FAKULTI TEKNOLOGI KEJURUTERAAN

MEKANIKAL DAN PEMBUATAN

UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA

SOLID MECHANICS
BMMM 2303 REV :01

LAB 1: TENSILE TEST

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NAMES OF GROUP
MEMBERS & MATRIX 2.
NUMBER
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COURSE

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR 1.

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EXAMINER’S COMMENT VERIFICATION STAMP

TOTAL MARKS :
REV NO DESCRIPTION DATE OF REVISON
01 References has been added 30/8/2018
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OBJECTIVES OF EXPERIMENTAL WORK
To conduct the tensile test which is one of the many mechanical tests
that can be used to determine the following mechanical behaviour and
properties of a material;
a) the elastic and plastic deformations of the test material
b) the tensile and ultimate strengths of the test material
c) the ductility of the material in terms of percentage of elongation
and percentage reduction in cross-sectional area at fracture.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this laboratory session, students should be able to:

1. Operate the simple ‘universal testing machine’ and understand its
general functions and features.
2. Conduct the tensile test which is one of the many mechanical
tests in accordance to the standardized methods such as based on
the ASTM/ISO/EN/MS specifications.
3. Define experimentally the load-elongation graph / curve and
determine the mechanical properties such as the elastic modulus
(E), yield and tensile strength (y & ult) of the test material by
using the plotted graph.
4. Calculate the ductility of the materials and compare the results
obtained with the theoretical data
5. Understand and describe the overall deformation and fracture
behaviour of the test specimen and its relation with the ‘ductility’
of the ductile or brittle materials.
6. Understanding of basic laboratory practice, including design of
experiments, write a clear and well-presented technical report,
data acquisition, interpretation and analysis, and the relationship
between experiments and theory.

THEORY
When a sample of metal with the original gauge length (L 0) as shown in
Figure 1 (a) is subjected to a uniaxial tensile load (P), deformation and
elongation (L) of the metals occurs as shown in Figure 1(b). If the
metal returns to its original dimensions, particularly when the tensile
load/force is released before reaching its elastic limit, the metal is said
to have undergone elastic deformation. The amount of elastic
deformation a metal can undergo is small, since during elastic
deformation the metal atoms are displaced from their original positions
but not to the extent that they take up new positions. Thus, when the
force on a metal that has been elastically deformed is released or
removed, the metal atoms return to their original position and the metal
takes back its original shape. If the metal is subjected to a tensile load
beyond the elastic limit or being deformed to such an extent that it
cannot fully recover its original dimensions, it is said to have undergone
plastic deformation. During plastic deformation, the metal atoms are
permanently displaced from their original position and take up new
positions. The ability of some metals to be deformed plastically, without
fracture is one of the most useful engineering properties of metals. In
metal forming industry, this plastically deformed material is also used to

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define the strain-hardening characteristics of the material.

The tensile test is used to obtain the stress-strain diagram where

mechanical properties and overall behaviour of the metals and alloys
may be determined. During the test, the sample is subjected to the
tensile load at a constant rate and it is pulled until failure occurs. The
data of load against elongation obtained from the tensile test can be
converted to engineering stress-strain data, and a graph of
engineering stress versus engineering strain can be plotted.
P
–––––

Lo
L

Fig.1(a)P = Fig.1(b) P ≠
0 0
Mechanical properties of metals and alloys that are of engineering
importance for the structural design and metal forming purposes and
can be determined from the tensile test results are:
1. Modulus of elasticity
For the elastic region of the engineering stress-strain curve and
based on the Hooke's law, modulus of elasticity E, is defined as;
E = D / De = (∆P/∆L)(Lo/Ao) (1)
where DP/DL represents the slope of the elastic region of the
load vs elongation graph. Lo is the original gage length of the
test specimen and ∆L = changes in elongation for the elastic
region (= L - Lo).

2. Yield strength of the material

The yield strength or yield stress of the test material is given
by;
 y = Py / Ao (2)
where Py = load at yield point and Ao = original cross-sectional
area (within the gauge length and before load P is applied). It is
a very important property for use in the design of the structure
or engineering components based on the elastic theories of
failure. It is also a point where the tested material begins to
experience yielding or plastic deformation.

