T.C.

İZMİR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

ME 409

Mechanical Engineering Laboratory

“ TENSION TEST ”

Özge A.

2009, December 14

İZMİR

1. Objective

The objectives of this lab are:

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 • to perform tension tests on aluminum/steel to gain an appreciation of tensile
testing equipment and procedures
• to examine the resulting stress-strain curve to gain an appreciation of the
tensile behavior of the tested material and to identify/calculate the significant
mechanical properties of the tested material
• to compare the physical tensile-failure characteristics of the metal

1. Apparatus

A 150 kN capacity electro-mechanically operated universal tension/compression

load frame will be used to test the tensile specimens. The applied load on the
specimen is determined indirectly from a tensile load cell.

• A caliper will be used to measure the dimensions of the test specimens.

• The elongation of the loaded test specimen will be determined indirectly by
using an extensometer.
• A computer data-acquisition system will be used to generate load and
displacement data.

1. Materials
6063 Aluminum or 304 stainless steel.

2. Analysis of Results
EXCEL TABLES AND CALCULATIONS

Table 1

Gauge Length Wo
Sample Code to(mm) Wf(mm) tf(mm) Lf(mm)
(Go) (mm)

12,43 3,98 10,58 1,25

Aluminum al-2 41,15 12,45 3,99 10,78 1,29
12,5 3,97 10,41 1,23
mean values 12,46 3,98 10,59 1,25667 214,5
Gauge
Length Ao Af
Reduced section(f,mm) (Gf,mm) (mm2) (mm2) 
e,max
100 50,56 49,5908 13,3081 92,9324

a. Determination of the tensile strength ( σu )

The ultimate tensile strength (UTS, σu) is the maximum load sustained by the
specimen divided by the original specimen cross-sectional area. As can be easily
seen in Figure 1, the maximum point of the Engineering stress-strain curve for Al
corresponds to σu =92,9 MPa and this is the ultimate tensile strength of Al.

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 Figure 1 Engineering stress-strain curve of Al

Figure 2 Engineering stress-strain curve and stoke versus engineering strain

b. Calculation of the maximum load (Pmax).

σu=PmaxA0
92,9 MPa=Pmax49,5908 mm2
Pmax=4608,59 N

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 c. Calculation of the Modulus of Elasticity (E).
In the early (low strain) portion of the curve, many materials obey Hooke’s law
to a reasonable approximation, so that stress is proportional to strain with the
constant of proportionality being the modulus of elasticity or Young’s modulus,
denoted E:

σe=E.ϵe

Figure 3 calculation of modulus elasticity,E.

As can be seen in

, I specified two points on the elastic region which are not at either the top or
bottom and these points are (0,001215; 50,4677) and (0,0003797; 16,1950). Also I
use excel to draw a linear line of these specified data region, the line equation is y =
42159x - 0,1198, y is the engineering stress and x is engineering strain. The slope of
this line is ⁄dx , its value gives us the Modulus of Elasticity, E.

dydx=42159

E=42159 MPa

Furthermore, Modulus of Elasticity, E can be calculated from the two specified

points from the relation given below,

E=σ1-σ2ϵ1-ϵ2

With this relation we find a closer value of E that was calculated from the slope
of the line.
E=σ1-σ2ϵ1-ϵ2=50,4677-16,19500,001215-0,0003797

E=41030 MPa

I think the first method is more reliable because the line includes much more
than two data points.
“0-strain” location on the strain axis is the x value when y=0 in the equation of line,
y = 42159x - 0,1198.
If y=0
0 = 42159x - 0,1198
x=2,84*10-6 is the “0-strain” location.

d. Determination/calculation of the yield strength, σY , for Al

For most engineering materials, the curve will have an initial linear elastic
region as in Figure 4 in which deformation is reversible and time independent. The
slope in this region is Young’s modulus E. Unloading the specimen at point X in
Figure 4 the portion XX ‘ is linear and is essentially parallel to the original line OX ”.

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The horizontal distance OX ‘ is called the permanent set corresponding to the stress
at X. This is the basis for the construction of the arbitrary yield strength. To
determine the yield strength, a straight line XX “ is drawn parallel to the initial elastic
line OX ’ but displaced from it by an arbitrary value of permanent strain. The
permanent strain commonly used is 0.20 percent of the original gage length. The
intersection of this line with the curve determines the stress value called the yield
strength. In reporting the yield strength, the amount of permanent set should be
specified. The arbitrary yield strength is used especially for those materials not
exhibiting a natural yield point such as nonferrous metals; but it is not limited to
these. Plastic behavior is somewhat time-dependent, particularly at high
temperatures. Also at high temperatures, a small amount of time-dependent
reversible strain may be detectable, indicative of anelastic behavior.

Figure 4 General Stress- Strain Diagram

0.2% OFFSET METHOD

Figure 5 Yield Strength

As can be easily seen from Figure 5 the Yield Strength, σy =74 MPa .

The stress-strain curve does not remain linear all the way to the yield point.
The proportional elastic limit (PEL) shown in Figure 4 is the point where the curve
starts to deviate from a straight line. The elastic limit (frequently indistinguishable
from PEL) can be seen in Figure 4 is the point on the curve beyond which plastic
deformation is present after release of the load. If the stress is increased further, the
stress-strain curve departs more and more from the straight line. This curve is typical
of that of many ductile metals like Al that we used in our experiment.

e. Calculation of the percent reduction of area, %RA

The %RA is given by

%RA=100.A0-AfA0

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%RA=100.49,5908-13,308149,5908

%RA=73,7%
f. Sketch of the fracture surfaces of ductile materials

As can be seen in Figure 6 ,it shows the macroscopic differences between two ductile specimens (a,b)
and the brittle specimen (c).

Figure 6 fracture mechanisms

Figure 7 sequence and events in necking and fracture of a tensile test specimen: (a) early stage of necking; (b) small voids
begin to form within the necked region; (c) voids coalesce, producing an internal crack; (d) rest of cross section begins fail
at the periphery by shearing; (e) final fracture surfaces, known cup and cone fracture.

On the microscopic level, ductile fracture surfaces also appear rough and irregular. The
surface consists of many microvoids and dimples. Figure 8 and Figure 9 demonstrate the
microscopic qualities of ductile fracture surfaces.

Figure 8 ductile fracture surfaces

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Figure 9 ductile fracture surfaces