Ryan M.

Sullenberger
Engineering Research Center
Colorado State University
1320 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1320

Attn: John McWilliams

Subject: Tensile Tests for 3 Metals and Hardness Testing
Re: Test Results
Date: February 12, 2009

Dear John McWilliams,

We have received your request to test three metal specimens including hot-rolled steel, cold-rolled steel
and aluminum that you obtained from your local extruding company. We performed the hardness tests
and the tensile tests using our Instron 4400R. Our results have been included in tabular and graphical
form.

Axial testing works by applying an increasing uniaxial tensile load to a material of known cross sectional
area and length. Tensile stress is calculated by dividing the applied load by the area of the specimen.
The strain of the material is calculated by dividing the elongation of the test piece by its original length.
These two quantities are then graphed together as something that is referred to as a stress vs. strain
curve. The stress vs. strain curve of a material can tell us many things: the modulus of elasticity is the
slope of the initial linear portion of the curve, ultimate stress can be chosen as the maximum stress
shown, and the yield stress is found by observing the highest stress region at the end of the initial linear
portion. For our experimental results dealing with Modulus of Elasticity, we used strain data collected
by a strain gage. This was used to more accurately measure the slope to obtain the Elastic Modulus.

Hardness testing is done by making an indentation into a material. Rockwell Hardness Testing is done by
comparing the depth of penetration of a large load to that of a preload. We performed Rockwell B
testing on the materials you sent us, which uses a 1/16 inch diameter sphere as the indenter. The
Rockwell Hardness B value obtained for the materials were used to find tensile strengths.

The stress vs. strain curves we obtained for the three metals have been included for convenience on one
graph together in this letter and can be found in Appendix B: Figures 1 and 2. Figures 3-5 show the
stress vs. strain curves for each specimen on its own graph, and Figures 6-8 show each materials
corresponding linear region of the stress vs. strain diagrams. Please refer to Table 2 in Appendix A for a
list of our numerical results for the tensile tests. Table 1 contains all the expected values for the metals,
and Table 3 shows the percent error between expected and experimental data. For all three metals our
tensile tests yielded higher ultimate stresses and yield stresses compared to the expected values. You
can also find the results for the hardness tests in Appendix A: Table 4, and the percent error for the
hardness tests in Table 5.

There is one major mishap that occurred during testing that I would like to point out. When we tested
the cold-rolled steel the sample failed very close to the jaws of the machine. This may have happened
out of chance, but mostly happens because the jaws apply a compressive force to the sample, so where
the material meets the jaws the sample is not in pure tensile stress. We believe there is little to worry
about in this case because the ultimate load was reached before the sample fractured.

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The experimental results were not exactly in line with the expected values, but this is not unheard of.
Variations in results can be caused by factors dealing with the manufacturing processes of the metals,
where the expected values are given as a standard for that specific material. Due to this, it is not
uncommon to come across samples of a material that have greater ultimate stress and yield stress than
advertised. Some batches will come out stronger or weaker than others. We recommend if you are
using these materials in high sensitive or high stress environments that you obtain another three
samples to be tested, just for good measure.

It has been a pleasure serving you and we hope you consider us in the future.

Sincerely,

Ryan M. Sullenberger
Project Engineer (Student)

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Appendix A
Table 1: Expected Values

Elastic Modulus (psi) Yield Stress(ksi) Ultimate Stress (ksi)

Hot-Rolled Steel 3.00E+07 36 58
Cold-Rolled Steel 3.00E+07 65 80
Aluminum 1.00E+07 21 30

Table 2: Experimental Values for Tensile Test

Elastic Modulus (psi) Yield Stress(ksi) Ultimate Stress (ksi)

Hot-Rolled Steel 3.12E+07 47.4 64
Cold-Rolled Steel 2.87E+07 100.5 115.6
Aluminum 8.80E+06 33.1 38.6

Table 3: Percent Error for Tensile Test

Elastic Modulus (psi) Yield Stress(ksi) Ultimate Stress (ksi)

