Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University

College of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering Department
MEEN 4302: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LAB-II. Fall-2021-2022

Experiment Title:

Experiment Number:

OUTCOME 6: An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyse and interpret
data.

Section: ( )
LAB WORK. LAB REPORT.
STUDENTS ID’s
B1 B2 B3 B4 K1

N.CONCLUSIO
EQUIPMENTUSE LAB

ION.INTRODUCT

ION,PRESENTAT
IDENTIFY

TALEXPERIMEN
ANDANALYZE

GRAPHS &DIAGRAMS,

ENGINEERIUSE
ABSTRACT.

1.xxx
2010yyyyyy

2. xxx
EXPERIMEN

2010yyyyyy
GRADING 15 15 10 10 5 10 10 10 5 10
STUDENT SCORE
RUBRIC
MEASUREMENTS.

Laboratory Date:
Submitted Date:

Instructor: F. D. Roodi
 Table of Content

Contents
Abstract:.......................................................................................................................................2
Title:.............................................................................................................................................2
Objectives:...................................................................................................................................2
Introduction:.................................................................................................................................2
Equipment and Materials:............................................................................................................3
Experimental Procedures:............................................................................................................3
Results:.........................................................................................................................................4
Calculations:................................................................................................................................5
Discussions:.................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion:..................................................................................................................................8

1|Page
Abstract:
In this experiment, Compression test was performed on the three different materials known as
brass, steel and aluminum. The purpose was to find the stress and strain diagram from the strain gauge and
to find the mechanical properties of different materials with respect to their strength. The goals of
compression test in this experiment are to learn the applications of universal test machine and strain
gauge to obtain the stress-strain curves and identify the metal alloy. Compression test also allow the
determination of the behavior of the metal alloy when it experiences the compressive load by measuring
the variables such as stress and strain. In this experiment, uni-axial tension-compression test is used to
determine the mechanical properties of the metal alloy.

2|Page
Title:

Compression test.
Objectives:

1. To study the application of the strain gauge to obtain stress-strain curves.

2. To identify and determine the mechanical properties of given metal alloy by carrying out uni-axial
tension-compression test.

Introduction:

A compression test is any test in which material experiences the opposing forces inward upon the
specimen from opposing side or otherwise compressed, crushed, and flattened. The specimen is
generally placed between two plates which are the compression test fixture; the load is distributed
among the test sample surfaces and is compressed by applying force using the universal test machine.
The test material while then experiences shortening in the applied forces direction and expanding in the
perpendicular direction toward the applied force.

The goals of compression test in this experiment are to learn the applications of universal test
machine and strain gauge to obtain the stress-strain curves and identify the metal alloy. Compression
test also allow the determination of the behavior of the metal alloy when it experiences the compressive
load by measuring the variables such as stress and strain. In this experiment, uni-axial tension-
compression test is used to determine the mechanical properties of the metal alloy.

Figure 1 Compression Test

3|Page
 Figure 2 Structure of Universal Test Machine

Equipment and Materials:

Universal Testing Machine, PC, 2 compression test fixtures (pressure plates), strain gauge, digital vernier
caliper, and metal alloy.

Experimental Procedures:

1. A strain gauge was attached carefully on the test specimen.

2. The test specimen was positioned right at the center of the pressure plates.
3. The machine and strain gauge were connected to the PC to provide the data of force and strain with
data logger DBU-120A unit.
4. The machine was operated slowly so that the pressure plates touched each other to completely
close the gap while observing the indicator where force value showed 0kN.
5. The test specimen was compressed with the force of 2kN by setting the ending load on the data
logger.
6. The strain of the test specimen was recorded in table below.
7. Steps 5 to 6 were repeated to obtain different strain by varying the ending load to 4kN, 6kN, 8kN,
and 10kN.
8. A stress-strain graph was plotted.
Results:

