Engineering Properties of Materials

ME10001: Experimentation, engineering skills & applied

engineering
Charles Courtney
Fedra Zaribaf
Holly Pearce

1
Structure
Objectives
Material Parameters and Stress-Strain Curves
Elastic behaviour
Plastic behaviour

Properties of metals
Properties of polymers
Material testing
Figures

2
 Mechanical properties objectives
This experiment will enable definition and
measurement of :
Strength (tensile and yield strength)

Stiffness (elastic or Youngs modulus)

Ductility (plastic deformation) vs brittleness

Elongation (% at failure)

3
Stress and Strain

Consider bar of length, L, and cross section, A, fixed

at one end.
Force, F, is applied at free end and bar extends by L

Stress, =


Strain, =

 Stress-Strain curves
Necking starts
STRESS (MPa)

TS

REGION I REGION II REGION III

YIELD
l0 + le
FAILURE or FRACTURE
l0 + le + lp

Region I : Elastic Deformation

Hookes Law
E Region II: Uniform Plastic Deformation
Strain is uniform across material
Region III: Non-uniform Plastic Deformation
Deformation is limited to neck region

STRAIN (% or dimensionless)

l0
YIELD TS
5
Plastic deformation
Elastic + Plastic
stress, s

permanent (plastic)

plastic strain ep strain, e

Plastic means permanent!

Occurs when yield stress exceeded
6
Youngs Modulus
Symbol: E or Y
Measures stiffness
Defines behaviour in the
elastic region
Gradient of stress-strain
curve in linear region

=

Copper: E =120 GPa
1 GPa = 1109 Pa
Elastic deformation is reversible
Determined by nature of When stress is released material
atomic bonds in material returns to original shape
Yield stress and ultimate tensile stress
STRESS (MPa)

Yield stress: u
Stress at which plastic
deformation occurs
Y
Practical limit for most
FAILURE or
applications FRACTURE
Ultimate tensile
stress:
Stress at which complete
failure occurs
STRAIN (% or
dimensionless)

Y u
8
Ductility and elongation percentage
Elongation percentage
(or breaking strain)
gives change in length
at which fracture occurs
Ductile: large breaking
strain, easy to plastically
deform. E.g. copper:
20%
Brittle: small breaking
strain, breaks rather than
Breaking Breaking
deform plastically. E.g. Strain (brittle) Strain (ductile)
Cast Iron: 0.5%
 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.
Important parameters: Elastic Modulus, E

Plastic behavior: This permanent deformation

behaviour occurs when the tensile (or compressive)
uniaxial stress reaches Y.
Important parameters: Yield Strength, Y
Ultimate Tensile Strength,
Elongation percentage/breaking strain

All these properties are controlled by the

atomic structure and microstructure of the
different classes of materials 10
METALS

11
Elastic deformation of metals
1. Initial 2. Small load 3. Unload

bonds
stretch

return to
initial
d
F F Linear-
Elastic means reversible! elastic
Elastic behavior determined
by atomic bonds
d
12
Plastic deformation of metals bonds
stretch
& planes
Elastic + Plastic shear
stress, s

planes
remain
sheared
permanent (plastic)
Elastic
plastic strain ep strain, e

Plastic means permanent!

Plastic behaviour determined by microstructure
13
Plastic deformation of metals
Movement of planes of atoms over each other
Allows plastic deformations
Many ways of changing microstructure to make slip
harder and make material stronger
Work hardening
Alloying
Heat treatments
Examples
Pure Aluminium
E = 69 GPa, sy = 28 MPa
Aluminium alloy (0.6 % Si, 1% Mg)
E = 70 GPa, sy = 130 MPa
Heat Treated Aluminium alloy (0.6 % Si, 1% Mg)
E = 70 GPa, sy = 270 MPa
POLYMERS

15
Polymer molecules
Composed of structural entities, mer units that are repeated
Polymer = many parts
Polymerisation is the chemical process that causes a large
number of monomers to combine to form the polymer.

16
Types of polymer structure

Linear
Branched

Cross linked
Networked
Stress strain for semicrystalline polymer

 Mechanical properties
A. Brittle polymer
B. Semicrystalline polymer
C. Elastomer

The mechanical properties (including Youngs modulus) of

polymers can vary dramatically based on the molecular
structure of the material
STRESS STRAIN TESTING

20
 Stress-Strain Testing
Measures load required tensile specimen
for given extension

extensometer specimen

Applies extension

gauge
length

tensile test machine

21
Ductile and Brittle Fracture

Laboratory testing to investigate and compare the

properties of two metals and two types of polymer.

Two metal alloys: extensometer specimen

0.1 wt% carbon content steel and 2011-T3

aluminium alloy

Two types of polymer:

Nylon and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA, acrylic)

A nice figure
Labelled axes (including
units)
Sensible units and sig.
figs
No title
Descriptive caption
Legible text: Text in Figure 12. Path of 10 m polystyrene sphere in acoustic
radiation field. Circles are experimental values; solid line is
figure should the solution to equation (6.2) with F0 determined by root
mean squared error (r.m.s.e.) minimization.
approximately same size
as body text.
23
 Ductile and Brittle Fracture
Learning outcomes:
An understanding of engineering properties and how to measure them.

The need to use an extensometer for accurate recording.

An understanding of how the mechanical properties are a function of the atomic

structure and microstructure of the material.

An understanding of the units used.

An understanding of the terms:

Tensile strength
Yield strength
Elastic modulus (Youngs Modulus)
Elastic and plastic deformation
Elongation (% at failure)

Stiff materials are not always strong and strong materials are not always stiff!