TENSION TESTING

It is basically done on “Universal Testing

Machine”.

Before operating machine following things

should be checked :-

Proper calibrated pressure gauges.

 Machine should have proper hydraulic oils.

Sensing systems should be up to the mark.

And a proper graph recorder in order to

maintain stress-strain curve.
The testing machine should be sensitive to a
variation of 1/250 of any registered load.

It should also be accurate ±1.5 throughout its

range.

The speed of testing machine crossheads should

not exceed 1/16” per inch of gauge length per
minute up to the yield point and it should not
exceed ½” per inch of gauge length per minute
beyond the yield point up to rupture.
For 2” of gauge length, there speed would be
1/8” and 1” respectively when using an
extensometer to determine the elastic limit or
yield strength, the cross head speed should not
exceed 0.025” per inch of gauge length per
minute.

Extensometer must be calibrated to read 0.0002

or less.
 ELASTIC LIMIT DETERMINATION

“The elastic limit of the material is the greatest

stress that can be held without permanent
deformation upon complete release of the
stress”.

In practical testing, the elastic limit is considered

to have been reached when a permanent set of
0.00003 per inch of gauge length has been
obtained.
An accurate reading extensometer must be used
to read the permanent set.

The method of testing is as:-

Fit the job tightly in the machines.

Fit the extensometer accurately.

 A load is applied until the stress is 20% of
excepted elastic limit.

The extensometer reading is recorded and

marked it as R1.

The load is increased then to about 75% of

the excepted elastic limit, after which is
dropped to below 20% and then brought up to
20%.
Take a reading in extensometer marked
it as R2.

Take out the difference of R1 and R2.

If no permanent set has been obtained

the extensometer should read identically
the same as when the first 20% load was
imposed i.e.

R1 = R2 and R1 – R2 = 0
Apply more load, same as the procedure
from first 20% load. After the 75% load
additional increments of load should be
added and released as before to 20%
load.

Take the extensometer reading.

The elastic limit is calculated from the

last load prior to the one that caused a
permanent set of over 0.00003 pr inch of
gauge length.
Elastic Limit = Last Load
Cross Sectional Area

PROOF STRESS DETERMINATION

“The proof stress of the material is the greatest

stress it can withstand without resulting in
permanent set of over 0.0001 per inch of gauge
length after complete release of stress.”
The proof stress can be determined in the same
manner as elastic limit.

The proof stress of a material is also referred

to as its proportional limit.
 YIELD STRENGTH
DETERMINATION

The yield strength is the stress at which a

material exhibits a specified elongation under
load or it is the property of the material up to
which the material with stand deformation
without any breakage.
The two commonly used methods for
determining this stress are known as :-
Set Method
Extension under load method

SET METHOD

In this method the loads are applied & the

extensometer reading taken for a number of
loads.
Then different stresses and strains are
calculated.

A curve is then plotted in which stress are

plotted in Y- axis and strain in X – axis.

The lower part of the curve is a straight line.

Then allow the material to get the permanent

set or permanent deformation.
E.g. for mild steel, the permanent set is 0.004
then this point will be plotted on the abscissa
of graph.

Then the line CD is constructed parallel to the

straight portion of line.

The point of intersection D, gives the applied

load for the yield strength.
The applied load divided by the original cross-
sectional area is the yield strength.
EXTENSION UNDER LOAD METHOD

This method is easier of application than the

set method since no curve need be plotted and
it is frequently used.

The normal elongation must be calculated for

each material for the excepted yield strength
by the following formula.
Normal Elongation = Expected Yield Strength
Modules of Elasticity
+
a definite additional elongation of
0.002 per inch of gage length.
 YIELD POINT DETERMINATION

Yield point of a material is the point at which

there is a marked increase in elongation without
increases in load.

The yield point of a material can be determined

by either of the two methods :-

1. Divider Method
2. Drop of Beam Method.
Divider Method :-

In this method a divider is used in the two

gauge marks.
 Specimen

Gauge Marks

The load is then applied to the specimen with

one arm of the dividers in one gauge marks and
the other arm held force above the other gauge
mark.
At the instant visible stretch is noted
between this latter gauge mark and the
dividers the load should be noted.

The yield point stress is computed from this

load.

Drop of Beam Method :

In this method the load is applied uniformly

and the recording beam kept balanced by
the operator.
At the yield point load, the beam will drop
suddenly as a elongation increases rapidly at
this point without increase in load.

If the testing machine is equipped with a self

indicating load measuring device, the
pointer will halt momentarily at the yield
point load.

The yield point stress is computed from this

load.
 UTM Top Cross Head

Specimen

UTM Bottom Cross Head

Hardness Testing :

There are four methods in general use for

determining the hardness of metals :-

,.z, Rockwell, vikers and shore scleroscope.

Brinell Hardness Test :

The process consist of pressing a hardened steel

ball, under known pressure in the specimen to
be tested.
For testing a steel ball 10mm in diameter
under a pressure of 3000 Kg for steel (6600
lbs) is used.

For softer and bronze a 500kg load is used.

