CHAPTER 6:

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
ISSUES TO ADDRESS...
Stress and strain: What are they and why are
they used instead of load and deformation?
Elastic behavior: When loads are small, how much
deformation occurs? What materials deform least?
Plastic behavior: At what point do dislocations
cause permanent deformation? What materials are
most resistant to permanent deformation?
Toughness and ductility: What are they and how
do we measure them?
Chapter 6- 1

Chapter 6- 2

6.1 Introduction

Mechanical properties:
strength,hardness,ductility,stiffness.
ASTM: American society for testing and
materials

Chapter 6- 3

Elastic Deformation
1. Initial

2. Small load

3. Unload

bonds
stretch
return to
initial

Linearelastic

Elastic means reversible!

Non-Linearelastic
Chapter 6- 4

Plastic Deformation (Metals)

1. Initial

2. Small load
bonds
stretch
& planes
shear
elastic + plastic

3. Unload
planes
still
sheared
plastic

F
F
Plastic means permanent!

linear
elastic

linear
elastic

plastic

displacement
Chapter 6- 5

6.2 Concepts of Stress and Strain

A load applied in three ways: Fig 6.1

1.tension 2.compression3.shear
Tension Tests: Fig 6.2 and Fig 6.3

Chapter 6- 6

Chapter 6- 7

Stress-Strain Testing
Typical tensile test
machine

extensometer

Typical tensile
specimen

specimen

Adapted from
Fig. 6.2,
Callister 7e.

gauge
length

Adapted from Fig. 6.3, Callister 7e. (Fig. 6.3 is taken from H.W.
Hayden, W.G. Moffatt, and J. Wulff, The Structure and Properties of
Materials, Vol. III, Mechanical Behavior, p. 2, John Wiley and Sons,
New York, 1965.)

Chapter 6- 8

Engineering Stress
Tensile stress, :

Shear stress, :

Ft

Ft
Area, A

Area, A

Ft
Ft
lb f
N
= 2 or
=
2
in
m
Ao
original area
before loading

F
Fs

Fs
Fs
=

Ao

Stress has units:

N/m2 or lbf/in2

Ft

Chapter 6- 9

Common States of Stress

Simple tension: cable

A o = cross sectional
area (when unloaded)

Ao

Torsion (a form of shear): drive shaft

Ac
M

Fs

Ski lift

(photo courtesy
P.M. Anderson)

Ao
Fs

Ao

2R

Note: = M/AcR here.

Chapter 6- 10

OTHER COMMON STRESS STATES (1)

Simple compression:

Ao

Canyon Bridge, Los Alamos, NM

(photo courtesy P.M. Anderson)

Balanced Rock, Arches

National Park
(photo courtesy P.M. Anderson)

Ao

Note: compressive
structure member
( < 0 here).

Chapter 6- 11

OTHER COMMON STRESS STATES (2)

Bi-axial tension:

Pressurized tank
(photo courtesy
P.M. Anderson)

Hydrostatic compression:

Fish under water

> 0
z > 0

(photo courtesy
P.M. Anderson)

h< 0
Chapter 6- 12

Engineering Strain
Tensile strain:

Lateral strain:
/2

Lo

wo

Shear strain:

L
L
wo

Lo

L /2

= x/y = tan

x
90 -

y
90

Strain is always
dimensionless.

Adapted from Fig. 6.1 (a) and (c), Callister 7e.

Chapter 6- 13

Shear and Torsional Tests

= F/A0 shear stress

1 cos 2
(6.4a )
2

sin 2
' sin cos
(6.4b)
2

' cos 2

Adapted from Fig.

7.9, Callister 6e.
(Fig. 7.9 is from
C.F. Elam, The

Distortion of
Metal Crystals,

Oxford University
Press, London,
1935.)

Chapter 6- 14

6.3 Stress-Strain Behavior

1. = E (6.5)
E:modulus of elasticity or Youngs modulus(GPa)

2.Elastic deformation:stress and strain are proportional

3.The greater the modulus, the stiffer the material.

Chapter 6- 15

Chapter 6- 16

Chapter 6- 17

Chapter 6- 18

Mechanical Properties
Slope of stress strain plot (which is
proportional to the elastic modulus)
depends on bond strength of metal

dF

dr

r0

Adapted from Fig. 6.7,

Callister 7e.

