Material Science VBP 263

Properties of Materials

II. Mechanical Properties

The mechanical properties are about the behaviour of materials when subject to forces.
When a material is subject to external forces, then internal forces are set up in the
material which oppose the external forces.

When a material is subject to external forces which stretch it then it is said to be in

tension.

Tensile

When a material is subject to forces which squeeze it then it is said to be in compression.

Compression

If a material is subject to forces which cause it to twist or one face to slide relative to an
opposite face then it is said to be shear.

Shear forces

Stress: The force per unit area.

F Force
 = =
A Area

Unit for stress : 1 Pa = 1N/m2 , 1 MPa = 1N/mm2

Q1. A bar of material with a cross-sectional area of 50 mm2 is subject to tensile forces
of 100 N. What is the tensile stress? (Answer: 2 MPa )

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Q2. Calculate the stress produced in a 12.5 mm diameter aluminium alloy test piece
when a mass of 3000Kg is applied axially along the bar. (Answer: 239 MPa )

Q3. A 10mm diameter bar is clamped at one end and suspend vertically. Calculate
the stress in the bar if a mass of 2000Kg is hung from the free end of the bar.
(Answer: 249.6 MPa )

Strain: When a material is subject to tensile or compressive force, it changes in length.

change in length l l  l 0
Strain = = = =
original length l l0

Since strain is a ratio of two lengths it has no units.  = 0.01 indicate that the change in
length is 0.01 × the original length.

l  l0
% of strain = × 100
l0

Q4. A strip of material has a length of 50 mm. When it is subject to tensile forces it
increases in length by 0.020mm. What is the strain? (Answer: 0.0004 )

Q5. If Young‟s Modulus of elasticity for this steel is 210,000 MPa, and the steel
behaves elastically at the stress calculated in Q3, how much strain would be
induced by the 2000Kg. (Answer: 0.0012 )

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Q6. Compare the force required to produce a stress of 170MPa in a 25mm diameter
bar and in a 50mm diameter bar. (Answer: i) 83.4 kN, ii) 333 kN)

Young‟s Modulus of Elasticity (E)

stress 
E= =
strain 

This applies only whilst the material behaves elastically i.e if the force is removed, the
material will return to its original dimensions. Young‟s Modulus describes the elastic
flexibility or stiffness of the material.

Typical values for E are:

Steel 210,000 MPa Rubber 7 MPa

Aluminium 70,000 MPa Plastic 1,400 MPa
Copper 100,000 MPa Wood 13,500 MPa

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Strength

Strength refers to the ability of a material to withstand stress without failure.

The strength of a material is the ability of it to resist the application of forces without
breaking. The forces can be tensile, compressive or shear.

The tensile stress the material can withstand without breaking, i.e

max imum tensile forces

Tensile strength =
original cross  sec tional area

The compressive strength and shear strength are defined in a similar way.

The unit of strength is the Pa.

Tensile Strength
Stress

Limit of proportionality Upper Yield Stress

Lower Yield Stress

Strain
Stress – strain graph

Q7. Two rods 25mm in diameter of aluminium alloy must support a load of 222kN.
(i) What is the stress?
(ii) What is the strain?
(iii) If the aluminium rods are replaced by coppers and the strain can not
exceed that in the aluminium, what diameter is required.

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Hardness

Another mechanical property that may be important to consider is hardness, which is a

measure of a material’s resistance to localised plastic deformation (e.g. a small dent or
a scratch).[Callister, Jr. W. D.,]

Hardness is a property that is often related to a broad range of mechanical and even
physical properties. The engineering definition of hardness is “ a material‟s resistance
to permanent indentation under static or dynamic forces” – the tests used to determine the
hardness of a material are called indentation hardness tests.

The indentation hardness is by far the most often used method for measuring hardness.
There are three standardised indentation hardness tests:

SEE BELOW

 The Brinell hardness test

 The Vickers hardness test

 The Rockwell hardness test

The hardness of metals can be defined as resistance to plastic deformation and test
methods are based on forcing an indenter into the surface under a known load.

(i) The Brinell hardness test

This test utilises a steel ball as an indenter. The ball is pressed into the surface of a test
specimen using forces ranging from 9.8 N to 29,400 N (mass 1 kg to 3000 kg). A hard
steel ball indenter is used. Indenter diameters may be 1, 2, 5 or 10 mm.

Brinell hardness is determined from the formula:

0.204F
Hardness Number, HB =
D[ D  ( D 2  d 2 ) ]
Where F = applied force in Newtons, D = diameter of indenter (mm) and d = diameter of
indentation (impression, mm).

To make a Brinell test, the surface of the specimen should be flat and reasonably well
polished. Care is required that the hardness is not affected by the procedures used in
preparing the specimen.

Brinell hardness test results are always reported as:

xHBy / z, e.g. 250HB10/3000

where, x = hardness number, y = indenter diameter in mm, z = mass used in kg.

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(ii) The Vickers hardness test

This test utilises a square based pyramidal diamond indenter in which the angle between
the opposite faces is 136o. The force may be varied from 49 N to 1176 N by varying the
mass from 5 to 120 kg. Varying the mass has no effect on hardness values in the
P
Vickers test because Vickers hardness is independent of 2 ratio.
D

A square pyramidal diamond indenter, with an included angle  = 136o, between

opposite faces is forced into the surface of a metal under a constant load for 15 s.


