EXPERIMENT 5: Universal Testing Machine

1. Introduction

This experiment is designed to help student to be familiar with universal testing machine.

Universal testing machine is used to test the tensile and compressive properties of materials.

Schematic diagram of a tensile test

2. Procedure

1. Switch ON power system

2. Press safe line yellow button until light off
3. Machine will starting up and at machine controller keyboard press A button to establish
open access
4. Select B for remote control program
5. Start up the computer system and select NEXYGEN software, after that select Lr Lrx
Console
6. Display monitor at machine controller keyboard must display Under control of remote
computer. From now the gripper frame can control from computer (console).
7. From Nexygen program, go to EDIT, select Insert New Test and select sample type (plastics,
rubber, metals or etc.)
8. Select either Compression Setup or Tensile Setup
9. Fill in the dimension or specification of the sample.
10. Insert the specimen ( PE, PP, composite) to gripper frame.
11. Select zero 0 for zeroing the Load and Stroke. Start the test by select the Start Test
12. The machine now under running condition and will stop automatically after fracture detected.
13. Switch off POWER and DO the CLEANING PROCESS
Results from experiments

Sample 1 - Light Density Polyethylene 1 (LDPE 1)

Date of Test : 17/Feb/2014 Gage Length : 50 mm

Specimen ID : LDPE 1 Rate : 50 mm/min
Specimen Type : Flat Area : 38.95542 sq-mm
Test Mode : Stroke

Figure 1: Graph of Stress Vs Strain for LDPE 1

Table 1: LDPE 1 Test Results

Measurement Value Unit
Peak Stress: 9.444 MPa
Peak Load: 0.368 kN
0.2% Offset Yield Stress: 3.783 MPa
Yield Strain: 0.668 %
Yield Load: 0.147 kN
0.02% Offset Yield Stress: 3.486 MPa
Modulus: 0.611 GPa
Upper Yield Stress: 3.906 MPa
Lower Yield Stress: 3.743 MPa
Limit Of Proportionality: 0.824 MPa
Total Energy: 2.722 kN -mm
Yield Point Extension: 0.334 mm
Yield Point Elongation: 0.668 %
Elongation at Break(using Strain): 17.564 %
Sample 2 - Light Density Polyethylene 2 (LDPE 2)

Date of Test : 17/Feb/2014 Gage Length: 50 mm

Specimen ID : LDPE 2 Rate: 50 mm/min
Specimen Type: Flat Area: 38.98811 sq-mm
Test Mode : Stroke

Figure 2: Graph of Stress Vs Strain for LDPE 2

Table 2: LDPE 2 Test Results

Measurement Value Unit
Peak Stress: 9.507 MPa
Peak Load: 0.371 kN
0.2% Offset Yield Stress: 4.068 MPa
Modulus: 0.112 GPa
Upper Yield Stress: 4.459 MPa
Lower Yield Stress: 4.005 MPa
Limit Of Proportionality: 1.717 MPa
Total Energy: 5.635 kN -mm
Energy under Plastic Region: 5.147 kN -mm
Strain Hardening Exp: 0.425
Strain Hardening Coeff: 23.499 MPa
Yield Point Extension: 1.642 mm
Yield Point Elongation: 3.283 %
Elongation at Break(using Strain): 35.094 %
Sample 3 - High Density Polyethylene 1 (HDPE 1)

Date of Test : 17/Feb/2014 Gage Length: 50 mm

Specimen ID : HDPE 1 Rate: 50 mm/min
Specimen Type: Flat Area: 38.92219 sq-mm
Test Mode : Stroke

Figure 3: Graph of Stress Vs Strain for HDPE 1

Table 3: HDPE 1 Test Results

Measurement Value Unit
Peak Stress: 27.425 MPa
Peak Load: 1.067 kN
0.2% Offset Yield Stress: 12.155 MPa
Yield Strain: 1.197 %
Yield Load: 0.473 kN
0.02% Offset Yield Stress: 7.094 MPa
Modulus: 1.098 GPa
Upper Yield Stress: 12.162 MPa
Lower Yield Stress: 12.146 MPa
Limit Of Proportionality: 11.341 MPa
Total Energy: 14.183 kN -mm
Energy under Plastic Region: 13.636 kN -mm
Strain Hardening Exp: 0.489
Strain Hardening Coeff: 92.498 MPa
Sample 4 - High Density Polyethylene 1 (HDPE 2)

Date of Test : 17/Feb/2014 Gage Length: 50 mm

Specimen ID : HDPE 1 Rate: 50 mm/min
Specimen Type: Flat Area: 38.71815 sq-mm
Test Mode : Stroke

Figure 4: Graph of Stress Vs Strain for HDPE 2

Table 4: HDPE 2 Test Results

Measurement Value Unit
Peak Stress: 28.452 MPa
Peak Load: 1.102 kN
0.2% Offset Yield Stress: 13.636 MPa
Modulus: 0.993 GPa
Upper Yield Stress: 13.689 MPa
Lower Yield Stress: 13.636 MPa
Limit Of Proportionality: 12.272 MPa
Total Energy: 12.528 kN -mm
Energy under Plastic Region: 9.838 kN -mm
Strain Hardening Exp: 0.439
Strain Hardening Coeff: 84.928 MPa
Yield Point Extension: 0.737 mm
Yield Point Elongation: 1.474 %
Elongation at Break(using Strain): 26.411 %
 Manual Calculations:
Table 5: Physical Properties of the Sample
Sample LDPE 1 LDPE 2 HDPE 1 HDPE 2
Tensile at Load at yield/ Load at yield/ Load at yield/ Load at yield/ original
Yield, original area original area original area area
N/m2 147 Yield Load is not 473 Yield Load is not
= =
0.00003895542 _ 0.00003892219 _
given. given.
= 3773544.221 N/m2 = 12152450.83 N/m2
= 3.7735 MPa =12.1525 MPa
Tensile = Peak load/ original = Peak load/ original = Peak load/ original = Peak load/ original
Strength, area area area area
N/m2 368 371 1067 1102
= = = =
0.00003895542 _ 0.00003892219 _ 0.00003892219 _ 0.00003871815 _