Chapter 6- 19

Chapter 6- 20

6.5 ELASTIC PROPERTIES of

Materials

Modulus of Elasticity, E:

Hooke's Law:

=E

(also known as Young's modulus)

Linearelastic

Units:
E: [GPa] or [psi]

F
simple
tension
test

Chapter 6- 21

Chapter 6- 22

 Poissons ratio

metals: ~ 0.33
ceramics: ~0.25
polymers: ~0.40

: dimensionless

= 0.25 for isotropic materials

E = 2G(1+) (6.9)
Chapter 6- 23

YOUNGS MODULI: COMPARISON

Metals
Alloys
1200
1000
800
600
400

E(GPa)

200
100
80
60
40

109 Pa

Graphite
Composites
Ceramics Polymers
/fibers
Semicond
Diamond

Tungsten
Molybdenum
Steel, Ni
Tantalum
Platinum
Cu alloys
Zinc, Ti
Silver, Gold
Aluminum
Magnesium,
Tin

Si carbide
Al oxide
Si nitride

Carbon fibers only

CFRE(|| fibers)*

<111>

Si crystal

Aramid fibers only

<100>

AFRE(|| fibers)*

Glass-soda

Glass fibers only

GFRE(|| fibers)*
Concrete
GFRE*

20
10
8
6
4
2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2

CFRE*
GFRE( fibers)*

Graphite

Polyester
PET
PS
PC

CFRE( fibers)*
AFRE( fibers)*

Epoxy only

Eceramics
> Emetals
>> Epolymers
Based on data in Table B2,
Callister 6e.
Composite data based on
reinforced epoxy with 60 vol%
of aligned
carbon (CFRE),
aramid (AFRE), or
glass (GFRE)
fibers.

PP
HDPE
PTFE
LDPE

Wood( grain)

Chapter 6- 24

Chapter 6- 25

Chapter 6- 26

Plastic Deformation
6.6 Tensile Properties Yielding and Yield strength
Plastic deformation:the stress no longer proportional to
strain, and permanent nonrecoverable
Yielding:plastic deformation begins

Chapter 6- 27

Chapter 6- 28

YIELD STRENGTH: COMPARISON

Metals/
Alloys

200

Al (6061)ag
Steel (1020)hr
Ti (pure)a
Ta (pure)
Cu (71500)hr

100
70
60
50
40

Al (6061)a

30
20

10

Tin (pure)

dry

PC
Nylon 6,6
PET
humid
PVC
PP
HDPE

LDPE

Hard to measure,

300

in ceramic matrix and epoxy matrix composites, since

in tension, fracture usually occurs before yield.

700
600
500
400

Ti (5Al-2.5Sn)a
W (pure)
Cu (71500)cw
Mo (pure)
Steel (4140)a
Steel (1020)cd

since in tension, fracture usually occurs before yield.

1000

Composites/
fibers

Steel (4140)qt

Hard to measure,

Yield strength, y (MPa)

2000

Graphite/
Ceramics/ Polymers
Semicond

y(ceramics)
>>y(metals)
>> y(polymers)
Room T values
Based on data in Table B4,
Callister 6e.
a = annealed
hr = hot rolled
ag = aged
cd = cold drawn
cw = cold worked
qt = quenched & tempered

Chapter 6- 29

Tensile Strength, TS
Maximum stress on engineering stress-strain curve.
Adapted from Fig. 6.11,
Callister 7e.

TS

F = fracture or
ultimate
strength

engineering
stress

Typical response of a metal

Neck acts
as stress
concentrator

strain
engineering strain
Metals: occurs when noticeable necking starts.
Polymers: occurs when polymer backbone chains are
aligned and about to break.

Chapter 6- 30

Chapter 6- 31

345MPa

150

Chapter 6- 32

Chapter 6- 33

Ductility()

Ductility is a measure of the degree of plastic deformation

that has been sustained at fracture.
Percent elongation or percent reduction in area
percent elongation

percent reduction in area

l f l0
100
% EL
l
0

% RA

A A
A
0

100

Chapter 6- 34

DUCTILITY, %EL
L f Lo
x100
Plastic tensile strain at failure: %EL
Lo
Engineering
tensile
stress,
Adapted from Fig. 6.13,

smaller %EL
(brittle if %EL<5%)

Lo

larger %EL
(ductile if
%EL>5%)

Ao

Af

Lf

Callister 6e.

Engineering tensile strain,

Another ductility measure:

% RA

Ao Af
Ao

x100

Note: %RA and %EL are often comparable.

--Reason: crystal slip does not change material volume.
--%RA > %EL possible if internal voids form in neck.
Chapter 6- 35

Chapter 6- 36

Chapter 6- 37

Temperature effect on the stress-strain behavior

Chapter 6- 38

Resilience:
The capacity of a material to absorb energy when
it is deformed elastically and then, unloading, to
have this energy recovered.

