MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF STEEL AND CONCRETE

Report from Laboratory Demonstrations on 18 March 2016

as part of the unit of study CIVL2201 Structural Mechanics

SIONED VAUGHAN - 450349128

5/04/2016

ABSTRACT
This report describes a tension test on a steel coupon, and a compression test on a concrete cylinder.
The main aim of the tests was to obtain the stress strain curves for the two materials. Both test
methods are described.
It was found that the steel initially exhibited linear elastic behaviour, then yielding and strain
hardening. Steel had a yield stress of 434.5 MPa, an ultimate strength of 560 MPa, an elastic
modulus of 213 000 MPa, and a strain at failure of 29.92 %.
Concrete displayed non-linear behaviour with an imprecise distinction between elastic and plastic
behaviour. It had an ultimate strength of 29.94 MPa with a corresponding strain of -0.521%. Its
elastic modulus was 26 500 MPa.
Thus it was found that steel under tension was much stronger, less stiff, and more ductile than
concrete under compression,

Material Properties of Steel and Concrete (CIVL2201 Structural Mechanics 2016)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT...........................................................................................................................................1
TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................................................2
1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................3
2 Test Method.....................................................................................................................................3
2.1
Steel Tensile Coupon Test........................................................................................................3
2.2
Concrete Cylinder Compression Test......................................................................................4
3 Test Results......................................................................................................................................5
3.1
Steel Tensile Coupon Test........................................................................................................5
3.2
Concrete Cylinder Compression Test......................................................................................6
4 Discussion........................................................................................................................................7
5 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
7 Appendices......................................................................................................................................9
7.1
Steel.........................................................................................................................................9
7.2
Concrete.................................................................................................................................10
Laboratory Report Assessment Sheet...................................................................................................11

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1

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this report is to describe tests to investigate the material properties of steel in tension and
concrete in compression, and in particular, present the stress-strain curves and key strength, stiffness
and ductility properties.
It is crucial to know these fundamental properties as they will inform decisions in structure design by
providing the thresholds for the deformation of a member at any given force, and the observations
made within the test can help engineers to look for the warning signs of failure. Additionally, they
can be used as a baseline in manufacturing to determine whether particular processes are weakening
or strengthening the materials. In particular, youngs modulus for concrete can vary significantly, and
so efficient testing of various compositions is important to ensure the actual properties for a
particular structure are the same or greater than the theoretical values. Knowing the strength,
stiffness and ductility of steel and concrete means that they can be used appropriately in engineering
design.
2

TEST METHOD

2.1

STEEL TENSILE COUPON TEST

Tensile coupons were cut from cold-formed steel channel sections. A typical coupon is shown in
Figure 1. The specimens were tested in the 300 kN Sintech Testing Machine in the School of Civil
Engineering. The coupon was secured with a pair of vice grips (see fig. 2). An extensometer was
attached with a gauge length of 25mm to measure the deformation. The machine was started,
applying a vertical pull on the coupon, gradually increasing in force. Point data on the load and
elongation was then collected through a computer interface which collated the information into a
graph as the test was run. The test then continued until failure.

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Material Properties of Steel and Concrete (CIVL2201 Structural Mechanics 2016)

Figure 1: Detail of the Steel Coupons

Figure 2: Schematic detail of steel tensile coupon test

2.2

CONCRETE CYLINDER COMPRESSION TEST

Concrete cylinders from previous investigations were tested in compression. The age of the
specimens were unknown. The test was carried out in a 2000 kN capacity DARTEC testing machine.
A diagram of the test set-up is shown in Figure 3. The concrete cylinder was placed onto the base and
the compressor lowered until contact was made then the downwards load was increased gradually
until concrete failure. Data was collected on the load and the shortening of the concrete cylinder
through a computer interface.

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Material Properties of Steel and Concrete (CIVL2201 Structural Mechanics 2016)

Figure 3: Schematic detail of concrete cylinder compression test

TEST RESULTS

3.1
STEEL TENSILE COUPON TEST
The coupon was tested until failure. Failure occurred gradually, with necking at the centre of the
specimen preceding ultimate failure. There was elongation of the coupon as the load increased. This
data was used to create a stress-strain curve (Fig 4 and 5) by utilising the geometrical properties of
the specimens in the formulas Stress =F / A and Strain= L/ L . The raw data and sample
calculations can be seen in the appendix.
The elastic modulus, yield stress and strain, and ultimate stress were calculated from the stress-strain
curve (table 1). The point at which the graph becomes horizontal at approximately =0.002 seen in
Figure 2 was used as the yield point in order to determine yield stress and strain, and to calculate the
slope of the linear increase for youngs modulus. Steels behaviour can be divided into three stages:
linear elastic deformation (figure 5); a yield plateau, where strain continued to increase without any
increase in stress, and strain hardening, where plastic deformation occurred. It was found that the
elastic modulus was 213 000MPa, and the yield stress was 434.5MPa. Ultimate failure occurred after
a long period of plastic deformation at a stress of 560MPa and strain of 29.92%

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Material Properties of Steel and Concrete (CIVL2201 Structural Mechanics 2016)

600
500
400

Stress (MPa) 300

200
100
0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

Strain
Figure 4: Complete stress-strain curve for steel under tension.

