ENCE/ME2140

Department of Mechanical Engineering, SMU

Lab 1 Part A: Uniaxial Tension Tests Objective

To learn about the basic mechanical testing procedure, to determine the tensile stress strain relationship of several common engineering materials such as steel, aluminum, and brass, and to obtain their mechanical property parameters such as the modulus of elasticity (Youngs modulus), the yield stress, the ultimate stress, the ductility ratio, the modulus of resilience, and the modulus of toughness based on the uniaxial tensile stress strain data.

Materials, Tools and Equipment

Flat sheet metal tension test coupons, micrometer/caliper, ruler/tape measure, and the Instron Model 5582 Universal Materials Testing System with a 50-mm gage mechanical extensometer.

Introduction to the Testing System

Model 5582 Instron Universal Materials Testing System The universal materials testing system Model 5582 made by Instron is capable of tensile and compression testing modes within a single frame. Features of Model 5582 Materials Testing System:
Load capacity of 100kN (22,500 lbf) with load measurement accuracy: 0.4% of reading down to 1/100 of load cell capacity, 0.5% of reading down to 1/250 of load cell capacity Speed range of 0.001-500 mm/min (0.00004 20 in/min) with an accuracy of 0.1% of set speed 1309 mm x 575 mm (51.5 in x 22.6 in) test area Strain measurement accuracy: 0.5% of reading down to 1/50 of full range Total crosshead travel of 1235 mm (48.6 in) with position control resolution of 0.060 m (2.4 in) Position measurement accuracy: 0.02 mm or 0.05% of displacement (whichever is greater) Up to 500 Hz synchronous data acquisition rate for all channels Hardware control panel for operator convenience Automatic transducer recognition for load cells and extensometers Bluehill 2 Software compatibility Second test space option Library of ASTM and ISO test methods

H. Yao and W. Tong (rev. 09/2008)

ENCE/ME2140

Department of Mechanical Engineering, SMU

Load Frame: The load frame supports the crosshead during the test. The crosshead position can be adjusted for the type of test and the sample using an electromechanical driving system (consisting of preloaded ball-screws, guiding columns, and a DC servo-motor) Crosshead: The crosshead is a movable support for the load cell and takes the tensile or compressive loads applied to the sample during a test. DC Servo-Motor: The crosshead position can be adjusted using the electromechanical driving system. The control buttons for the servo-motor are on the bottom right hand side of the control panel. The scroll wheel above these buttons can adjust the position of crosshead finely. Load Cell: The load cell is attached to the moving crosshead of the Model 5582 Instron testing system. Its a transducer that is used to convert a force into an electrical voltage signal. This type of load cell can be used in both tension and compression measurements. Mechanical Extensometer: A mechanical clip-on extensometer is shown mounted to a sample with elastic rubber bands. Blade edges on the beams in contact with the sample are a defined distance apart, the gauge length, which is 50mm initially for the Model 5582 Instron testing system. The change in this length due to the deformation of the sample is measured with a strain gauge bridge fixed to a deformable component in the head of the device. Deformation causes a change in the resistance of the gauges, unbalancing the Wheatstone bridge circuit, and giving rise to an output voltage proportional to the deformation. The ratio of the change in length to the gauge length is the average strain of the sample between the blade edges. Grips: The sample grips are attached to the moving top crosshead and the fixed lower crosshead of the machine. The weight of the upper grip is part of the force seen by the load cell, and it should, therefore, be in place and without a sample at the time when the load cell is calibrated and balanced (reset to zero). During the sample loading, the jaws of the grips stay a fixed distance apart, the outer housing moving to apply a lateral force to the sample. The jaws of each grip are tightened by rotating two crossbars. When the sample experiences a uniaxial tensile force, the jaws are forced into closer contact with the sample to prevent it from slipping. The jaws have a rough sample contact surface to aid in this objective.