The load should be applied for at least 10

seconds before release.
The area of the impression made by the ball is
measured by calibrated microscope that reads
accurately to 0.05mm.

Brinell Number = Load (in kg)

Area of impression (in mm2)

Harder material will have small impressions and

consequently large Brinell numbers.
Rockwell Hardness Test :-

Rockwell hardness is determined by

measuring the penetration of a diamond
cone or hardened steel ball under definite
loads.

The machine first applies a minor load of 10

kg, the direct reading dial reading dial gauge
is set two zero and the major load is applied.
This forces the penetrator into the metal and
after removal of the load, the rockwell
hardness can be read from the dial gauge.

The dial gauge of the machine has two sets of

figures one red and one black.

The red figures are used with ball penetrators

and the black figures with the diamond – cone
penetrator.
Ball penetrators up to ½ inch diameter 4 loads
of 60 , 100 & 150 kg are used.

Each of this combinations is designated by a

letter such as A,B,C,D.

But only B and C combinations are commonly

used in aircraft which are stated as follows.
Combination Penetrator Load Dial

(B0 – B100) B 1/16“ Steel Ball 100kg Red

(C20 - C150) C Diamond Cone 150 Kg Black

The range of B scale is from B0 to B100.

If load applied is more than B100, the steel ball

may get damage.

The range of C scale is C20 to C150.

But the material with low load will give

inaccurate readings.
 B.H.M. R.H.M.
Brinell Hardness No. measured by
1> No mathematical calculation required
calibrated microscope
B.H.N. = R.H.N. read directly from the dial
2>
Load / Area of impression gauge
Uses 1/16“ dia of hardened steel ball
3> Uses a 10mm of dia hardened steel ball
or diamond cone.

First minor load – 10kg then set dial

4> The load is applied in steps
to zero then apply major load

For hard materials load 3000kg, for soft Difference combination of load &
5>
materials load – 500kg penetration applied i.e. A,B,C,D

6> Measures the area of impression Measures the penetration

If we use microscope, there may be In direct reading accuracy will be

7>
error and accuracy may not achieved achieved
 VICKERS OR DIAMOND PYRAMID
HARDNESS TEST

The Vickers hardness test is made with a

diamond penetrators in the form of a square base
pyramid having an included angle of 1360.

A normal loading of 30kg is used for the

homogenous material and 5 kg load for soft, thin
or surface hardened materials.

Vickers hardness numbers are identical with

Brinell number, except, instead of diameter, we
measure length of diagonal in mm.
VICKER’S HARDNESS TESTER
VHN = 1.854 P
L2
P = Load in Newton, L = Length of diagonal in mm
Length of diagonal is measured by microscope.
 SHORE – SCLEROSCOPE TEST

It consists of dropping a small diamond

pointed hammer from a fixed height and
measuring and comparing the height of
rebound with that from a standard test piece.

Fixed height is 250mm and weight of

approximately 2.4 grams and it is dropped 4 to
5 times.
The hammer is dropped down a glass tube
which is graduated into 120 equal parts from 0
to 120.

The rebound is measured directly on a vertical

scale in one instrument and in another it is
registered on a recording dial.

Shore Value x 6 = B.H.N.

It is basically a comparative method.

 IMPACT TESTING

Impact strength of a material is the maximum

capacity of materials to withstand any sudden
loads.

Impact tests consists of notching a piece of

material on one side and then fixing it in a
machine so that it can be broken by means of
falling weight or a heavy swinging pendulum.
 There are two standard impact tests :-
1. Izod Test
2. Charpy Test

IMPACT TEST

IZOD TEST CHARPY TEST

TENSILE TEST TRANSVERSE TEST

Input Energy :
Weight of pendulum and height of fall (Potential
Energy)

Energy Remaining :
Weight of rebounce (kinetic energy)

Input – Output = Energy absorbed by specimen

The notch is usually a ‘v’ notch cut to the
specification with a special milling cutter.

The punch of the notch is to ensure that the

specimen will break as a result of the impact
loads.

It is important to note that blow in charpy test is

delivered at apt directly behind the notch and in
the izod test the blow is struck at the same side
of the notch towards the end of the cantilever.
The specimen is held in a rigid vice and is
structured with a blow by traveling pendulum
that fractures and severally deforms the
notched specimen.

The energy input is a function height of fall and

weight of pendulum.

The energy remaining after fracture is

determined from he rebound of the pendulum.
The difference between the energy input and
energy remaining represents the energy
absorbed by the specimen and can have direct
reading from the machine.

In chief use of this test is to determine whether

material has been subjected to the correct heat
treatment.

It does not indicate the shock the resistance of a

material.
Extremely ductile material can not be impact
tested satisfactorily because it bends while
breaking.

These two common types of impact test uses –

Notched specimen load as beams. The beam
may be simply loaded or loaded as cantilever.
Fatigue Testing :-

The fatigue properties of material determined

its behaviour when subjected to thousands or
even million of cycle load applications in which
maximum stress developed in each cycle is well
within the elastic range of material.
Failure may occur after a certain number of
loads or the material may continue to give
service independently.

