ANESU KUSAKARA

BEMC
C15125788N
CUPE127
ENGINEERING MATERIALS

ical Properties of Engineering Ma

Contents
Abstract.................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction............................................................................................................. 2
Charpy impact toughness testing.....................................................................2
Tensile testing experiment................................................................................. 2
Torsional rigidity.................................................................................................. 2
Creep in Materials............................................................................................... 2
Conclusion................................................................................................................ 2

Abstract
A series of experiments were carried out to test some of the mechanical properties
of normalized EN8 steel and annealed BS1476 HE14 aluminum alloys specimen. The
mechanical properties in particular are impact toughness, tensile strength, stressstrain relationships for metals in shear, torsional rigidity and creep. From the
obtained results for each specimen it was concluded that these properties are
different for each material being tested. Therefore, it is important that before
mechanical design, the material should be tested to make sure that their attributes
match the objectives of the design.

Introduction
Engineering materials react to environments they are subjected to depending on
the material composition and how the material was manufactured. In order to select
the optimum materials for mechanical design, the mechanical properties of the
material should be well known. This is achieved through testing of these properties

Charpy impact toughness testing

Toughness is a measure of the resistance of a material to the propagation of a
crack.to test for impact toughness, the dimensions of a v-notched specimen were
taken. The specimen was inserted in the charpy equipment and subjected to a
sudden impact and energy absorbed to fracture the specimen was recorded. The
results showed that the specimen of steel absorbed more energy compared to
aluminum though aluminum I less brittle.

Tensile testing experiment

To measure the properties, the dimensions of the specimen were taken. The
specimen was inserted in a Hounsfield tensometer and a load was applied till the
specimen fractured whilst a load-extension chart was plotted on the recorder. the
elongation and area reduction at fracture was noted and compared to the original
dimensions to give percentage elongation and reduction at fracture respectively.
These results provide information about the yield strength of the two specimens.

Torsional rigidity
The dimensions of the steel specimen were taken before being inserted into a
torsiometer. The torsiometer provides more accurate measurements of strain over a
precise gauge length. The strain was measured accurately in both the elastic and
plastic regions and the modulus of rigidity determined from the results of angle of
twist against torque.

Creep in Materials
Creep is a time dependent process where a material under an applied stress
exhibits a dimensional change. The test was carried out by applying a constant load
to a plastic specimen and increase in strain with time was observed. An extension
against time curve is then plotted.

Conclusion
From the obtained results it can be concluded that utmost care must be taken in the
early stages of manufacture of a material. Careful handling of a material should be
done to prevent unnecessary mechanical damage. Most importantly, appropriate
material selection process must be done to choose a suitable material for the
intended load and one should never underestimate a load.