500
450
400
350
300

Stress (MPa) 250

200
150
100
50
0

0.01

Strain
Figure 5: Stress-strain curve for steel, when strain is between 0 and 0.005. This is a closer look at the elastic deformation and yield
plateau

Material
Steel

Youngs Modulus
E (MPa)
213 000

Yield Stress
fy (MPa)
434.5

Ultimate Stress
fu (MPa)
560

Strain at failure
ef (%)
29.92

Table 1: Material properties of the steel coupon under tension

3.2
CONCRETE CYLINDER COMPRESSION TEST
The concrete cylinder was compressed until failure, which occurred fairly suddenly. At failure, the
concrete fragmented along the edges leaving a rough conical shape at the top of the base section. The
load displacement data (Appendix 2) was interpreted using a stress-strain curve (fig. 6), and from the
curve, youngs modulus, ultimate stress and strain at failure were determined. Yield stress was not
considered for the concrete test since there is no clear distinction between the elastic and plastic
deformation, and concretes behaviour was non-linear.

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Material Properties of Steel and Concrete (CIVL2201 Structural Mechanics 2016)

The calculated properties of concrete can be seen in table 2 below. The first four data points in the
stress-strain curve were chosen as the most linear and used to calculate youngs modulus. It was
found that the concrete cylinder had a youngs modulus of 26 500MPa under compression, and an
ultimate stress of 29.94MPa. The strain at failure was a shortening of 0.521%
35
30
25
20

Stress (MPa)

15
10
5
0

0.01

0.01

Strain
Figure 6: Stress-strain curve for the compressio of a concrete cylinder

Material
Concrete

Youngs Modulus
E (MPa)
26 500

Ultimate Stress
fu (MPa)
29.94

Strain at failure
ef (%)
-0.521

Table 2: Material properties of concrete under compression

4
DISCUSSION
It is evident in the stress strain curves (figs. 4 & 6) that the behaviour of steel and concrete is very
different, with steel undergoing linear elastic deformation then yielding, and concrete undergoing
non-linear deformation with an imprecise approximation of the elastic-plastic deformation boundary.
The elastic modulus of steel was much higher than that of concrete (table 3), indicating that concrete
is much stiffer than steel. This is also corroborated by the strain at failure, which indicates that
concrete had deformed much less than steel when it broke, meaning steel is much more ductile than
concrete. However it is clear from figure 4 that most of the deformation steel undergoes is after the
yield plateau, and therefore plastic deformation. In this period, steel undergoes strain hardening, and
is strengthened, enabling it to endure a very large deformation under tension (almost a third of its
length) before breaking. This gives steel a large safety limit, though it should never be used in a
situation where it will undergo plastic deformation.
Concrete is not as strong as steel, as indicated by the ultimate stress. While steel failed at 560MPa,
concrete failed at 29.94MPa. Furthermore, steels yield stress was also very high, at 434.5MPa. This
indicates that steel can take a high load while still undergoing reversible elastic deformation. This is
an important factor since, in use, steel must have an allowable load limit that is well within the
elastic range. Thus steel can bear a higher load than concrete.
Material

Youngs Modulus

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Yield Stress

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Ultimate Stress

Strain at failure

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Material Properties of Steel and Concrete (CIVL2201 Structural Mechanics 2016)

Steel
Concrete

E (MPa)
213 000
26 500

fy (MPa)
434.5
-

fu (MPa)
560
29.94

ef (%)
29.92
-0.521

Table 3: Properties of Steel and Concrete

CONCLUSION

Although concrete under compression is much stiffer than steel under tension, steel is still much
stronger. This will inform decisions in the use of steel and concrete, as it has been discovered that
steel can bear a higher load than concrete. However steel will also experience a much greater
deformation, which will need to be taken into account in its use. The results of this experiment aid in
understanding the properties and uses of steel and concrete, however the yield and ultimate stresses
and strains only apply to steel under tension and concrete under compression and for a more
complete understanding of the materials, they should each be tested under both tension and
compression, as well as other types of deformation, such as bending.