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 Since most metallic alloys fails to show a clear or well-defined
yield point on the stress-strain curve, where elastic strain ends
and plastic strain begins, then the yield strength of these type
of materials are chosen when a definite amount of plastic strain
has occurred. Normally, a point when 0.2 percent plastic strain
has taken place during the tensile test is defined as a yield
strength of such materials as recommended by the American
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) or British/European
(BS/EN) standards. This is also known as a proof stress or
strength of the material.

3. Ultimate tensile strength

The ultimate tensile strength is the maximum strength reached
in the engineering stress-strain curve. This is also called simply
the tensile strength.
 ult = Pult / Ao (3)
where, Pult = Ultimate load (the highest load) as given by the
load – elongation graph. When the material achieved its
ultimate tensile strength, the test specimen develops a
localized decrease in cross sectional area (commonly called as
necking) the engineering stress will decrease with increasing
strain until fracture occurs.

4. Fracture strength
The engineering fracture strength, f, is obtained from the load
at fracture point, Pf, which is not necessarily the highest load
reached during the test.

f = Pf / Ao
For a very brittle materials such as glass or ceramics based
materials, u = f.

5. Percent of elongation
It is the amount of elongation (or deformation in its general
term) that a tensile specimen undergoes during tensile test
which represents the degree of ductility of a material. In
general the higher the percent elongation, then it shows that
the tested material has a higher level of ductility.
Percent of elongation, %∆L = 100(Lf – Lo)/Lo
(4)
Lf = Final gauge length of the specimen.

6. Percentage reduction in cross-sectional area

The ductility of a material can also be expressed in terms of the
percent reduction in area.
Percent reduction in area %∆RA = 100(Ao-Af)/Ao
(5)

Percentage of elongation and percentage of reduction in area are

also two material properties that are normally used to describe
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 the “formability properties” of the materials especially in the field
of metal forming. Generally, the ability of a material to undergo
deformation when subjected to an applied load may be defined
through these values.

EQUIPMENT
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1
1

Figure 2 Tensile
1 tester

As shown in Figure 2;
1. Machine base (1) with hand grip (11)
2. Support with cross head (2)
3. Load frame with upper (3) and lower cross-member (4)
4. Hydraulic system consisting of a main cylinder (5) and a master
cylinder with a hand wheel (6)
5. Force display (7)
6. Elongation display via a dial gauge (8)
7. Gripping heads (9) with specimen (10)

PROCEDURE
The test device is set up as follows:
1. Untwist the hand wheel on the master cylinder as far as it will go
and move the load frame to its lower position.
2. If this is not yet done, insert the gripping heads in the upper cross-
member and the cross-head.
a) Screw down the gripping head with the short bolt at the bottom
and with the pressure pad (a).
b) Gripping head with long bolt at the top (b).
3. Insert the required tensile specimen as shown in Figure 3
a) Screw the specimen into the lower gripping head by hand as far
as the end stop.
b) Screw the sample into the upper gripping head as far as the end
stop, by rotating the gripping head itself.

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 c) Tighten the nut on the upper gripping head by hand until the
gripping head is seated without slack in the upper cross-
member.

Figure 3 Procedure of fitting the specimen

4. Adjust the dial gauge as shown in Figure 3

a) Push the dial gauge upwards on the support bar until the tracer
pin is touching the driver.
b) Push further up the dial gauge and pre-stress to 8 mm.
c) Lightly pre-stress the sample using the hand wheel until the
pointer on the force display moves. This compensates slack.
d) Set the rotating scale on the dial gauge to zero.
e) Set the maximum pointer on the force display to zero.
f) Set force-measuring system to zero by simultaneously pressing
(1) and (2) on force display (Figure 4).

Figure 4 Force indicator

5. Performing experiment;
Slowly and constantly load the sample by rotating the hand wheel.
a) Application of the force should be extended over a period of
5~10 minutes.
b) It is essential to avoid sudden or jerky load application of force.
c) Observe the dial gauge. Read the force from the display every
0.1 mm and make a note of it with the corresponding extension.

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 From 1 mm extension, the reading interval can be extended to
0.2 mm.
d) Monitor the sample and note when constriction begins. From now
on, the sample will no longer increase, but instead, will tend to
decrease.
e) ATTENTION! Don’t be startled! Particularly with steel, rupture of
the sample occurs with a loud bang.
f) Remove the sample from the gripping heads.
g) Twist back the hand wheel on the master cylinder as far as it will
go and move the load frame down.

