MKT 1122 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Lecture-5
(Mechanical Properties)

Umut KARAGÜZEL

Yildiz Technical University

Materials are subjected to forces or loads under working
conditions.

It is necessary to know mechanical properties of

materials in order to design a part without causing
excessive deformation and/or fracture. (FAILURE)

The mechanical properties are the response of materials

to applied forces.

Key mechanical design properties:

Stiffness, Strength, Hardness, Ductility, and Toughness.
• Stiffness: Resistance of a material to ELASTIC
DEFORMATION

• Strength: Resistance of a material against applied

STRESS

• Hardness: Resistance of a material against INDENTATION

• Ductility: Deformation ability of a material before fracture

(PLASTIC DEFORMATION)

• Toughness: Energy absorption capacity of a material

before FRACTURE (generally under impact
loads!)

By standardized laboratory experiments.

 1. TENSILE PROPERTIES
The most common (and most important) mechanical test
performed in the tensile mode.

Important Design Properties:

a. Stress carrying ability

(strength)
b. Deformation ability
(ductility)
c. Resistance to elastic
deformation (stiffness)
 Force
measurement

Universal
tensile test
Displacement machine
measurement

Standard
60
mm tensile
10 mm Diam. 16 mm Diam.
test
50 specimen
mm 10 mm Radius
 Homogeneous Heterogeneous Plastic
Plastic Deformation Deformation

Maximum Load

Y
Limit Load for
Elasticity
(Starting
Load (N)

plastic
deformation) Fracture

Elastic Deformation

Extension (mm)

Load vs Displacement Curve During Tensile Testing

 Engineering stress

Engineering strain

F= Applied force (N),

Ao = Cross-sectional area perpendicular to the force (mm2).
lo = Initial (original) gage length (mm),
l= Instantaneous gage length (mm),
Δl = Extension (difference in the gage length) (mm).
Elastic Plastic
Homogeneous
Heterogeneous
FRACTURE STRESS
(Fracture Strength)
Engineering Stress σ, (MPa)

MAXIMUM STRESS
(Ultimate Tensile
Strength)

YIELD STRESS
(Yield Strength) Strength: Resistance
of material to applied
stress!!!

Engineering Strain ε, (mm/mm)

 a. ELASTIC DEFORMATION

Stress and strain are proportional to each other linearly

by Hooke’s Law.
The constant of
proportionality
“E” is the
modulus of
elasticity,
or
Young’s modulus
(in GPa) .
 σ
High Modulus
Material
(Stiffer)

Low Modulus
Material

Young’s modulus (E) is important incomputing elastic deflections.

The magnitude of the modulus of elasticity is a measure of the
resistance to separation of adjacent atoms (interatomic forces).
Factors Affecting E:
1. Temperature (If T ↗, E ↘),
2. Chemical Composition (depending on the elements)
When a tensile stress is imposed on a metal specimen, an elastic
elongation and accompanying strain εZ result in the direction of
the applied stress.

As a result of this elongation, there will be contractions in the

lateral (x and y) directions perpendicular to the applied stress.
(εx and εy)
Poisson’s ratio (ν) is defined as the ratio of the lateral and axial
strains (for metals and alloys, between 0.25 – 0.35, mostly 0.30)
 b. PLASTIC DEFORMATION

As the material is deformed beyond the limit of elasticity, the stress

is no longer proportional to strain and permanent or plastic
deformation occurs (YIELDING).

σ0,2 Yield
Point

Yield
Strength

Continuous Yielding Distinct Yielding

From atomistic perspective:

Plastic deformation corresponds to the breaking of bonds with

original atom neighbors and then re-forming bonds with new
neighbors.

Large numbers of atoms move relative to one another; after

removing the stress they do not return to their original
positions (i.e. permanent deformation occurs).

For crystalline solids, plastic deformation is accomplished by

means of a process called slip, which involves the motion of
dislocations.

The motion of dislocations results the non-reversible

movements of atoms in the crystal (plastic deformation).
 Mechanical Properties Derived from Tensile Curve

Necking Starts
1. Modulus of Elasticity, E
2. Yield Strength, σ0.2
3. Tensile Strength, σUTS
4. Percent Elongation, δ
5. Toughness (static), ut
Stress σ

Strain ε

Plastic Elongation, εp = δ Elastic Elongation, εe

Total Elongation, εt
(Note: εt = εe + εp)
 STRENGTH
• Yield strength or yield point: Resistance of materials
against plastic deformation (i.e. maximum allowable
stress before yielding)
• Ultimate tensile strength: Resistance of materials
against fracture (maximum allowable stress before
fracture)

DUCTILITY
• Percent Elongation: Maximum plastic strain
attainable before fracture
• Reduction of Area: Maximum reduction attainable
before fracture (cannot be derived from tensile curve!)
Comparison of Ductile and Brittle Tensile Behavior in Materials
 TRUE STRESS-TRUE STRAIN CURVE

Engineering Stress and Engineering Strain are on the

basis of the original cross-sectional area and the
original gage length.

Sometimes it is more meaningful to use True Stress–

True Strain properties in which both original and
instantaneous dimensions of the test specimen are
concerned (In the analysis of plastic deformation or
forming processes)
 True Stress σT is defined as the load F divided by the
instantaneous cross-sectional area Ai

True Strain εT, defined as the natural logarithm of the ratio

of instantaneous li and initial gage length l0

Assuming no volume change and homogenous deformation

true and engineering values are related to each other by
 3’
2’ True Stress-Strain Curve

1’

F’

Engineering Stress-Strain Curve

Stress

2 3
1

0 F

Strain
The true stress-strain curves can be expressed by a power
relationship (Holloman Equation)

K: Strength Coefficient [MPa]

n: Strain Hardening Exponent, (both are materials constants)

ɵ a

ln σT
σT

εT ln εT 1
 2. HARDNESS PROPERTIES

Hardness is a measure of a material’s resistance to localized

plastic deformation by means of indentation.