H. Yao and W. Tong (rev. 09/2008)

ENCE/ME2140

Department of Mechanical Engineering, SMU

Procedures of the Uniaxial Tension Testing

1. Turn on the testing machine, wait until the indicator on the left hand side of the machine counts down from 8 to 2, then run the Bluehill 2 Testing software. It will display data transfer window on the computer screen. After a loud clicking sound, the machine is prepared. 2. Click Method button in the software interface if you want to build up a new test method, otherwise click Test button and choose an existing method from the list. You can always configure and modify testing parameters later by switching to Method tab. 3. Measure and record the dimensions (in mm) of the tensile test specimen: Measure the width, thickness of five different positions along the straight gage section and get average value, measure the length of the straight gage section, measure width and length of the grip sections, as well as the total length of the tension test coupon. Keep up to 2 decimal points in the measurements if applicable. 4. Change to the proper grips or fixtures if need (depending on the overall dimensions of the test coupon and test type). Adjust the position of the crosshead so the grippers are at the distance of the tensile specimen grip section. Balance the load cell and then mount the tensile specimen by gripping its both ends with a slight pressure. Adjust the longitudinal axis of the tensile specimen to align as best as one can with the vertical (loading) direction of the Instron machine. Tighten the grips, and then mount the extensometer on the specimen. Draw two lines along the clip of the extensometer. 5. Balance the extension and the strain values inside Bluehill. Do not balance the load cell though (some small pre-load may exist and it is acceptable if it is well below the load level for causing plastic yield. Otherwise, use the specimen protect feature of the Instron/Bluehill when one mounts the tensile specimen). 6. Stay away from the Instron machine and wear safety glasses if needed. Run the uniaxial tension test via Bluehill software and monitor the progress of the test at the desktop computer. 7. When the tensile specimen is completely fractured and the Instron machine stops, wait for 10-30 seconds then stop the data acquisition in Bluehill (so there will have some data recording on zero load state upon either fracture or removal of the tensile specimen). Remove the specimen first, and then click Return button to make the crosshead revert to the original position. Measure the width and thickness dimensions of the gage section of the tension specimen. 8. If more than one specimen will be tested, mount the next specimen and repeat from step 3. Representative steel, brass and aluminum sheet metal tension coupons before and after tensile testing are shown below. If needed, one may also measure the dimensions of the fracture surfaces and study their surface roughness features by the Keyence digital microscope.

H. Yao and W. Tong (rev. 09/2008)

ENCE/ME2140

Department of Mechanical Engineering, SMU

Analysis of the Raw Test Data

After the test, the Instron machine will generate a raw test data file automatically. The software will output the raw test data as a CSV file, which can be read and edited by Microsoft Excel. Here a typical raw data file of a tensile test is used as an example to explain how to process the data. 1. Plot the Stress-Strain diagrams. Each CSV data file has 4 columns: Time(t), Load (F), Extension (LCH), and Strain ( E1 ). The Load values (in N) are from the channel of the load cell, the Extension values (in mm) are from the channel of the moving crosshead, and the Strain values (engineering strain) are from the channel of the extensometer. It should be noted that what we get from the extensometer channel, the Strain values

E1 , represent the strains between the blade edges (with an initial length of 50mm) and from E 2 of the whole specimen as

the Extension values we can obtain the approximate strains

E2 =

LCH , L0

where LCH is the extension measured from the cross-head displacement, and L0 is the gauge length of the narrower, straight central region on the specimen. We can calculate axial normal stress (engineering stress) by using

E =

F , A0

where F is the tensile axial load, A0 is the area of cross-section. We can then plot the first engineering stress-strain diagram E - E1 as well as the second engineering stress-strain diagram E - E 2 . If the

H. Yao and W. Tong (rev. 09/2008)

ENCE/ME2140

Department of Mechanical Engineering, SMU

mechanical extensometer works properly, the slight difference between these two diagrams reflects the approximate nature of the 2nd engineering stress-strain diagram (overestimated specimen displacement and underestimated specimen gage length); on the other hand, a large difference can be used to identify any potential problems in measurements of the engineering strain E1 when the mechanical extensometer has a malfunction. 2. Calculate the modulus of elasticity. The Youngs modulus of the material is the slope of elastic (and linear) deformation part on the stress-strain curve according to the Hookes law of isotropic linear elasticity. In principle, we can choose any data point on this linear elastic portion to calculate the slope

E=

E . E

In practice, we first determine the proportional limit (linear portion) of the initial part of the stress-strain curve and carry out a linear curve fitting of all data points from the starting point up to the proportional limit. After the Youngs modulus is obtained, we can get the axial stiffness of the gage section of the specimen

Ka =

EA L

3. Find out the yield point, the ultimate strength point, and the rupture point. To find out the plastic yield point, we can make a 0.2% offset line parallel to the elastic deformation portion. The equation of this line is

