MECHANICAL

PROPERTIES OF
MATERIALS
NIVEDH K M
PGD-PPT
 Engineers are primarily concerned with the
development and design of machines, structures
etc.
These products are often subjected to forces/
deformations, resulting in stresses/strains, the
properties of materials under the action of
forces and deformations becomes an important
engineering consideration.

Deformation in plastics
The properties of materials when
subjected to stresses and strains are
called “mechanical properties”. In
other words the properties that
determine the behavior of engineering
maths under applied forces are called
“mechanical properties”.
There are different mechanical propertie
for a material :

1.Elasticity 7. Stiffness
2.Plasticity 8. Resilience
3.Ductility 9. Endurance
4.Brittleness 10. Strength
5.Hardness 11. Creep
6.Toughness 12. Fracture
 1. Elasticity
It is the property of the material to regain its
original
Shape after deformation within the elastic limit.

A solid is called perfectly elastic if this recovery is

Instantaneous and complete.
It is said to exhibit delayed elasticity or inelastic
effects if the recovery is gradual or incomplete.
This property is desirable in materials used in tools
and machines.
 2. Plasticity
It is the property of the material which enables the
formation of permanent deformation .
When each and every deformation , without fracture ,
remains after removing the load the material is called
plastic .
Plasticity increase with increase in temperature .
For most materials , the plastic deformation follows the
elastic deformation . Crystalline materials undergo plastic
deformation as a result of slip along definite
crystallographic planes , whereas , in amorphous
materials
plastic deformation occurs when the individual molecules
Plasticity is of importance in forming ,
shaping and extruding operations .
Some materials are shaped cold , e. g.,
the deep drawing of the sheets . Many
materials particularly metals are shaped
hot , e. g., forging of certain machine parts .
 3. Ductility

It is the property of a material which enables it to be

drawn out or elongated to an appreciable extent befor
rupture occurs .
It is the measure of the degree of plastic deformation
that has been sustained at fracture.
Ductility of a material can be measured by the
percentage of elongation and the percentage of
reduction of area before rupture of a test piece .
 Ductility of a material is usually less when
hot than when cold , hence wires are drawn cold .
Amorphous solids like glass is extremely ductile
when hot and may be drawn out into very fine
thread . Ductile materials show quite an
appreciable
Amount of strength or elongation before fracture
takes place .
Order of ductility :
Gold > Platinum > Silver > Iron > Copper >
Aluminium > Nickel > Zinc > Tin > Lead
 4. Brittleness
It is the property of a material which is opposite
to ductility . Materials having very little property
of deformation , either elastic or plastic are called
Brittle . Tensile strength of a brittle material is only
a function of their compressive strength .
It is defined as the tendency to fracture without
Appreciable deformation/distortion . It will not stretch
or bend before breaking . An elongation of less than
5% in a 50mm gauge length is often taken to indicate
a brittle material.
E.g. : cast iron , glass
Ductile to brittle transition temperature

The ductile to
brittle
transition
temperature is
exhibited by
BCC metals
such as low
carbon steel.
The transition can a be observed from the fracture
surfaces, which appear fibrous or dull for totally ductile
fracture, and granular and shiny for totally brittle
fracture.

While for pure materials the transition may occur very

suddenly at a particular temperature, for many materials
the transition occurs over a range of temperatures. This
causes difficulties when trying to define a single
transition temperature .

If a material experiences a ductile-to-brittle transition,

the temperature at which it occurs can be affected by
the variables namely the strain rate, the size and shape
of the specimen . The notched-bar impact test can be
used to determine whether or not a material experiences
Yield strength and ductility
 5.Hardness

Hardness is the property of the material which gives

the ability to resist , being permanently deformed wh
a load is applied to it.
One metal is said to be harder if it scratches the
other . Greater the hardness greater the resistance
towards the scratch . The hardness of the material
depends upon the type of bonding forces between
atoms .
Thus molecular solids such as plastics are
soft . Metallic and ionic solids are harder
than molecular solids and covalent solids
are the hardest . The hardness of metals is
increased by alloying , cold work
and precipitation hardening .
 6. Toughness