6. Repeat the above procedure for other specimens.

REFERENCE
1. Hibbeler.R.C. 2013. Mechanics of Materials 9th SI Edition. Prentice Hall
2. Hibbeler R.C., 2013, Statics and Mechanics of Materials, 3rd SI Ed., Prentice Hall, New York.
3. Beer. F.P. et al. 2012. Mechanics of Materials, 6th Edition in SI Units. McGraw-Hill
4. Beer. F.P. et al. 2011. Statics and Mechanics of Materials, 1st Edition. McGraw-Hill

Name: _________________________________ Student ID Number:

_____________
Section / Group: _________________________ Date of experiment:
_____________

EXPERIMENTAL DATA
Type of material:
Initial dimensions of specimen (before load P is applied):
Original Gauge Length (Lo): mm
Average Original Diameter (Do): mm
Final dimensions of specimen (after fracture):
Final gauge length (Lf) : mm

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 Final diameter (Df) : mm (*)
Note (*): In order to obtain this data (*), the fractured specimen need
to be reconnected closely, before the final diameter (Df) at the necking
zone may be measured.

Table 1 Tensile Test Raw Data

Elongati Test Observation Elongati Test Load Observati
on Load on (kN) on
(mm) (kN) (mm)

Table 2 : Calculated results of the tensile test

No Mechanical properties Results (Units)

1 Modulus of Elasticity, E
2 Yield Strength, y
3 Ultimate tensile strength, ult

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4 Fracture strength, f
5 Ductility: Based on %EL
6 Ductility: Based on %RA

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
1. Based on the measured data shown in Table 1, plot the overall
graph of Load P (kN) versus Elongation ∆L (mm) for each
specimen. Indicate and label this graph with the important
parameters such as yield and ultimate points, elastic and plastic
regions and the fracture point. Calculate y and ult from Eqs. (2)
and (3).
2. Plot another graph for the elastic region only and from the slope of
the straight line of this graph, determine the modulus of elasticity
(E) for each specimen by using Eq. (1).
3. By using Eq. (4) and Eq. (5), calculate the percentage of
elongation and reduction of area of the fractured specimen.
4. Draw the fractured surface of each specimen and briefly explain of
your examination of this surface.

N.B All calculations for this laboratory work must be shown under this
section of the lab report and recorded as shown in Table 2

DISCUSSION (N.B This section of your report must be written in the

paragraph form)

 Discuss the results of this testing work , especially the mechanical

properties and the overall deformation behaviour of the materials.
Give your interpretations of the graphs and relate its to the
behaviour of the ductile or brittle materials. Support your
descriptions with the relevant diagram / figures.
 Compare between the experimental and theoretical (as may be
obtained from any references / handbooks) results as defined in
this work. Explain the differences.
 State the main factors that may be considered as the source of
discrepancies / differences (experiment errors). Justify your
answer / arguments.

CONCLUSION (N.B Content of this section should not more than 150
words)

Give your conclusion of this experiment work / report. Summarize its

main findings.

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QUESTIONS (For the Formal Report Only):
1. Explain the importance of conducting the tensile test based on the
internationally recognized standard method in determining the
mechanical properties of the materials. Give one example of this
standard method (state its specification), where the current test
method may be based on. Explain briefly or justify why the current
test method cannot be done precisely in accordance with the
standard method where results obtained may contain many
discrepancies.
2. Give another simple and cost effective method such as through
bending test that may be used to determine the Modulus of
Elasticity of the materials.
3. Explain briefly how the test graphs may be used to explain about
the ductility or formability behaviour of various metallic materials.
How its can be used to characterize the material as either brittle
or ductile material ?.

REFERENCES (For the Formal Report Only)

List at least 3 main references that have been referred to write the
formal report of this laboratory exercise.

REMAINDER FOR STUDENTS (PRELIMINARY READING @

RECITATION WORKS):

1. You are required to carry out necessary literature study at least for
three days before coming to the laboratory to conduct this test.
2. At least three (3) standard reference books, metal handbooks and
the relevant Annual Book of ASTM Standards must also be
REFERRED.
3. You also are expected to search the “www” to find any relevant
information or understand any key terms and terminologies
highlighted in this laboratory hand-out.

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