E = E ( E 0.002)
This straight line has an intersection point with the stress-strain curve. This intersection point is the 0.2% offset yield point. Yield strain y and yield stress y are coordinates of this point on the stress-strain diagram. The ultimate strength point is the point on the stress-strain curve where the engineering stress is maximum, and its coordinates are the uniform elongation strain u and ultimate tensile strength u, respectively. The maximum strain point (prior to the load drop to zero level) is the rupture point and the corresponding engineering strain value is the measure of total elongation. 4, Compute other material property parameters. Ductility ratio =

u y
Lr L0 100% , where Lr is the length of the gage section at fracture L0

Percent elongation % El = Yield load Py = y A

Ultimate tensile load Pu = u A Modulus of resilience U r =

y y
2

y2
2E

or U r =

1 y ( i + i 1 )( i i 1 ) , 2 i =1
5

H. Yao and W. Tong (rev. 09/2008)

ENCE/ME2140

Department of Mechanical Engineering, SMU

where iy corresponds to the data point number at the yield point Modulus of toughness U t =

1 ir ( i + i 1 )( i i 1 ) , 2 i =1

where ir corresponds the data point number at to the rupture point Bulk modulus k =

E , where is the Poissons ratio (which is not measured in this lab). 3(1 2 )
Materials Steel Aluminum Brass Poissons ratio 0.29 0.35 0.33

Comments
Test Samples: Shown below are two common sample geometries used in the tensile testing of metals. The two wide ends of these samples (the two grip sections) are held in the sample grips of the testing machine. The narrower central region (the gage section) experiences the highest stress values and the mechanical deformation takes place in this region. Flat test sample geometries are good for evaluating materials to be used in plate or sheet form, the round sample geometry is used for the same materials if they are to be used as extruded bars, forgings, or castings. Yield Point and Offset Yield Point: The point on the engineering stress-strain curve at which material behavior changes from elastic to plastic is known as the plastic Yield Point. Because of the practical difficulty of locating this point, the 0.2% Offset Yield Point is often used in tabulations of material properties of ductile metals. At the 0.2% Offset Yield Point the sample has deformed plastically to an extent that will leave the material with a permanent strain of 0.002 (0.2%) when it is unload back to zero stress. The stress, y , at which this occurs is the 0.2% Offset Yield Stress. Ultimate Tensile Strength: When a material is deformed at the given strain-rate and temperature under uniaxial tension, the engineering stress/strain curve shows a maximum engineering stress point M in the

H. Yao and W. Tong (rev. 09/2008)

ENCE/ME2140

Department of Mechanical Engineering, SMU

plastic deformation region. Past this point the engineering stress required to cause an additional strain decreases as the strain increases. If the test is carried out under load control (at a constant positive rate of

&= dF / dt ), it becomes unstable at loads greater than the load at the ultimate tensile strength axial force F
point M and complete fracture occurs shortly. Examination of the deforming sample shows that after the ultimate tensile strength point M is reached when

&= d L / dt ), a the test is done under displacement control (at a constant positive crosshead speed L
"neck" starts to form gradually in the material and the deformation is not uniform past this point, being concentrated in the high stress (a smaller cross-section area) neck region. Ductile fracture occurs eventually in this neck region. This is point F on the stress-strain diagram. Fracture: A material that fails before the onset of macroscopic plastic deformation (glass, ceramics) is said to exhibit Brittle Fracture. One that shows plastic deformation before fracture exhibits Ductile Fracture. In a uniaxial tensile test at a given strain-rate and temperature, a brittle fracture surface is smooth, approximately planar and normal to the tensile axis. Under the same conditions, a ductile material shows a rough "cup and cone" fracture surface of the type shown opposite for cylindrical tension samples with a round cross-section. In the central region, this is approximately normal to the tensile axis, but in the outer regions the failure occurs at about 45 degrees to the tensile axis, forming a cup on one surface and a cone on the other. In the picture, the final shear failure at 45 degrees to the vertical tensile axis has a region on both parts of the fractured sample. This is a common feature that depends on the details of the stress distribution in the neck region. For flat thin tension samples with a rectangular cross-section, the shear failure occurs also at approximately 45 degrees in either in-plane or out-of-plane directions. Strain Rate: Tensile or compression testing of samples is frequently performed at a constant strain rate, i.e. the material is deformed so that its engineering strain changes linearly with time.