It is the property of a material which enables it to

be twisted , bent or stretched under a high stress before
rupture . It is measured by the amount of energy
that a unit volume of the material has absorbed
after being stressed upto the point of fracture .
Toughness decreases when metal is heated . An
elastic or ductile material requiring great forces for
deformation and having resistance against break is
called tough .
 7. Stiffness
It is the property of a material which enables it to
resist
Deformation .
Modulus of elasticity is the measure of stiffness .
A
material which suffers slight deformation under
load has a high degree of stiffness . If the material
follows hook’s law , i.e., has linear stress-strain
relation , its stiffness is measured by young’s
modulus of elasticity. The effective or overall
stiffness is a function of the dimensions and shape
 8. Resilience
It is the property of the material which enables it to
store energy and resist shock and impact .
It is measured by the amount of energy that can
be stored per unit volume after being stressed to
elastic limit . Resilience represents the ratio of
energy given up on recovery from deformation to
energy required to produce deformation . For
perfect elastic materials this ratio should be one ,
but in real materials , there is always some amount
of energy that is dissipated as heat because of the
internal friction of the material . Temperature
affects resilience more than any other factor.
The maximum energy which can be stored in a body
upto the elastic limit is called the proof resilience .
The proof resilience per unit volume is called the
modulus of resilience .
Materials that have a high resilience are used for spring .
E.g. : cold-worker copper .
Annealed copper is a poor spring because its elastic limit is
very low .

Thus , high resilience is associated with high elastic limit.

 9. Endurance
The endurance is the property of a material by virtue
of which it can withstand varying stresses or
repeated
application of stress . The endurance limit or fatigue
strength is the maximum stress that can be applied
for indefinitely large number of times without
causing failure . The failure of a material under
repeated loads is called fatigue failure . It is the
important property in design and production of parts
in reciprocating machines and components subjected
to vibrations .
 10. Strength

Strength is the property of a material by virtue of

which it resists or withstands the application of an
external force or load without rupture . There are
different types of strength.

1.Elastic 5.Shear
2.Plastic 6.Bending
3.Tensile 7.Tortional
4.Comprehensive
 11. Creep
Creep is the time dependant permanent deformation
that occurs under stress for most materials .
It is important only at elevated temperatures.
Materials are often placed in service at elevated
temperatures and exposed to static mechanical
stresses . Deformation under such circumstances
Is termed creep . Creep is an undesirable
Phenomena and is often the limiting factor in
the lifetime of a part .
For metals creep only becomes important for
Temperatures greater than about 0.4Tm .
When subjected to creep the material continues
to deform until its usefulness is seriously
impaired. Over the life time of a structure ,
creep may grow large and even result in fracture
without any increase in load .
 12. Fracture
Fracture refers to the failure of a solid body under
load by breakage into two or more pieces .
Thus the separation or fragmentation of a
metal into two or more parts under the action
of load is called fracture .
 Hooke's Law
• Hooke's Law: For elastic materials, stress is linearly
proportional to strain and is independent of time.
• Modulus of Elasticity, E:
F

=E
E

 F
Linear- simple
elastic tension
test
 Tensile test
When a load is applied to a material, deformation will
occur. The relationships between load and deformation
of materials are usually determined by testing, in
which the load and deformation are expressed in terms
of stress and strain. Stress is the internal force per unit
area experienced by the material while strain is the
unit change in deformation of the material. The stress-
strain relationships can then be used to establish the
compressive or tensile yielding strength, the modulus
of elasticity and the ultimate strength.
 Stress-Strain Curves
 The relationship between the stress and strain that a
material displays is known as a Stress-Strain curve.
 curves reveal many of the properties of a material .
 Up to the yield point elastic behavior is observed.
 Beyond yield point, inelastic or plastic
deformation takes place.
 Since the stress resistance of the material decreases
after the peak of the curve, this is also known as the
yield point.
 PLASTIC RANGE

ELASTIC RANGE LOCAL NECKING

 A material is considered to have completely
failed once it reaches the ultimate stress .
 Hence, Ultimate tensile stress is the

maximum stress that can be applied.