Hot-Rolled Steel 4.05% 31.67% 10.34%
Cold-Rolled Steel -4.23% 54.62% 44.50%
Aluminum -12.05% 57.62% 28.67%

Table 4: Rockwell Hardness & Ultimate Tensile Strength

Rockwell B Ultimate Strength (ksi)

Hot-Rolled Steel 50.1 <56
Cold-Rolled Steel 111.8 >116
Aluminum 84.3 81

Table 5: Percent Error for Hardness Test

Ultimate Strength (ksi)

Hot-Rolled Steel -3.45%
Cold-Rolled Steel 45.00%
Aluminum 170.00%

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Appendix B
140000

120000

100000
Stress (psi)

80000
Aluminum
60000
CRS
HRS
40000

20000

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Strain (in/in)

Figure 1: Stress vs Strain for Al, CRS, HRS

50000
y = 3.12E+07x - 5.99E+03
45000

40000
y = 2.87E+07x - 4.25E+03
35000

30000 Aluminum
Stress (psi)

CRS
25000
y = 8.80E+06x + 5.74E+02 HRS
20000
Linear (Aluminum)
15000
Linear (CRS)
10000 Linear (HRS)
5000

0
0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0025 0.003 0.0035 0.004
Strain (in/in)

Figure 2: Stress vs Strain for Al, CRS, HRS, linear region

4
Appendix B Continued

45000

40000

35000
30000
Stress (psi)

25000

20000
Aluminum
15000

10000

5000

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Strain (in/in)

Figure 3: Stress vs Strain for Aluminum

140000

120000

100000
Stress (psi)

80000

60000
CRS
40000

20000

0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Strain (in/in)

Figure 4: Stress vs Strain for CRS

5
Appendix B Continued

70000

60000

50000
Stress (psi)

40000

30000
HRS
20000

10000

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Strain (in/in)

Figure 5: Stress vs Strain for HRS

35000

30000
y = 8,795,396.07x + 574.35
25000

20000
Stress (psi)

15000 Aluminum
Linear (Aluminum)
10000

5000

0
-0.001 0 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004
-5000
Strain (in/in)

Figure 6: Stress vs Strain for Aluminum, linear region

6
Appendix B Continued

50000

y = 28,729,585.43x - 4,251.81
40000

30000
Stress (psi)

20000 CRS
Linear (CRS)

10000

0
-0.0005 0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002

-10000
Strain (in/in)

Figure 7: Stress vs Strain for CRS, linear region

50000
y = 31,214,205.58569x - 5,992.37628
40000

30000
Stress (psi)

20000
HRS
10000 Linear (HRS)

0
-0.0005 0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002
-10000

-20000
Strain (in/in)

Figure 8: Stress vs Strain for HRS, linear region

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Appendix C
Commonly used equations in Solid Mechanics:
௉
ߪൌ EQ 1 ( Stress = Force/Area )
஺

ఋ
ߝൌ௅ EQ2 ( Strain = Elongation/Length)

Definitions:
Modulus of Elasticity – The slope of the initial linear region of the stress vs. strain curve for a given
material. Units of stress.

Proportional Limit – The highest stress on a stress vs. strain curve where stress and strain still have a
linear relationship.

Elastic Limit – Highest stress a material can undergo and still return to its original shape when unloaded.

Yield Point – Stress just usually above the proportional limit such an increase in stress does not increase
or decrease the stress.

Yield Stress – The maximum stress of a material without undergoing plastic deformation for materials
that do not have a definite yield point.

Ultimate Stress – The maximum stress as seen on a stress vs. strain curve for a uniaxial tension test.

Elongation – The change in length of a material under a uniaxial tension test.

Modulus of Resilience – The area under the linear region of the stress vs. strain curve for a given
material. This is a measure of a materials ability to absorb energy. Units of in-lb/in^3.

Modulus of Toughness – The area under the entire stress vs. strain curve.