&= Strain Rate (1/sec)

d dt

&= d L / dt is often used to In practice, the condition of a constant cross-head displacement rate L
approximate the constant strain rate loading condition. In a test situation with a known data acquisition rate, the strain rate should be chosen to provide a sufficient number of data points in the duration of the tensile test measurement to give a good description of the load deformation curve. For example, if a total of 1,000 data point is desired for measuring a stress-strain curve with the maximum strain (at the rupture point) of about 0.2 and the test is to be carried out at 0.1mm/sec for the tension coupon with a gage length of 50mm, then the minimum data acquisition rate (the number of data point sampled per second) should be at least equal to 1000 0.1/ 50 / 0.2 = 10 (Hz).

H. Yao and W. Tong (rev. 09/2008)

ENCE/ME2140

Department of Mechanical Engineering, SMU

It should be noted that material response is strain rate dependent and if very high or very low strain rates are used in a test different material property parameters may be resulted.

True Stress and True Strain: In this lab, we have used engineering stress and engineering strain that are defined as

E =

F A0

E =

L L0

In most engineering applications, these definitions are accurate enough, because the cross-sectional area and length of the specimen do not change substantially (i.e., the material deforms mostly elastically with

E : 1%) while loads are applied. In other situations, the cross-sectional area and the length of the
specimen can change substantially (say E 5%). In such cases, the engineering stress calculated using the above definition ceases to be an accurate measure. True stress and true strain measures are often used instead. The true stress is defined as the ratio of the applied load (F) to the instantaneous (current) cross-sectional area (A):

T =

F A

The true strain is defined as the sum of all the instantaneous engineering strains:

T = d =

L0

dL L = ln = ln(1 + E ) L L0

where L is the instantaneous (current) length when the loading process is underway. An approximate relation is often used to obtain the current cross-sectional area for metals from (assuming volume constancy during plastic straining)

A A0

L0 A0 = = A0 eT L 1+ E

Engineering stress can thus be converted into true stress by

T = E (1 + E )
The rupture point is the point on the stress-strain curve where strain is a maximum. The fracture stress f and fracture strain f at the rupture point can thus be determined in terms of true stress and true strain from an engineering stress-strain diagram. Initial and Subsequent Youngs Modulus of Metals after Plastic Deformation: In this lab, a thin sheet metal is tested and its initial Youngs modulus may not be able to be measured accurately if the thin sheet coupon is not quite flat or there is some residual stress due to prior thermal-mechanical treatment. An unloading and reloading step may be added in a tensile test (say after about a few percent of plastic strain) to

H. Yao and W. Tong (rev. 09/2008)

ENCE/ME2140

Department of Mechanical Engineering, SMU

straighten the tension sample and to eliminate the prior residual stress effects. Nevertheless, an accurate and reliable measurement of the Youngs modulus E of a material remains a challenge, especially at small strains and loads. An error analysis from the Hookes law shows

E=

dE E d E E d E d E d E E d E E d E = , dE = , so . = 2 2 E E E E E ( E ) ( ) E E E

So the measurement error in E is the sum of the measurement errors in stress and strain. Recall the definitions of engineering stress and strain, one has

d E

dF dA0 , F A0

d E

d ( L ) L

dL0 , L0

and finally

dE dF dA0 d ( L ) dL0 = + . E F A0 L L0
The force and displacement terms above may be highly susceptible to measurement errors when F 0 and L 0 . Crosshead Displacement and Extension of Gage Section of the Tension Coupon: In a tension test, the Instron testing machine controls the displacement of the crosshead (the upper gripper) and it records as the nominal extension LCH in the 3rd column in the CSV data file. The actual extension of the 50-mm gage section of the tension coupon is given by

LGS = 50 E1 (mm),
where E1 is the mechanical extensometer channel output (the 4th column in the CSV data file). As the machine elements between the crosshead and the fixed end (including grip sections and tapered sections of the tension coupons) but outside the gage section of the tension coupon are not rigid, there will be some deformation LM under tensile axial loading F. Assuming a linear elastic structure for the machine elements, one has

LM =

F , KM

where is the effective stiffness of the machine elements. This would be the difference between the crosshead displacement and the actual extension of the gage section

LCH = LGS + LM .
Thus, one can estimate the effective stiffness of machine elements (excluding the gage section of the tension coupon) as

KM =

F . LCH LGS

H. Yao and W. Tong (rev. 09/2008)