 The point of rupture, or the actual tearing of
the material, does not occur until Fracture
point.
Stress-Strain Curve

for Ductile Materials

A stress–strain curve typical
structural steel
1. Ultimate Strength
2. Yield Strength
3. Rupture
4. Strain hardening
region
5. Necking region.
A: Apparent stress
(F/A0)
B: Actual stress (F/A)
Stress-Strain Curve

for Brittle Materials

A stress–strain curve Brittle
materials
 Brittle materials such as
concrete and carbon
fiber do not have a yield
point .
 Hence, fracture point &
Ultimate stress is same.
 do not show any plastic
deformation but fail
while the deformation is
elastic
Comparison of concrete , cast iron and mild steel
It can be seen that the concrete curve is almost a
straight line. There is an abrupt end to the curve.
This, and the fact that it is a very steep line,
indicate that it is a brittle
material.
The curve for cast iron
has a slight curve
to it. It is also
a brittle
material. Both of these
materials will fail with little warning once their
limits are surpassed
Stress – Strain curve of ductile materials
1. Ultimate
Strength
2. Yield strength
3. Rupture
4. Strain
hardening
region
5. Necking
region.
A: Apparent
stress (F/A0)
B: Actual
stress (F/A)
Stress – Strain curve of brittle materials
Basic Deformations
 The response of a material to applied forces
depends on the type and nature of the bond
and the structural arrangement of atoms,
molecules or ions.

 Basic deformation types for load carrying

materials are:
1. Elastic deformation (deformations are
instantaneously recoverable)
2. Plastic deformation (non-recoverable)
3. Viscous deformation (time dependent
deformation)
 Elastic Deformation
1. Initial 2. Load 3. Unload

bonds
stretch

return to
initial shape

F
F Linear-
The material returns to the elastic
original shape when the Non-Linear-
applied load is removed. elastic
Elastic means reversible!

 Plastic Deformation
1. Initial 2. Load 3. Unload
bonds
stretch p lanes
& planes still
shear sheared

elastic + plastic plastic

F
F
Could not return to the linear linear
original shape when the elastic
applied load is removed.
elastic

plastic elastic
Plastic means permanent!
 Critical resolved shear stress
Critical resolved shear stress is the component of
shear stress, resolved in the direction of slip,
necessary to initiate slip in a grain. It is a constant
for a given crystal. Resolved shear stress is
given by τ = σ cos Φ cos λ. where σ is the
magnitude of the applied tensile stress, Φ is the
angle between the normal of the slip plane and the
direction of the applied force and λ is the angle
between the slip plane direction and the direction of
the applied force.
Crystalline slip results from
the action of a shear stress on
the slip plane. Within the
range of stresses in natural
situations, the component of
stress normal to the slip plane
does not influence slip. Thus
the slip process must be
considered in terms of the
shear stress resolved on the
slip plane in the slip direction.
Consider a single crystal of
cross-sectional area A under a
 Let Φ be the angle between the slip plane normal and the
Compression axis and λ the angle between the slip plane
and the tensile axis . The component of the applied force
acting in the slip direction is Fcosλ and the area of the slip
plane is A/cosΦ . The shear stress resolved in the slip
direction is then

Where σ is the applied tensile stress F/A . This is called

Schmidt law and cosΦcosλ is called Schmidt factor. The
slip plane with the greatest resolved shear stress acting
upon it will predominate in the slip process.
 Viscous Deformation
 Plastic deformations in noncrystalline solids (as
well as liquids) occurs by a viscous flow
mechanism. Usually attributed to fluids. But
solids may also behave like viscous materials
under high temperature and pressure.
 Viscous materials deform steadily under stress.
 Deformations are time dependent.
 Based on the abovementioned
deformation characteristics, several
material idealizations could be made.
Such as:
1. Elastic Materials
2. Plastic Materials
3. Elastoplastic Materials
4. Viscoelastic Materials
1. Elastic Materials
Return to the their original shape when the
applied load is removed.