Some of the machine parts such as axles,

shafts, crankshafts, connecting rods, springs,
pinion teeth, are subjected to various stresses.

Most common test is rotating bar test of

cantilever type and beam type.
A no. of identical test piece, say 8 or 10 are
made from a material one of the piece is fixed
to the machine.

A load is gradually applied to the test piece.

The rotating of electric motor will some time

push work piece downwards and upwards
which will reverse the stresses in upper and
lower fibre of test piece.
Speed is kept constant.

It is seen that, after a sufficient number of

stress reversal, a crank is seen on the outer
boundary which will go inwards towards the
center.

After the first test piece breaks away the

second test piece is tested with a decreased
load.
It may be noted that number of reversal each
time goes on increasing with the decrease in
load.

After some time a limit is reached when the

stress is not sufficient to break the test piece
even after 10 x 106 stress reversal.

This safe stress after reversing for 10 x 106

times does not cause the specimen to break is
called its endurance limit.
 BENDING TEST

Aircraft materials has to resist bending while in

operation.

The usual test requires cold bending through an

angle of 1800 over a pin equal to the diameter or
thickness of the test specimen, without cracking.

This will give definite assurance that metal is

ductile, not brittle.
The specimen edge should be filed properly so
that there are no sharp edges or spots from
where cracks can develop.

Load can be applied either by constant

pressure or by a blow of strong hammer.
 Bending Test

Defect to be seen

Pin
Workpiece

= 2 dia or 2 thickness of W/P

Bend Test can be carried out both parallel and
across the grains.

There are some high quality materials which

allow bending in any direction and meets the
required specification.
 FLATTENING TEST

Flattening is a form of bending test applicable

to tubing A length of tubing equal to twice its
diameter is flattened sideways and examined
for cracks or their defects.

When the test is applied to bronze tubing the

overall thickness of flattened tube must not
exceed three times the wall thickness.
 FLATTENING TEST
Compressed Sideway

d1 d2
L
d1 = Inner diameter ; d2 = Outer diameter ;
L = Length of specimen
 CRUSHING TEST

Aircraft tubing is always subjected to a

crushing test.

For this test, a piece of tubing 1 ½ times

diameter long.

With its ends machined normal to its axis, is

used.
This tube is compressed endwise under a
gradually applied load until its outside
diameter is increased on one zone by 25%, or
until one complete fold is formed, or the
specimen is reduced to two thirds its original
length.

The tubing must withstand this test without

any cracking.
 CRUSHING TEST

L
(Length of Specimen)
Compressed endwise
 WRAPPING TEST

This test is sometimes specified for wire.

The wire is wrapped around a former

,number of turns usually 7 to 8 turns and then
unwound.

It must withstand the stress without any

cracking.
 Wrapping Test
Wire

d = dia. of wire Former

N = No. of terms = 7 to 8 terms

 TORSION TEST

This is applicable for wires over 0.033“

diameter, the length of specimen must be 10‘
inch long.

If the diameter is below or equal to 0.033“,

length will be 30 inch long.

The wire is held by two clamps which are 8 inch

apart one clamps is fixed and other is movable.
Movable damp is rotated until the wire splits
at a uniform speeds of 60 rpm or slower in
order to prevent heating of wire.

The number of revolutions are counted before

the wire splits.

This test are specified for wires that are used

fr rivets, bolts and cables.
 Torsion Test

Clamps (Fixed) Clamps (Movable)

8”

d= dia of wire
 REVERSE TORSION TEST

This is mainly specified for wires.

The test sample is gripped into two jaws which

are specified distance apart.

One is fixed and other is free to move.

Free jaw is rotated in one direction with
specified number of urns and then turned back
to the original position.

No defects must be visible on the wire after this

test.
 HYDROSTATIC TEST

There are some tubes in aircraft which have to

carry a large pressure like seamless tubes or
welded tube such as corrosion resistance steel
tubing used for exhaust collector is subjected to
hydrostatic test.

The specimen is subjected to an internal

pressure sufficient to put the specimen under a
tensile load.
Tensile stress = (Internal hydrostatic pre.*dia) /
2 * wall thickness

A high internal pressure can be carried out by a

small tube without over stressing the materials.
 DRIFTING TEST

This test is particularly applied to light alloy

tubing.

The specimen should be cut at 900 to the

longitudinal axis and all sharp edges removed.

The drift in the form of cone with included angle

of 300 is forced into the tube under steady
pressure until a specified increase in tube
diameter is obtained at cutting edge.
The specimen must withstand the drifting test
without an sign of cracking.

The main intention is to see whether the

material is ductile or not.
 REVERSE BENDING TEST

This test is also applicable to wires subjected

to reverse bending a specimen of size 10 inch is
held in a bench vice and bent backward and
forward direction of angle 600.

The jaws of bench vice are rounded to

required radius. Bending is done at a rate not
exceeding 50 bends/min.
Each 900 bend counts one bend.

50 bends are approved for small wire and 7

bends for heavier jobs.