T.C.

İZMİR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

ME 409

Mechanical Engineering Laboratory

“ TENSION TEST ”

Özge A.

2009, December 14

İZMİR

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1. Objective

The objectives of this lab are:

 to perform tension tests on aluminum/steel to gain an appreciation of tensile testing equipment
and procedures
 to examine the resulting stress-strain curve to gain an appreciation of the tensile behavior of the
tested material and to identify/calculate the significant mechanical properties of the tested
material
 to compare the physical tensile-failure characteristics of the metal

2. Apparatus

A 150 kN capacity electro-mechanically operated universal tension/compression load frame will be

used to test the tensile specimens. The applied load on the specimen is determined indirectly from a
tensile load cell.

 A caliper will be used to measure the dimensions of the test specimens.

 The elongation of the loaded test specimen will be determined indirectly by using an
extensometer.
 A computer data-acquisition system will be used to generate load and displacement data.

3. Materials
6063 Aluminum or 304 stainless steel.

4. Analysis of Results
EXCEL TABLES AND CALCULATIONS

Table 1

Gauge Length Wo
Sample Code to(mm) Wf(mm) tf(mm) Lf(mm)
(Go) (mm)

12,43 3,98 10,58 1,25

Aluminum al-2 41,15 12,45 3,99 10,78 1,29
12,5 3,97 10,41 1,23
mean values 12,46 3,98 10,59 1,25667 214,5
Gauge
Length Ao Af
Reduced section(f,mm) (Gf,mm) (mm2) (mm2) e,max
100 50,56 49,5908 13,3081 92,9324

a. Determination of the tensile strength ( σu )

The ultimate tensile strength (UTS, σu) is the maximum load sustained by the specimen divided by
the original specimen cross-sectional area. As can be easily seen in Figure 1, the maximum point of the
Engineering stress-strain curve for Al corresponds to σu =92,9 MPa and this is the ultimate tensile strength
of Al.

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 Figure 1 Engineering stress-strain curve of Al

Figure 2 Engineering stress-strain curve and stoke versus engineering strain

b. Calculation of the maximum load (Pmax).

𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝜎𝑢 =
𝐴0
𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥
92,9 𝑀𝑃𝑎 =
49,5908 𝑚𝑚2
𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 4608,59 𝑁

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 c. Calculation of the Modulus of Elasticity (E).
In the early (low strain) portion of the curve, many materials obey Hooke’s law to a reasonable
approximation, so that stress is proportional to strain with the constant of proportionality being the
modulus of elasticity or Young’s modulus, denoted E:

𝜎𝑒 = 𝐸. 𝜖𝑒

Engineering stress-strain curve of Al

100

90

80

70
Engineering Stress , e (MPa)

60

50
0,001215; 50,4677

40
y = 42159x - 0.1198

30

20
0,0003797; 16,1950

10

0
0 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009 0.01
Engineering Strain, (elongation)

Figure 3 calculation of modulus elasticity,E.

As can be seen in

Figure 3 , I specified two points on the elastic region which are not at either the top or bottom and
these points are (0,001215; 50,4677) and (0,0003797; 16,1950). Also I use excel to draw a linear line of
these specified data region, the line equation is y = 42159x - 0,1198, y is the engineering stress and x is
engineering strain. The slope of this line is ⁄ 𝑑𝑥 , its value gives us the Modulus of Elasticity, E.

𝑑𝑦
= 42159
𝑑𝑥

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 𝐸 = 42159 𝑀𝑃𝑎

Furthermore, Modulus of Elasticity, E can be calculated from the two specified points from the
relation given below,
𝜎1 − 𝜎2
𝐸=
𝜖1 − 𝜖2

With this relation we find a closer value of E that was calculated from the slope of the line.
𝜎1 − 𝜎2 50,4677 − 16,1950
𝐸= =
𝜖1 − 𝜖2 0,001215 − 0,0003797

𝐸 = 41030 𝑀𝑃𝑎

I think the first method is more reliable because the line includes much more than two data points.
“0-strain” location on the strain axis is the x value when y=0 in the equation of line, y = 42159x - 0,1198.
If y=0
0 = 42159x - 0,1198
𝑥 = 2,84 ∗ 10−6 is the “0-strain” location.

d. Determination/calculation of the yield strength, σY , for Al

For most engineering materials, the curve will have an initial linear elastic region as in Figure 4 in
which deformation is reversible and time independent. The slope in this region is Young’s modulus E.
Unloading the specimen at point X in Figure 4 the portion XX ‘ is linear and is essentially parallel to the
original line OX ”. The horizontal distance OX ‘ is called the permanent set corresponding to the stress at
X. This is the basis for the construction of the arbitrary yield strength. To determine the yield strength, a
straight line XX “ is drawn parallel to the initial elastic line OX ’ but displaced from it by an arbitrary value
of permanent strain. The permanent strain commonly used is 0.20 percent of the original gage length.
The intersection of this line with the curve determines the stress value called the yield strength. In
reporting the yield strength, the amount of permanent set should be specified. The arbitrary yield
strength is used especially for those materials not exhibiting a natural yield point such as nonferrous
metals; but it is not limited to these. Plastic behavior is somewhat time-dependent, particularly at high
temperatures. Also at high temperatures, a small amount of time-dependent reversible strain may be
detectable, indicative of anelastic behavior.

Figure 4 General Stress- Strain Diagram

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 0.2% OFFSET METHOD

Engineering stress-strain curve

100
96
92
88 All data
84 points
80 u= 74 MPa
Engineering Stress , e (MPa)

76
72
68
64
60 data points
56 between
52
48 specified
44 interval
40
36
32 Linear (data
28
24 points
20 between
16
12 specified
8 interval)
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0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8
Engineering Strain, (% elongation)

Figure 5 Yield Strength

As can be easily seen from Figure 5 the Yield Strength, 𝜎𝑦 = 74 𝑀𝑃𝑎 .

The stress-strain curve does not remain linear all the way to the yield point. The proportional
elastic limit (PEL) shown in Figure 4 is the point where the curve starts to deviate from a straight line. The
elastic limit (frequently indistinguishable from PEL) can be seen in Figure 4 is the point on the curve
beyond which plastic deformation is present after release of the load. If the stress is increased further,
the stress-strain curve departs more and more from the straight line. This curve is typical of that of many
ductile metals like Al that we used in our experiment.

e. Calculation of the percent reduction of area, %RA

The %RA is given by

𝐴0 − 𝐴𝑓
%𝑅𝐴 = 100. ( )
𝐴0

49,5908 − 13,3081
%𝑅𝐴 = 100. ( )
49,5908

%𝑅𝐴 = 73,7%

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 f. Sketch of the fracture surfaces of ductile materials

As can be seen in Figure 6 ,it shows the macroscopic differences between two ductile specimens (a,b)
and the brittle specimen (c).

Figure 6 fracture mechanisms

Figure 7 sequence and events in necking and fracture of a tensile test specimen: (a) early stage of necking; (b) small voids
begin to form within the necked region; (c) voids coalesce, producing an internal crack; (d) rest of cross section begins fail
at the periphery by shearing; (e) final fracture surfaces, known cup and cone fracture.

On the microscopic level, ductile fracture surfaces also appear rough and irregular. The
surface consists of many microvoids and dimples. Figure 8 and Figure 9 demonstrate the
microscopic qualities of ductile fracture surfaces.

Figure 8 ductile fracture surfaces

Figure 9 ductile fracture surfaces

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