= 9446695.736 N/m2 = 9531837.751 N/m2 = 27413668.14 N/m2 = 28462103.690 N/m2

= 9.4467 MPa = 9.5318 MPa = 27.4137 MPa = 28.4621 MPa
Young Slope at Stress-strain Slope at Stress-strain Slope at Stress-strain Slope at Stress-strain
Modulus, curve; or Upper curve; or Upper curve; or Upper curve; or Upper Yield
GPa Yield Stress/Yield Yield Stress/Yield Yield Stress/Yield Stress/Yield Strain
Strain Strain Strain 13.689
=
0.01474
3.906 4.459 12.162
= 0.00668
= = 0.01197 = 0.9287 GPa
0.03283

= 0.5847 GPa = 0.1358 GPa = 1.0160 GPa

Discussion

Tensile at Yield
The calculated tensile at yield for LDPE 1 and HDPE 1 are well within the upper yield stress and
lower yield stress from the test results. HDPE has almost triple times the value of tensile at yield
compared to LDPE.

Tensile Strength
All the calculated tensile strength are approximately same as the peak stress from the test results. It
was shown that for all the sample of HDPE the tensile strength is much higher than the tensile
strength for LDPE, almost triple the value.

Modulus
The experiment have present systematic errors during the test due to the operator incorrect handling of
the test material when carry out the test which result in the non-linear curve of the stress versus strain
graph where there is a sudden steep drop and rise in stress in the curve. This result in a large
difference between the calculated modulus compared to the modules from the test results.

The phenomenon of necking from molecular point of view during the experiment.

During the experiment, the phenomenon of necking is observed when the polymeric material (PP and
HDPE) was grasped at its ends and stretched at an appropriate steady state which makes the materials
to evolve from a simple homogeneous extension to a non-homogenous motion. The material
maintains its axial symmetry but thins down in one or more short regions along its length. In the early
stages of its formation, a neck both deepens and lengthens but after a period of time, the deepening
ceases while the neck lengthens. When the neck reaches its maximum depth, the two states of
essentially strain present in the material includes the material outside the neck in which their
molecular orientation is moderate while the material inside the neck in which their molecular
orientation is very high.

The significance of tensile strength, tensile at yield, modulus and elongation at break from
engineering point of view.

Tensile strength is one of the most important indications of strength in a material, which is the ability
of a material to withstand forces pulling it apart. Tensile strength is useful for the purposes of
specifications and for quality control of a product because it is easy to be determined following a
certain standards such as ASTM D-638 or ISO 527-1.

Tensile at yield generally represents an upper limit to the load that can be applied and is important
when designing a component. It is also important for the control of many materials production
techniques for examples forging, rolling or pressing.

Young modulus is the ratio of stress to strain within the elastic region of the stress-strain curve which
prior to the yield point. The modulus defines the properties of a material as it undergoes stress,
deforms and then returns to its original shape after the stress is removed. It is a measure of stiffness of
a material or known also as the modulus of elasticity. This modulus is useful when it is necessary to
compute how much a material as for instances rod or wire stretches under a tensile load.
Elongation is another criteria or aspect used in engineering to measures the extent to which a material
will elongate or deform before fracture or also known as ductility. It provides useful insight on how
visible overload damage to a material might become before the material fractures.

The relationship between tensile test or area under the curve and the energy required to break
the sample.

The total area under the stress-strain curve is defined as toughness, where it is a measure of the
amount of energy needed absorbed up to the fracture of the material or sample. The greater the area
under the stress-strain curve, the tougher the material, so therefore the greater the amount of energy
required to break it. HDPE is much tougher than LDPE because of high energy require to break the
HDPE compared to LDPE.

CONCLUSION
From the experiment it can be concluded that the High Density Polyethylene has much higher
physical properties compared to Low Density Polyethylene where the tensile at yield, tensile strength,
and modulus are all found to be higher in HDPE than LDPE. However, errors in the preparation and
handling of test materials during tests can affect the results accuracy.

REFERENCES

1. G. Fantoni, G.T., D. Gabelloni, H. N. Hansen, Modelling injection moulding machines for micro
manufacture applications through functional analysis. 2012.

2. On-line testing equipment of PVT properties of polymers based on an injection molding

machine. Polymer Testing, 2009. 28(3): p. 228-234.

3. http://www.pitfallsinmolding.com/index.html

4. http://www.articlesbase.com/ethics-articles/the-working-principle-of-injection-molding-machine-
and-process-3008179.html

5. Richardson, T. L., Lokensgard, E. Industrial Plastics: Theory and Application

6. Stress Strain Curve, Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress%E2%80%93strain_curve

7. Young Modulus, Retrieved from http://www-materials.eng.cam.ac.uk/mpsite/properties/non-

IE/stiffness.html