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7

APPENDICES

7.1
STEEL
Data
Extension and load were measured experimentally, stress and strain were calculated.
Extension Load
Stress
Strain
(mm)
(kN)
(MPa)
2.5263E-05 0.00046 0.00929797 1.01052E4
6
06
0.003
1.300
26.0836366 0.00012715
7
3
0.005
1.983
39.7815023 0.00018623
2
2
0.006
2.682
53.7956413 0.00024558
8
2
0.010
4.225
84.7553861 0.00038363
8
1
0.011
5.012
100.543214 0.00045987
9
1
0.014
5.907
118.491071 0.0005429
7
0.016
7.072
141.862872 0.00064431
5
4
0.018
8.015
160.770487 0.00073619
9
5
0.024
10.418
208.986249 0.00095820
8
0.031
13.358
267.956596 0.00123490
8
5
0.038
16.199
324.954558 0.00152296
6
3
0.045
18.936
379.850470 0.00178021
5
3
0.051
21.660
434.493973 0.00203898
8
3
0.059
21.721
435.723392 0.00235749
2
5
0.065
21.741
436.122199 0.0025982
1
0.153
21.773
436.755939 0.00611479
6
1
0.522
21.885
439.010075 0.02087467
1
7
0.712
22.335
448.041865 0.02846529
1
6
0.750
22.722
455.802723 0.03000030
5
0.826
23.896
479.353631 0.03302460
7
9

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Material Properties of Steel and Concrete (CIVL2201 Structural Mechanics 2016)

1.131

24.803

1.474

25.940

1.941

26.480

2.315

27.053

2.779

27.592

3.465

27.765

4.153

27.925

4.793

27.909

5.493

27.343

6.176

26.124

6.866

22.203

7.480

18.138

497.543360
9
520.347736
6
531.189037
7
542.671102
4
553.496185
556.952469
3
560.166082
4
559.855051
2
548.488537
9
524.035532
5
445.383456
1
363.846940
8

0.04524154
5
0.05897871
4
0.07763574
3
0.09259907
1
0.11117461
9
0.13860168
3
0.16611097
5
0.19172569
5
0.21970186
5
0.24704489
9
0.27464340
4
0.29919583
2

Cross-Sectional Area = 12.37mm*4.03mm

Gauge Length = 25mm
Example Calculations
Stress, f = Force/Area = (1.3*1000)/(12.37*4.03) = 26.08363667MPa
Strain, = L/L = 0003/25 = 0.000127153
Elastic Modulus, E = 434.49397/0.002038983 = 213 093.47

7.2
CONCRETE
Data
Extension and load were measured experimentally, stress and strain were calculated.
Load Shortening Stress
Strain
(kN)
(mm)
(MPa)
0.00
0
0
0
62.42 0.0483848 7.82152 0.00024
9
2
102.5 0.0877821 12.8506 0.00044
5
7
9
142.8 0.1348632 17.8958 0.00067
1
5
8
5
165.0 0.1703841 20.6816 0.00085
4
7
9
3
187.0 0.21153469 23.4344 0.00105

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1
212.2
0
225.0
0
233.1
4
237.6
2
238.8
9
235.2
1
229.5
5
220.5
7
198.7
1
170.2
3
132.0
4
90.48

3
26.5910
3
28.1950
6
29.2143
7
29.7763

9
0.2710986
0.00135
4
8
0.3172383
0.00158
6
9
0.3704465
0.00185
3
5
0.4268736
0.00213
4
8
0.4774628 29.9360 0.00239
4
6
1
0.5267608 29.4743 0.00263
5
1
8
0.5742979 28.7645 0.00287
7
5
6
0.6366945 27.6396 0.00318
9
5
8
0.73770611 24.9009 0.00369
4
0.8352196 21.3319 0.00418
7
1
2
0.9490776 16.5459 0.00475
1
5
3
1.0401325 11.33766 0.00520
8
Diameter = 100.8mm
Height = 199.7mm
Example Calculations
Stress, f = Force/Area = (62.42*1000)/((/4)*100.8^2) = 7.82MPa
Strain, = L/L = 0.04838489/199.7 = 0.00044
Elastic Modulus, E = 17.8958778/0.000675329= 26 499.496

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LABORATORY REPORT ASSESSMENT SHEET
Each student should swap their report with a colleague, read each others report, and make comments
below. Staple your colleagues assessment of your report with your own submission. Since it is
likely your colleague will make hand written comments, then this sheet only needs to be included
with the hard copy printed submission, not the online submission. As a guide, an assessor should
take about 15-30 minutes to read the report and write comments.
Name of Report Author: Sioned Vaughan
Name of Assessor: Amelia Measday
Ratings (tick the relevant boxes)
Excellent
Presentation
Interpretation
X
Calculations

Good

Satisfactory

Poor

X
X

Explanation of your ratings (this section should give specific examples that justify the ratings
given in the table above)
Specific aspects of the report that the assessor likes.

I specifically liked how she interpreted the graphs. I like how she expressed the distinction between the
elastic behaviour of the two materials. That she highlighted the difference between the steel also being
linear and that there was a very clear distinction between the elastic and plastic behaviour. Where on the
other hand the concrete had no such clear distinction. So I liked how she compared the graphs and
pointed out their differences.

Specific aspects of the report that need improvement.

I think the calculations could have been more detailed to make the process of finding the results a little
clearer. The diagrams could have been a little clearer too. Otherwise I thought it was a very good report!

The assessment should be made according to the standards given in the handout Laboratory
Sessions Information, Marking Criteria and Report Writing. The aim of this exercise is to
improve each students writing skills by assessing the good (and bad) aspects of another report, and
by obtaining peer feedback on the quality of their own work.

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