Unloading
Loading


2. Plastic Materials
No deformation is observed up to a certain limit.
Once the load passes this limit, permanent
deformartions are observed.

Limit

Unloading
Loading

Plastic deformation δ
3. Elastoplastic Materials
Up to a limit shows elastic properties. Within this
limit if the load is removed, returns to its original
shape. If the load passes the limit, plastic
deformations are observed.
P

Elastic
Limit

δ
Plastic Elastic
deformation deformation
4. Viscoelastic Material
Deformations are time-dependent.

P
Fast
Loading-Unloading

Slow
Loading-Unloading

δ
 Viscoelasticity
Viscoelasticity is the property of materials that
exhibit both viscous and elastic characteristics
when undergoing deformation . Viscoelastic
materials exhibit time dependent strain .
Viscoelasticity calculations depend heavily on the
viscosity variable, η. The inverse of η is also
known as fluidity , φ. The value of either can be
derived as a function of temperature .
When a material exhibits a linear response it is
categorized as a Newtonian material. In this case the stress is
linearly proportional to the strain rate.If the material
exhibits a non-linear response to the strain rate, it is
categorized as Non –Newtonian fluids .There is also an
interesting case where the viscosity decreases as the
shear/strain rate remains constant. A material which exhibits
this type of behavior is known as thixotropic.
Some phenomena in viscoelastic materials are:
(i)if the stress is held constant, the strain increases with
time (creep);
(ii) if the strain is held constant, the stress decreases with
time (relaxation);
(iii) the effective stiffness depends on the rate of
application of the load;
(iv) if cyclic loading is applied, hysteresis (a phase lag)
occurs, leading to a dissipation of mechanical energy;
(v) acoustic waves experience attenuation;
(vi) rebound of an object following an impact is less than
100%;
(vii) during rolling, frictional resistance occurs.
a)Applied strain
b) induced stress
as functions of
time for
vicoelastic materials
Some examples of viscoelastic materials include
amorphous polymers, semi crystalline polymers,
biopolymers, metals at very high temperatures,
and bitumen materials. Synthetic polymers,
wood, and human tissue , metals at high
temperature , steel , aluminium .
Properties of viscoelastic materials :
1. Hysteresis is seen in the stress-strain curve.
2. Stress relaxation occurs: step constant strain
causes decreasing stress .
3. Creep occurs: step constant stress causes
increasing strain .
 Elastic behavior versus
viscoelastic behavior

Stress-Strain Curves for a purely elastic material (a)

and a viscoelastic material (b). The red area is a
hysteresis loop and shows the amount of energy lost
(as heat) in a loading and unloading cycle.
 Types of viscoelasticity
Linear viscoelasticity is when the function is separable
in both creep response and load . Linear viscoelasticity
is usually applicable only for small deformations .
Nonlinear viscoelasticity is when the function is not
separable. It is usually happens when the deformations
are large or if the material changes its properties under
deformations.
An anelastic material is a special case of a
viscoelastic material: an anelastic material will fully
recover to its original state on the removal of load.
 Viscoelastic creep
a) Applied stress and b) induced strain as functions
of time over a short period for a viscoelastic material.
At a time t0, a viscoelastic material
is loaded with a constant stress that
is maintained for a sufficiently long
time period. The material responds
to the stress with a strain that
increases until the material
ultimately fails. When the stress is
maintained for a shorter time
period, the material undergoes an
initial strain until a time t1, after
which the strain immediately
decreases (discontinuity) then
gradually decreases at times t > t1
When subjected to a step constant stress,
viscoelastic materials experience a time-dependent
increase in strain. This phenomenon is known as
viscoelastic creep.
Viscoelastic creep is important when considering
long-term structural design.
Thank you !