Z12EN - SESSION 5

PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
MATERIAL SCIENCE

The study of the physics, chemistry and

engineering applications of matter.
 Session Outline

Introduction – materials classification, material

selection

Material properties – mechanical properties,

loading conditions , Hooke’s law, elastic constants,

stress-strain relationship.

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 Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lecture learners will be able to:

 Describe the mechanical properties of materials
 Identify a tensile, compressive and shear force
 Define and calculate stress and strain
 Define and use Hooke’s law and Young’s modulus
 Explain material behaviour from a stress-strain curve

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 Recap

Mechanical Engineering

Mechanics Thermo Fluids Material Science

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Material Science

Material properties

Stress-strain relationship

Elastic constants

Tensile testing

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 Material Classification

Engineering materials can be classified into three broad groups according to

their nature:
o Metals and alloys – can change their shape permanently, have good
thermal and electrical conductivity.
o Ceramics and glasses – good thermal and electrical insulating properties.
o Organic polymers – inert light and have high degree of plasticity.

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 Material Selection

The selection of specific materials for engineering use is a

complex process requiring detailed information about the
material.
Knowledge of material properties is therefore important during
material selection for engineering purposes.

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 Material Properties

The properties of materials which determine selection of

materials are:
o Thermal properties
o Electrical properties
o Magnetic properties
o Chemical properties
o Optical properties
o Mechanical properties

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 Mechanical Properties

Mechanical properties of materials describe their response to an

applied load.
These properties are determined through a series of standardized
mechanical tests carried out in the lab.
Measured material properties are not constant and will vary as a
function of loading, temperature and other conditions.

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 Strength

The application of a force to a material or body is known as

loading and this introduces stress to the material.
A materials performance is dependant on the loading
conditions.
There are five fundamental loading conditions or a material can
be subjected to;

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 Loading Conditions

i. Tension - pulling apart or elongation

ii. Compression - pushing together or crushing
iii. Shear - sliding across
iv. Bending - curved shape (tension and compression on
opposite sides of the material).
v. Torsion - twisting

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 Tensile Force

Tension is a force that tends to stretch a material for example,

the rope or cable of a crane carrying a load is in tension.

A tensile force increases

Force the length of the material
Force on which it

acts.

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 Compressive Force

Compression is a force that tends to squeeze or crush the

material for example, a column supporting a bridge is in
compression

Force Force

A compressive force will decrease the length of the material on

which it acts.

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 Bending Force

Bending is a force that tends to induce a bending moment in a

material for example, a beam loaded at the unsupported end tends
to bend.
Force

Bending can take place in any direction depending on the

orientation of the force.

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 Shear Force

Shear forces push one part of a body in one direction whilst

pushing another part of the body in the opposite direction e.g. a
bolt holding two plates in tension.

Force
Force
A shear force can cause a material to bend, slide or twist.

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 Torsional Force

Torsional stress results from the twisting of a material as a result of an

applied torque.

Torque
It creates an uneven distribution of stress over the cross section of
the material – ranging from minimum value at the centre to its
maximum value at the edge.

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 Discussion

What type of force is acting in the following examples:

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 Stress

 
Forces acting on a material cause the material to be in a state of
stress.
Stress is found by dividing the applied force by the cross-
sectional area (A) of the material.

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Looking at the tension in a light bulb cable:
o Applied force = weight of the bulb
o Cross sectional area =

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The unit of stress is the Pascal, Pa;
where 1 Pa=1 N/m2.
i.e Force/area
The symbol used to denote stress is the lower case sigma ()
o This may be given a subscript to show if it is tension or

compressional stress, or
The equation for stress is:

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 EXAMPLE

 
Find the stress caused by the 20 N compressive force in the
shown bar.

20 N 20 N

20 N 20 N
A = 0.1 m2

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 EXERCISE

Find the stress caused by the 5 N tension force in the shown

cable. 5N

r = 0.2 m

5N

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 EXERCISE - Solution
 
Find the stress caused by the 5 N tension force in the shown
cable 5N

r = 0.2 m

5N

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 EXERCISE

A wire of circular cross-section has a tensile force of 60 N applied

to it, this produces a stress of 3.03 MPa in the wire.

Determine the diameter of the wire.

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 EXERCISE - Solution

 
This requires the equation to be rearranged:

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Now that the area is known, the diameter can be found:

Or 5.02 mm

(be careful with your units)

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 Strain

 
Strain is a measure of deformation.
It is the “fractional” change of a specified dimension. It
therefore has no units.
Strain is donated by the lower case, Greek letter epsilon, .
The change of length of an object is denoted by .

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The equation for strain is:

is the original length

Tensile strain Compressive strain

𝐹  𝐹  𝐹  𝐹 

𝐿  Δ  𝐿 𝐿  Δ  𝐿

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 EXAMPLE
 
A bar of length 5 m is subject to a tensile force of 10 N. This
force causes it to increase in length by 2 mm. Calculate the strain
in the bar

or
Strain is often written as a percentage
o Multiply the value by 100

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 EXERCISE

A wire of length 4.5 m has a percentage strain of 0.05% when

loaded with a tensile force. Determine the extension in the wire.

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 EXERCISE - Solution

 
 The first stage is to convert strain back from a percentage
o Divide by 100

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The equation for strain must then be rearranged to make the

change in length, , the subject

(Or mm)

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 EXAMPLE

A cylinder has a diameter of 20 mm and length 0.30 m. It

supports a compressive load of 50 kN and shortens by 0.7 mm
when the load is applied.
Determine
a) The compressive stress
b) The compressive strain in the pipe when supporting this
load.