2 F sin( )
Hardness number, HV = 2  1.854F
2
d d2
Where F = indenting force in Newtons and d = mean length of impression diagonals
(mm)

Vickers hardness test results are always reported as:

X HV y / z, ( e.g. 250HV 30)

where, x = hardness number, y = mass used in kg

Indentation hardness tests are made on a sample of metal and the following results
recorded:

(1) using Vickers diamond test with 30 kg load the mean lengths of diagonals were:
1st impression – 0.527 mm, 2nd impression – 0.481 mm, 3rd impression – 0.497
mm;

(2) using Brinell test with 10 mm ball and 3000 kg load the diameter of impression
was 4.01 mm.

Calculate the diamond and Brinell hardness numbers for the material and explain any
variations in the results.

The indenting loads normally used in connection with Vickers diamond tests are: 1kg, 2.5
kg, 5 kg, 10 kg, 20 kg, 30 kg and 50 kg. If determinations are most accurate when
impression diagonals are approximately 0.5 mm, what indenting loads should be selected
for the testing of:

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(i) aluminium samples with hardness of the order of HD = 20,

(ii) brass samples with hardness of the order of HD = 60, and
(iii) Steel samples with hardness of the order of HD = 200?

Samples of pure copper in both the annealed and cold-worked conditions were subjected
to Brinell hardness tests, using a 1 mm diameter ball indenter, with various loads. The
test data are given below.

(1) Calculate the Brinell hardness of the copper samples.

(2) Complete a Meyer analysis and determine the Meyer constants.

Material Indenting load (kg) Indentation diameter (mm)

Annealed copper 5 0.386
10 0.540
15 0.636
Cold worked copper 10 0.375
20 0.527
30 0.632

(iii) The Rockwell hardness test

(iii) Meyer hardness analysis

The Meyer relationship for the Brinell test is F = adn where F is the load (kgf), d is the
diameter of the indentation and a and n are constants of the material and its condition.
The a is related to the resistance to indenter penetration and n is the work hardening index.
The relationship can be written:

log F = log a + n log d

Using a ball indenter of fixed diameter and a series of loads, the data recorded can be
plotted as log F against log d. A straight line should be obtained and the values of a and
n determined.

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There are other types of hardness tests:

 Scratch hardness tests which utilise materials of known hardness to „scratch‟

unknown test pieces or specimens.
 Wear hardness which is a measurement of resistance to wear under specific
conditions.
 Rebound hardness which is measure as energy absorbed under impact loads.

Toughness

Toughness is a measure of the amount of energy required to cause failure(fracture) of a

specimen. One measure of toughness is the area contained beneath the stress/strain
curve for the material. Toughness is measured in joules(J) where

1 J = 1N.m =103 N.mm

The product of stress and strain is

N.mm-2  mm. mm-1 = N.mm.mm-3, i.e toughness per unit volume.

The more common methods for measuring the toughness of a material are the different
types of notched bar impact test, such as the Izod test and Charpy test used for metal and
for the impact testing of polymers.

Most materials become more sensitive to notches as the temperature is reduced. In

particular ferrous metals undergo a relatively sudden reduction in toughness at a
temperature referred to as its transition temperature- the transition temperature can vary
from almost +100oC to -100oC depending upon the chemical composition and the
metallurgical structure of the steel.

Elasticity

Elasticity refers to the ability of a material to deform without undergoing a permanent set
or permanent deformation upon release of the applied forces. A theoretically perfectly
elastic body is one that completely recovers its original shape and dimensions after
release of the force or stress that produced the deformation.

For many materials, elastic behaviour is associated with the linear proportionality
relationship between stress and strain i.e. the extent of the linear part of the stress/strain
plot.

The limit of elastic behaviour is the elastic limit or for some materials, proportional limit
or the yield stress. The elastic limit is defined as the greatest stress a material may
withstand without a permanent set remaining upon complete removal of the stress. The

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proportional limit is the greatest stress a material can develop without deviating from the
linear stress/strain relationship. These values are difficult to determine accurately and
for this reason yield stress is most often used as the engineering design criterion.

Plasticity

Plasticity is the ability of a material to deform in the inelastic or plastic range without
rupture and to some extent plasticity is a measure of the ductility of a material. Plastic
deformation commences at the yield stress. It begins in localised areas of the material
and gradually spreads through the stressed section.

Plasticity is important in forming and shaping operations such as rolling, extruding,

forging and drawing. Many metals are formed whilst heated because plasticity
increases with increasing temperature.

Ductility

Ductility is that property which enables a material to be drawn out some considerable
extent before rupture and at the same time to sustain an appreciable load. Mild steel and
copper are ductile materials whilst cast iron, concrete and glass are brittle materials. The
basic determinants of ductility are the percentage elongation and percentage reduction of
area as determined in the tensile test, or by a simple bend test conducted on the material.

Malleability

Malleability is another property that is related to plasticity. Malleability is the ability to

be hammered into thin sheet without fracture. Malleability depends upon softness of the
material as well as its plasticity and like ductility, malleability increase with increasing
temperature.

Fatigue

Fatigue strength (endurance limit) is defined as the maximum stress below which a
material may endure an infinite number of stress cycles.

Most assemblies of structural components are subject to variations in applied loads which
cause fluctuating stresses in the components. Even though these stresses are
considerably lower than even the yield strength of the material, they can cause a
premature failure called a fatigue failure.

Creep Strength

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Many materials undergo a time dependent permanent change in dimensions or permanent

strain, known as creep, when they are stressed at elevated temperatures. The
temperature at which this creep phenomenon occurs may vary from average room
temperature for lead to around 450oC for steel, and higher for metals such as tungsten and
molybdenum. Many polymer materials also undergo creep at temperatures well below
100oC.

Because a small amount of permanent strain or distortion is often unacceptable in

engineering components, the creep strength of the material is used in design calculations.
Creep strength is the constant nominal stress that will produce a specified quantity of
creep strain at a given constant temperature and over a particular time.

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