Linear elastic region:

d
0

1
y y
2

Chapter 6- 39

Toughness()

It is a measure of the ability of a material to

absorb energy up to fracture.
Figure 6.13:the area under curve
Section 8.6 :impact fracture testing
Charpy,Izod

Chapter 6- 40

Chapter 6- 41

Chapter 6- 42

LOADING RATE
Increased loading rate...
--increases y and TS
--decreases %EL

Why? An increased rate

gives less time for disl. to
move past obstacles.

Impact loading:

TS
larger
TS

smaller

sample

(Charpy)

--severe testing case

--more brittle
--smaller toughness
Adapted from Fig. 8.11(a) and
(b), Callister 6e. (Fig. 8.11(b)
is adapted from H.W. Hayden,
W.G. Moffatt, and J. Wulff, The

Structure and Properties of

Materials, Vol. III, Mechanical
Behavior, John Wiley and
Sons, Inc. (1965) p. 13.)

final height

initial height

Chapter 6- 43

TOUGHNESS
Energy to break a unit volume of material
Approximate by the area under the stress-strain
curve. (Figure 6.13)
Engineering
tensile
stress,

smaller toughness (ceramics)

larger toughness
(metals, PMCs)
smaller toughnessunreinforced
polymers

Engineering tensile strain,

Chapter 6- 44

6.7 True Stress and Strain

true stress

true strain

Al Al
i

ln l i

0 0

No Volume change

1
ln1
Chapter 6- 45

KT

n: strain hardening exponent

Chapter 6- 46

HARDENING
An increase in y due to plastic deformation.

large hardening

y
1
y

small hardening
reload

unloa
d

Curve fit to the stress-strain response:

T C T
rue?stress (F/A)

hardening exponent:
n=0.15 (some steels)
to n=0.5 (some copper)
rue?strain: ln(L/Lo)
Chapter 6- 47

Table 6.4

Chapter 6- 48

Chapter 6- 49

6.8 Elastic Recovery after Plastic Deformation

Chapter 6- 50

6.10 Hardness
Hardness is a measure of a materials resistance to localized
plastic deformation.()

Hardness tests are performed more frequently

than any other mechanical test for several reasons:
1.They are simple and inexpensive
2.The test is nondestructive
3.Other mechanical properties often may be estimated
from hardness data, such as tensile strength(Fig 6.19)

Chapter 6- 51

HARDNESS
Resistance to permanently indenting the surface.
Large hardness means:
--resistance to plastic deformation or cracking in
compression.
--better wear properties.
e.g.,
10mm sphere

apply known force

(1 to 1000g)

D
most
plastics

measure size
of indent after
removing load
Smaller indents
mean larger
hardness.

brasses easy to machine

Al alloys steels
file hard

cutting
tools

nitrided
steels
diamond

increasing hardness
Adapted from Fig. 6.18, Callister 6e. (Fig. 6.18 is adapted from G.F. Kinney, Engineering Properties
and Applications of Plastics, p. 202, John Wiley and Sons, 1957.)

Chapter 6- 52

Hardness: Measurement
Rockwell
No major sample damage
Each scale runs to 130 but only useful in range 20100.
Minor load 10 kg
Major load 60 (A), 100 (B) & 150 (C) kg
A = diamond, B = 1/16 in. ball, C = diamond

HB = Brinell Hardness
TS (psia) = 500 x HB
TS (MPa) = 3.45 x HB
Chapter 6- 53

Table 6.5

Chapter 6- 54

Table 6.6a

Chapter 6- 55

Table 6.6b

Chapter 6- 56

Hardness Conversion

Chapter 6- 57

Chapter 6- 58

Correlation between hardness and

tensile strength

TS(MPa) = 3.45 HB
TS(psi) = 500 HB

Fig 6.19 steels alloys

Chapter 6- 59

SUMMARY
Stress and strain: These are size-independent
measures of load and displacement, respectively.
Elastic behavior: This reversible behavior often
shows a linear relation between stress and strain.
To minimize deformation, select a material with a
large elastic modulus (E or G).
Plastic behavior: This permanent deformation
behavior occurs when the tensile (or compressive)
uniaxial stress reaches y.
Toughness: The energy needed to break a unit
volume of material.
Ductility: The plastic strain at failure.
Note: For materials selection cases related to
mechanical behavior, see slides 22-4 to 22-10.

Chapter 6- 60