EAT104 MANUFACTURING AND MATERIALS

WEEK 2 MECHANICAL TESTING

Mechanical testing includes:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Tensile test Hardness test Impact test Creep test Fatigue test Other mechanical tests

Tensile Testing
The following MATERIAL PROPERTIES can be evaluated / determined by TENSILE TESTING:

STRENGTH
DUCTILITY ELASTICITY STIFFNESS

Material Properties

STRENGTH - the greatest stress that the material can withstand prior to failure. DUCTILITY - a material property that allows it to undergo considerable plastic deformation under a load before failure. ELASTICITY - a material property that allows it to retain its original dimensions after removal of a deforming load. STIFFNESS - a material property that allows a material to withstand high stress without great strain.
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The Tensile Tester

A machine which applies a tensile force (a force applied in opposite directions) to the specimen, and then measures that force and also the elongation: This machine usually uses a hydraulic cylinder to create the force. The applied force is determined by system pressure, which can be accurately measured.
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Stress - Strain Curve

THE SAMPLE

Area of measured test

Before

After

A Stainless Steel sample is loaded in the tester.

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Terms

Necking: The localized decrease in diameter in a

specimen near the rupture point.

Elastic Deformation Region: The area of a stress strain curve where the specimen will deform under load, yet return to its original shape when the load is removed.

Plastic Deformation: Deformation that occurs once

the object has been stressed past its elastic limit. The deformation is no longer reversible.
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Necking

Necking occurs as the sample leaves the elastic deformation region and begins to deform plastically.

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The classic cup & cone shape of a fairly ductile tensile fracture is visible here.

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Upon completion of the test, the sample is reassembled and final measurements for total elongation and minimum diameter are made using a vernier caliper.

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Compare the material properties of these three metal samples.

All three failed under tension

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PLASTIC DEFORMATION REGION

ELASTIC DEFORMATION REGION

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The point of departure from the elastic deformation region is known as the yield point.

In the elastic region, the slope of this line is the materials Modulus of Elasticity.

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Stress - Strain Plot

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Tensile Test
The tensile test of a material involves a test-piece of known cross sectional area being gripped in the jaws of a testing-machine and then subject to a tensile force which is increased in increments.

Force-extension diagrams

Typical force-extension diagrams for both carbon steels and non-ferrous materials.

The determination of 0.1 % proof stress.

The percentage elongation

The determination of the percentage elongation

Hardness tests
Definition of surface hardness: the capacity of the surface to resist abrasion
Moh 's scale of Hardness

The Brinell hardness test

A hardened steel ball is forced into the surface of a test-piece by means of a suitable standard load.

The Vickers Hardness Test

This test uses a square-based diamond pyramid as the indentor.

The Vickers pyramid hardness test, (i) The diamond indentor. (ii) The angle between opposite faces of the diamond is 136. (iii) The appearance of the impression, when viewed, in the microscope eyepiece.

The Rockwell Hardness Test

Rockwell hardness = E - h

Where E is a constant determined by the form of the indentor; for a diamond cone indentor E is 100, for a steel ball 130 (BS 891: Rockwell Hardness Test; BS 4175: Rockwell Superficial Hardness Test).

Scale in Rockwell Hardness Test

1. Scale B, which is used in conjunction with a 1/16 inch diameter steel ball and a 100 kgf load. This is used mainly for softer metals, such as copper alloys, aluminium alloys, normalised steel and mild steel 2. Scale C, which is used in conjunction with a diamond cone of 120 angle and a 150 kgf load. This is used mainly for hardened steels and other very hard materials such as hard cast irons.

3. Scale A, which is used in conjunction with the diamond cone and a 60 kgf load. This is used for extremely hard materials, such as tool steels.

Rockwell Hardness test

Impact tests
These tests are used to indicate the toughness of a material, and particularly its capacity for resisting mechanical shock.
The Avery-Denison universal impacttesting machine. This machine can be used for either Charpy or Izod impact tests. For Izod tests, the pendulum is released from the lower position, to give a striking energy of 170 J and for the Charpy test it is released from the upper position to give a striking energy of 300 J.

Details of standard test-pieces used in both the Izod and Charpy tests.

The nature of the fractured surface in the Izod test.

Creep test
1. When stressed over a long period of time, some metals extend very gradually and may fail at a stress well below the tensile strength of the material. 2. This phenomenon of slow but continuous extension under a steady force. 3. Such slow extension is more prevalent at high temperatures, and for this reason the effects of creep must be taken into account in the design of steam and chemical plant, gas and steam turbines and furnace equipment

The variation of creep rate with stress and temperature.

Fatigue test

(i) The principle of a simple fatigue-testing machine, (ii) A typical S/N curve obtained from a series of tests, (iii) The appearance of the fractured surface of a shaft which has failed due to fatigue.

Other mechanical tests

The Erichsen cupping test

Bend tests

Simple bend tests, (i) The material is bent back upon itself, (ii) Here it is doubled over its own thickness, the second bend being the test bend. (iii) Here a specific radius R is used.

Compression tests
These tests are used mainly in connection with cast iron and concrete.

The behaviour of brittle and ductile materials during a compression test.

Torsion tests
The test consists of twisting a piece of wire in the same direction round its own axis until it breaks, or until a specified number of twists has been endured.

References
R.A. Higgins, 2006, Materials for Engineers and Technicians, 4th Editions, Butterworth-Heinemann.

Last Updated:11 May 2013

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