A small indenter is forced into the surface of a material to be

tested, under controlled conditions.

The depth or size of the resulting indentation is measured,

which in turn is related to a hardness number.

For soft materials, larger and/or deeper indentations are

produced, which give lower hardness numbers.
Measured hardness values are relative (rather than
absolute), and care should be exercised when comparing
the values determined by different methods.

The advantages of hardness tests:

•They are simple and inexpensive and no special

specimen need be prepared. The testing apparatus is also
inexpensive.
•The test is nondestructive. The specimen is neither
fractured nor excessively deformed; only a small
indentation is made.
•Other mechanical properties often may be estimated
from hardness data (as in the case of tensile strength).
 a. BRINELL HARDNESS TEST

A spherical indenter is forced on the surface of the metal.

In standard Brinell test the diameter of the hardened steel

(or tungsten carbide) indenter is 10 mm, the load is 3000 kgf
and the load is applied for 30 seconds.
P
Hardened steel
D ball indenter

d Specimen being
tested
 (in kgf/mm2)

If a different size indenter is used, the applied load should be selected

according to the material and ball diameter:
P (kgf) = A . D2 (mm2)

Material Type Multiplication Factor, A

Steels and cast irons 30
Cu and its alloys 10
Soft metals and alloys 5
 Important points in executing hardness tests
• Thickness of specimen should be at least ten times of indenting
depth.
• Separation between two indentations should be at least three
times of indentation diameter (also from the edges).
• Specimen surface should be smooth, clean and oriented vertical to
applied load.
•Hardness is determined as the average of minimum 3 indentations

For Brinell Tests

• Materials harder than 450 BHN cannot be tested by Brinell
hardness test.
• In TS (Turkish Standards) the value of BHN is reported as follows:
365 BSD / 3000 / 10 / 30
Time (s)
BHN Load (kgf) Ball Diameter (mm)
 IMPORTANT!

The ultimate tensile strength of a metal (usually for

steels) can be estimated roughly by using the Brinell
hardness of the metal:

Remember
 b. VICKERS HARDNESS TEST
A diamond indenter with square pyramidal geometry is forced (P) on
the surface of the specimen. The resulting impression is observed
under a microscope or suitable image magnifying apparatus.

The size of indentation is converted into Vickers hardness number

(VHN):
During the application of Vickers test, similar precautions should be
taken as in the case of Brinell test.

In reporting VHN values, the following convention is used in Turkish

Standards:
Calculated 470 VSD / 100 / 30
hardness
number
VHN Time (s)
Load (kgf)

Some advantages of Vickers Hardness Test to Brinell Test

• Very hard materials can be tested,
• There is no load selection criterion,
• Micro-hardness tests (using forces at “grf” level) can be
done by using suitable microscopes can be done.
 c. ROCKWELL HARDNESS TEST
Rockwell hardness number is determined by measuring the depth
of penetration resulting from the application of load.

Different scales may be utilized from possible combinations of

various indenters and different loads, which permit the testing of
virtually all metal alloys as well as some polymers and composites.

Hard
metals

Soft
metals
The Rockwell test is the most common method used to measure
hardness because they are so simple and rapid to perform.

During the application of Rockwell test, similar precautions

should be taken as in the cases of Brinell and Vickers tests.

In Turkish Standards, the results of Rockwell hardness tests are

given in the following manner:

42 RSD-C (Rockwell hardness in “C” scale)

75 RSD-B (Rockwell Hardness in “B” scale)

A comprehensive conversion scheme between different

hardness numbers has not been devised yet.
 SCATTERING NATURE OF THE TEST DATA
Measured material properties are not exact quantities.
Even if it is used a precise measuring apparatus and a highly
controlled test procedure, there will always be some scatter or
variability in the data that are collected from specimens of the
same material.

This would lead to a variety of modulus of elasticity, yield strength,

tensile strength and hardness values.

It is often desirable to specify a typical value and degree of

dispersion (or scatter) for some measured property; such as
commonly accomplished by taking the average (mean value) and
the standard deviation, respectively.

σUTS = 518 ± 6 MPa

Mean Value Standard Deviation

 SAFETY FACTOR IN DESIGN
There will always be some uncertainties in characterizing the
magnitude of applied loads and their associated stress levels for in-
service applications.

In order to be on safe side, a concept under the name of “Safety

Factor” is used in mechanical designs.

For static loading conditions design stress is taken as the calculated

stress level multiplied by a design factor N.

Design Calculated
stress stress
Factor of
safety
Alternatively material resistance (yield or tensile) is taken as the division of
the material property by a design factor N (or Factor of Safety).

For example: A design which is not permitting permanent (plastic)

deformation in a member, safe design yield strength of material is
calculated by
Yield strength
Safe design
yield strength
Factor of safety

If N is selected to be too large, then component will be safe but it

results overdesign features. It means, either too much material or an
alloy having a higher-than-necessary strength will be used (both
economically unaccepted!).

N values normally in the range between 1.2 and 4.0 depending

on several factors: Cost, Previous experience, accuracy of
mechanical properties, accuracy of analytical methods used in the
design, command on manufacturing processes, Risk of catastrophe