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Begin by finding the cross sectional area

Find the compressive stress

It is clearer to write this as 159 MPa

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Determine the compressive strain

Remember the value of strain has no units and can be

expressed as a percentage

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 Hooke’s Law

 
Robert Hooke showed that for a spring in tension, the extension
was proportional to the tensile force.
o ‘proportional to’ can be written as

This is only valid up to a certain force

o The relationship is linear up to this force

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Constant numbers can be added to each side of the equation to
convert this relationship to stress and strain.

or

To convert a proportional equation to a linear equation, a

“constant of proportionality is needed.

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 Constants of Proportionality

There are several elastic constants which can be used to

completely describe the properties of an isotropic, elastic
material.

These constants exists as constants of proportionality between

stress and strain for different loading conditions.

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 Young’s Modulus

 
Thomas Young defined the constant of proportionality in Hooke’s law
as the Young’s Modulus, .

The value of the Young’s Modulus, is material specific and shows the
strain behaviour of a material under stress.
It has the same units as stress, N/m2 (Pa or Nm-2)

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 Poisson’s Ratio
 
When a compressive force acts on a material, it decreases in size along the
line of action of the force and expands in the other direction perpendicular to
the force.

Poisson's ratio is the ratio of the transverse strain to the longitudinal strain.
ν=

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 Shear Modulus

 
Shear modulus is the ratio of shear stress to shear strain when
a force is parallel to one face of an object while the other face is
fixed. It is denoted by G in Pa.

G=

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 Bulk Modulus

Bulk modulus of a material measures how much it will compress when

under a uniform external pressure. It is denoted by K in Pa.

It is the ratio of pressure increase to relative change in volume of the

material.

  K=

It is the inverse of compressibility.

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 Relationship Between Elastic Constants
The elastic constants are related to each other according to the
equations given below:
o Young’s modulus  𝐸=2𝐺 ( 1+ ν )=3 𝐾 (1 − 2 ν)
  𝐸 3 𝐾 −𝐸
o Poisson’s ratio ν= −1=
2𝐺 6𝐾
 
o Shear modulus =

o Bulk modulus   K

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 EXAMPLE

A rectangular section metal bar has a length of 10 mm and can support a

maximum compressive stress of 20 MPa,
o Determine the minimum breadth of the bar when loaded with a
force of 3 kN.
If the bar is 2 m long and decreases in length by 0.25 mm when the force is
applied
o Determine the strain and the percentage strain.
o Determine the Young’s modulus of the material.

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Find the minimum breadth to hold 3 kN

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Find the strain if the 2 m bar decreases by 0.25 mm when the
force is applied

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Find the Young’s modulus,

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 Elasticity, Plasticity and Ductility

In structural designs, the most important mechanical properties

are;
o Elasticity
o Plasticity and
o Ductility

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Elasticity is the ability of a material to return to its original shape and
size on the removal of external forces.
o Elastic deformation is not permanent
Plasticity is the ability of a material to undergo deformation that is
permanent; when the external forces are removed the deformation
remains.
o Plastic deformation occurs before the material breaks/fails.
Ductility is the ability of a material to undergo appreciable plastic
deformation under stress

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 Stress–Strain Relationship

The mechanical properties and behaviour of a material can be

investigated by subjecting it to an external load and studying its
response to the applied loading.
The applied load is measured in terms of the force applied per
unit area and the deformation is measured in terms of the change
in dimension.
The relationship between the load and deformation gives the
stress-strain behaviour of the material.

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 Limit of Proportionality

Hooke’s law states that stress is proportional to strain, this is

only true up to a point.
The “limit of proportionality”  𝐹

is the point at which stress is

no longer proportional to strain.
 Δ 𝐿
Just beyond this point the
deformation is still elastic but the stress-strain relationship is no
longer linear.

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 Elastic Limit

After the limit of proportionality is reached, the regime of

deformation becomes elasto-plastic, with the predominance of
plastic deformation.
Plastic deformation will  𝐹

continue until failure

 Δ 𝐿

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 Brittle and Ductile Materials

Material A is brittle and displays

elasticity up to the point F where it fails.
Material B is ductile and is elastic up to
the point Y after which plastic
deformation occurs.

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Ductility is measured as a percentage of elongation or reduction
in area.
  Ductility = %EL =

  Ductility =

o Where lo is a fixed standard length,

o %EL is the percentage elongation and
o lf is the failure length

o Ao is the initial area

o Af is the area at failure

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Stress-Strain Curve

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 Stiffness

 
Young’s modulus is a measure of a materials stiffness
o How resistant it is to stress and bending
Young’s modulus is an intrinsic material property
Stiffness can also be defined by a materials response
o Therefore including factors such as geometry
o Stiffness

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 Toughness

Toughness is the area under the stress-strain curve and

indicates the ability of a material to absorb energy up to the
point of fracture.
It is measured in energy per unit volume.
Ductile materials generally have a high toughness as seen in the
areas under their stress-strain curve.

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 Hardness

Hardness is the measure of a material’s resistance to localized

plastic deformation such as a dent or scratch.
It is an important parameter in the design of tools and machine
components.

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 Creep

Creep refers to the continuous deformation of a material under

a constant load.
It is a permanent and non-recoverable deformation that occurs
at high temperature.

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 Fatigue
When a material undergoes cyclic loading in which it is taken through
periodic loading and unloading, it will fail at a stress lower than the normal
failure stress under static loading due to fatigue.
The stress at which the material will fail depends on the number of cycles of
loading and unloading.

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 Fracture

Fracture is the breaking of the material into two or more parts

due to stress.
There are four fracture modes;
 Ductile fracture
 Brittle fracture
 Creep fracture
 Fatigue fracture

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 Tutorial session
• Finish the tutorial questions for this session.