Diameter of test specimen, D = 10 mm

Graph 1 Brass curve

Graph 2 Aluminum curve

 Graph 3 Steel Curve

Table 1 Experiment Data

Table 2 Stress and Strain

Graph of Stress Against Strain

25

20

15
Stress

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Strain, ε (×10-6 m/m)
Discussions:
Based on Table 1, due to limitation of the machine and strain gauge, the maximum strain, ε that
obtained is 144.0 μm/m. While in Table 2, the stress, σ can be obtained by using the relationship of
Force, F and cross-sectional area, A of the metal alloy. Young’s modulus can be defined as a measure of
the ability of a material to withstand the changes in length when under lengthwise tension or
compression. Therefore, Young’s modulus can be determined as the ratio of stress, σ and strain, ε.
Young’s modulus also referred as the modulus of elasticity. Average Young’s modulus, Eave is
calculated to find out the type of the metal alloy used in this experiment. Eave is found out to be 117
GPa and grey cast iron matched this value. Therefore, the metal alloy is grey cast iron.

According to Graph 1, it shows that as the stress applied on the grey cast iron increases, the
strain experienced by the grey cast iron also increases. But as the line incline proportionally, it will
reach a limit and will increase slowly again and decrease as a curve. Before the line reaches the limit,
the area under the line is the modulus of resilience. Modulus of resilience is the maximum energy that
can be absorbed by the material before permanent deform. Before the point limit, the grey cast iron is
completely elastic. When the line increases proportionally to a point limit, the point is defined as the
yield strength of the metal alloy. Yield strength is the maximum stress that can be applied to the grey
cast iron before permanent deformation. The line will then incline slowly and reach a maximum point,
the maximum point is the ultimate tensile strength. The ultimate tensile strength is the maximum stress
that can be absorb by the grey cast iron before structure failure. After that, the line decline slowly and
stop at a point, declining line means that the grey cast iron start to break and fracture when it reaches a
point. But due to lack of data, all the variables can’t be calculated.

Steel is an ideal material for machinery bases and many housing applications due its cheap price.
It has an acceptable ductility, tensile strength, yield strength, and impact resistance for most
applications. Steel also has an excellent ability to dampen the vibrations. Moreover, grey cast iron has
high thermal conductivity that allows heat to be absorbed easily to its body. Besides that, grey cast iron
shows great ability in withstanding the thermal cycling. Thermal cycling is where the material
experiences in changing state of warm and cold temperature. This action will create stress and
premature failure to some types of metal alloy. In the other hands, grey cast iron has low tensile strength
and shock resistance compared to others casting irons. Finally, Steel is produced with different
composition of materials. The compositions of gray cast iron are iron, carbon, silicon, manganese,
Sulphur, and phosphorus.

Compression test is important in industry. This is because in manufacturing industry, suitable

material should be used to build certain objects that meet the mechanical properties of the material.
Compression test is useful to determine the compressive strength, yield strength, ultimate strength,
elastic limit, and the elastic modulus. With the understanding of these different parameters and values
associated with a specific material it may be determined the material used is suited for specific
applications or if it will fail under the test. In this experiment, Aluminum is suitable for the making of
engineering components such as Oil Pan, Frames, Hammer, Machine Base, Wheels, Valve, Motor
Blocks and many more.

Due to the test specimen used is too small, the universal test machine is unable to determine the
strain of the test specimen clearly. To solve this problem, strain gauge is used. But a continuous data is
unable to be determined, thus causing the graph to be so imperfect. Many parameters fail to be found
except the Young’s Modulus. Moreover, more data should be collected to produce more accurate result
and graph. This can reduce the error of the experiment. Errors also happen in the strain gauge, when
measuring the strain using strain gauge, the value always fluctuate and hard to get an accurate strain
value. This causes the error of the experiment to increase as well. It is suggested that more values are
collected and calculate the average data to obtain a more accurate data.

The precautions in this experiment are ensure that the two pressure plates touch the surface of
the test specimen but not over compressed before the experiment start. This will cause the initial value
of the data to be incorrect. Besides that, note that the maximum compressive force that the universal
compression machine can applied is limited. It is advised that the load should not exceed the limit or
else will cause the machine to break down easily.

Conclusion:

The objectives of this experiment are achieved. The strain gauge is successfully applied, and stress-
strain curve is achieved. The metal alloy is determined to be grey cast iron. Grey cast iron has good
ductility, tensile strength, and yield strength. Grey cast iron also able to dampen the vibrations, has high
thermal conductivity, able to withstand the thermal cycling, and has low tensile strength and shock
resistance