MECHANICAL

PROPERTIES

For educational purpose only.

Source: Callister, William.D., Material Science and Engineering, An Introduction, 7th edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2007
 Introduction
• Many materials, when in service, are subjected
to forces or loads.

• Knowing the characteristics of materials enables

us to ensure excessive deformation (or even
fracture) would not occur.

• Mechanical behavior reflects the relationship

between its response (deformation)
to an applied load or force.
 The Types of Load
• If the load is static (or changes relatively slowly
with time) and is applied uniformly over a cross
section or surface of a member, the mechanical
behavior may be ascertained by a stress-
strain test.

• Three principal ways in which a load may be

applied:
1. Tension
2. Compression
3. Shear  in practice: torsional
(a) Tension

(b) Compression

(c) Shear

(d) Torsional
 Example: Tension & Compression
Tension Compression

Canyon Bridge, Los Alamos, NM

(photo courtesy P.M. Anderson)

 Tension Test
• One of the most common stress-strain test is
performed in tension.

• A specimen is deformed, usually to fracture, with

a gradually increasing tensile load.

• The specimen:
 The Apparatus
• Schematic
representation of the
apparatus to conduct
tensile stress-strain
test.

• The applied load (F)

and the resulting
elongations (Δl) are
continuously measured.
 Engineering Stress & Strain
• To minimize the geometrical factors, load and
elongation are normalized to become:
 Engineering Stress
F

Ao
(for compression test, F is negative)

 Engineering Strain li  l0 l
 
l0 l0
(for compression test,  is negative)
 Shear & Torsional Tests
Shear Stress F

A0

Shear Strain   tan 

• Elastic Deformation

• Plastic Deformation
 Modulus of Elasticity
• The degree to which a structure deforms or
depends on the magnitude of an imposed stress.

• At relatively low level of tensile stress, stress &

strain are proportional as follows [Hooke’s Law]:

E = modulus of elasticity; Young’s modulus

 Linear Elastic Deformation
• The schematic stress-
strain diagram for a
linear elastic
deformation.
 the slope = E

• E may be thought of as
stiffness.
 material’s resistance to
elastic deformation.
 Elastic Deformation
• Elastic deformation:
deformation in which stress & strain are
proportional.

• Elastic deformation is NONPERMANENT.

Load released, returns to original shape

• In atomic scale: small changes in the interatomic

spacing & stretching of interatomic bonds.
 Elastic Deformation

bonds
stretch

return to
initial

F

• In atomic scale: small changes in the interatomic

spacing & stretching of interatomic bonds.
Which is the stiffest? Why?
• Elastic Deformation

• Plastic Deformation
 Plastic Deformation
• Plastic deformation is permanent; nonrecoverable.

• In atomic scale: bonds with original atom neighbors are

broken; then bonds with new neighbors are formed.
 Elastic-Plastic
• In plastic deformation:
stress is no longer
proportional to strain.

• If the load is released

the elastic deformation
will recover
leaving the net changes
= plastic only.

plastic
 Yielding
• Most products are designed
to ensure that only elastic
deformation will result
when stress is applied.
Why?

• Therefore, we need to
know at which stress level
plastic deformation begins
 yielding.
 Yield Strength
• Proportional limit (P) = the
point of yielding; departure
from the linearity.
• The convention: at strain
0.002, construct a line
parallel to the elastic
portion of the stress-strain
curve.
• Yield strength (y) = the
stress required to induce
yielding.
Stress-Strain Curve
 Tensile Strength
• After yielding, the stress
required to continue plastic
deformation increases to a
maximum (M) then to eventual
fracture (F).
• Tensile Strength (TS): the
maximum stress can be
sustained by a structure in
tension.
• At the maximum stress, neck begins to form  necking.
• For design purposes, usually the yield strength is used;
instead of tensile or fracture strength.
 Why?
Example
 Ductility
• Ductility: a measure of the degree of plastic
deformation that has been sustained at fracture.
brittle: very little (or no) plastic deformation upon
fracture.
 Ductility
• Ductility may be expressed quantitatively as:
Percent elongation

lf = fracture length; l0 = original length

Percent reduction in area

Af = cross-section area at the point of fracture

A0 = original cross-sectional area
 The Importance of Ductility
• A knowledge of ductility of materials is
important for at least two reasons:
1. It indicates the degree to which a structure will
deform plastically before fracture.
2. It specifies the degree of allowable deformation
during fabrication operations.
 The Effect of Temperature
• Mechanical properties may or may not be
influenced by temperature.
• How does increasing temperature affect:
 Modulus of elasticity?
 Yield strength?
 Tensile strength?
 Ductility?
 Resilience
• Resilience: the
capacity of material to
absorb energy when it
is deformed elastically.
 The area under the
stress-strain curve up to
yielding.
 Toughness
• Toughness: the ability of a material to absorb
energy up to fracture.
Tough material displays both high strength & good
ductility.
Elastic Recovery after Plastic Deformation
 Hardness
• Hardness: a measure of a material’s resistance
to localized plastic deformation, such as small
dent or a scratch.
• Qualitative: Mohs Scale
The scale is constructed by the ability of one material to
scratch another softer one
• Quantitative:
Rockwell
 Brinell
 Knoop: for brittle material like ceramics; load: 1-1000g
 Vickers
Hardness Testing Techniques
 Rockwell
• Rockwell hardness number: the difference in
depth resulting from applying minor load, and
then followed by major load.

• Superficial Rockwell  for thin specimens;

initial load = 3kg (ordinary Rockwell = 10kg).

• Inaccuracies in Rockwell test may occur if:

1. Specimen is too thin
2. Indentation is too near to the specimen’s edge
3. Indentations are too close with one another
 Safety Factor
• Uncertainties will exist in the magnitude of applied loads
for in-service applications.
• Therefore, design allowances must be made to protect
against unanticipated failure by establishing a safe stress
or working stress.

 N is usually between 1.2 to 4

• The selection of N depends on: economic factor, previous

experience, and (most importantly) consequences of
failure in terms of loss of life/property damage.
Thank You for Listening

• end of presentation