thickness: 1.0mm g)
d) Initial Cross-sectional area: 13mm2 h)
Diameter at fracture: 11.0mm
Length at fracture: 18.2cm
Thickness at fracture: 0.9mm
Final cross-sectional area: 9.9mm2
 Yield Point Ultimate Tensile Strength

Plastic Region

Elastic Region

Graph 1: Load against deformation of mild steel plate

Extension(division)
Load (N) Strain Stress(N/mm^2) Remark
µm
0 0 0.0000 0.0000
400 50 0.0003 30.7692
580 80 0.0005 44.6154
760 100 0.0006 58.4615
940 150 0.0009 72.3077
1120 200 0.0013 86.1538
1300 250 0.0016 100.0000
1480 300 0.0019 113.8462
1660 350 0.0022 127.6923
1840 400 0.0025 141.5385
2020 450 0.0028 155.3846
2200 600 0.0038 169.2308
2380 750 0.0047 183.0769
2560 1150 0.0072 196.9231
2740 1500 0.0094 210.7692
2920 2100 0.0131 224.6154
3100 3000 0.0188 238.4615
3299 4000 0.0250 253.7692 Failure
3500 5400 0.0338 269.2308 Failure
3750 17800 0.1113 288.4615 Ultimate failure

Table 1:Table of results

 Variation of Stress with Strain (Elastic Region)
350.0000
y = 11552x + 78.152
300.0000

250.0000
Stress(N/mm^2)

200.0000

150.0000

100.0000

50.0000

0.0000
0.0000 0.0020 0.0040 0.0060 0.0080 0.0100 0.0120 0.0140 0.0160 0.0180 0.0200
Strain

Graph 2: Variation of Stress with Strain - Elastic Region

Variation of Stress with Strain

400.0000

350.0000

300.0000

250.0000
Stress

200.0000

150.0000

100.0000

50.0000

0.0000
0.0000 0.0200 0.0400 0.0600 0.0800 0.1000 0.1200
Strain

Graph 3: Variation of Stress with Strain - Elastic to fracture region

Calculation:

1. y = 11552x + 78.152
y = mx + c
m = gradient, Modulus of Elasticity = 11552 N/mm2

2. Yield Point = 253.77 MPa

3. Ultimate Tensile Strength = 288.46 MPa

DISCUSSION
According to reference data (Engineering ToolBox, 2003), modulus of
elasticity of steel is 200GPa, yield point is 250Mpa and the ultimate tensile
strength is 400Mpa. However, the modulus of elasticity of the steel used in the
experiment is 11.55GPa which is much lower than the reference value. Besides,
the yield point and ultimate tensile strength is only slightly less than the
reference value of steel.

Based on the results and graphs above, after stress is applied to the mild
steel, the steel becomes longer and narrower, the thickness decreases as well.
As the stress of extensometer applied, the steel stretched out. Hence, as the
stress increase, the strain increase. When the stress exceeds the yield point, it
started to deform. As stress increase continuously, the steel will break.
Figure1: Stress-strain relationship under uniaxial loading. (Richard Budynas,
2014)

Elastic deformation is a temporary change in shape of a material and

automatically reverse itself when external forces are removed. It occurs when
the load apply to the mild steel is in elastic region and it is reversable. Elastic
deformation involves stretching of bonds.

However, plastic deformation is a permanent deformation occurs when

mild steel is in plastic region. To reverse it, an additional external force needs
to be applied to return the object to its original shape. It involves breaking and
remarking of bonds.
 Fracture occurs after plastic deformation when stress is imposing
continuously to the mild steel and eventually separate a single body into pieces.
It includes brittle and ductile fracture. Ductile materials show large amounts of
plastic deformation while brittle materials show little or no plastic deformation
before fracture.

There are some errors which may occur during the experiment. Zero
error might happen when the machine or measuring instruments do not start
from exactly zero or provide a false reading when the true value of a measured
quantity is zero. After subtracting the error, the accurate and precise reading
can be collected.

Parallax error occurs when the observer’ eye is not aligned with the
pointer of indicator and measuring scale, the reading may be slightly higher or
lower. To prevent parallax error, close the jaw of indicator tightly and ensure
the line of sight is above the scale to form a vertical line between our eye, scale
and the object. Measure the reading several times and calculate the average
reading can also prevent parallax error.

As both steel and aluminium alloy are used as a basic building material,
its mechanical properties can be compared. The ultimate tensile strength of
mild steel is 400MPa, but the ultimate tensile strength of aluminium alloy is only
310MPa. It identified that the steel is harder and require more stress to stretch
or deform than aluminium alloy. Aluminium alloy has a yield strength of 276MPa
while steel has a yield strength of 250MPa. The lower yield strength refers that
the steel is more easily stress to plastic deformation. Modulus of elasticity of
aluninium alloy is around 70 GPa while steel has a higher modulus of elasticity
which is 200GPa. This shown that steel has higher resistance to deformation
compared to titanium alloy. Therefore, steel is more suitable to used as a
structural building material compared to aluminium alloy as it can withstand
greater stress.

Technical Conclusion :

Based on the data collected and calculated, the ultimate tensile strength is
378.79MPa, the stress at yield point is 253.77 MPa and the modulus of elasticity
is 11552 MPa.
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