LECTURE 5 Stress-Strain Diagram

Previously, we defined Design as the determining the properties of the structure (material and dimensions)
by given the loads and allowable stresses. Also we specify the allowable stresses according to the materials
[such as metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites] which are commonly used in engineering.

1. 1. Classification of Engineering Materials

A. Metals and Alloys:
Inorganic materials composed of one or more metallic elements.
1. They usually have a crystalline structure and are good thermal and electrical conductors.
2. Many metals have high strength and high elastic module.
3. They maintain their good strength at high and low temperatures.
4. They also have sufficient ductility, which is important for many engineering applications.
5. They can be strengthened by alloying and heat treatment.
6. They are least resistant to corrosion.

B. Ceramics and Glasses:

Inorganic materials consisting of both metallic and nonmetallic
1. Elements bonded together chemically.
2. They can be crystalline (ceramics), non-crystalline (glasses) or mixture of both
(glass-ceramics).
3. Generally they have high melting points and high chemical stabilities.
4. They have high hardness, high moduli and high temperature strength. But since they are very
brittle they cannot be used as good as metals.
5. Ceramics are usually poor electrical conductors.
6. Ceramics have a high strength on compression.

C. Polymers:
Organic materials which consist of long molecular chains or networks containing carbon.
1. Most polymers are non-crystalline, but some consist of mixtures of both crystalline and non-
crystalline regions.
2. They generally have low densities and low rigidity.
3. Their mechanical properties may vary considerably.
4. Most polymers are poor electrical conductors due to the nature of the atomic bonding.
5. Most of them are corrosion resistant, but cannot be used at high temperatures.
6. They generally have a good strength to weight ratio.
 D. Composites:
Materials where two or more of the above materials are brought together on macroscopic level.
1. Usually they consist of a matrix and a reinforcement.
2. They are designed to combine the best properties of each of its components.

1. 2. Properties of Engineering Materials

There are maybe more than 50,000 materials available to the engineer. In designing a structure or
device, how is the engineer to choose from this vast menu the material that best suits the purpose?
Mistakes can cause disasters.
These bulk properties are listed in Table 1.1, along with other common classes of property that the
designer must consider when choosing a material. Many of these properties will be unfamiliar to you.

1.2.1. Mechanical Properties

Mechanical properties determine the mechanical behavior of materials  determine applications.
And these mechanical properties are defined by mechanical quantities like:-
1) Elastic modulus (Young Modulus), 10) Ductility Dimensionless 21) Hardness Units:
E (Unit: GPa) 11) Toughness (for Brinell, Vickers) SI: MPa; (for
2) Shear Modulus, G (Unit: GPa) 12) Fracture Toughness Rockwell) Dimensionless
3) Bulk Modulus K, (Unit: GPa) 13) Resilience 22) Creep Strength
4) Poissons Ratio, v, (Dimensionless) 14) Bauschinger Effect 23) Damping Capacity- Loss-
5) Elastic limit, σel (Unit: MPa) 15) Uniform (necking) strain Coefficient, (Dimensionless)
6) Yield Strength (Unit: MPa) 16) Strain Hardening Exponent 24) Fatigue strength (Endurance Limit),
7) Tensile Strength (Unit: MPa) 17) Strain rate sensitivity Units: MPa
8) Compressive Strength 18) Impact strength 25) Archard wear constant, kA (m/MN)
9) Shear strength 19) Temper Brittleness 26) Superplasticity
20) Modulus of Rupture 27) Thermal fatigue
Bulk mechanical properties
 Stiffness
 Strength
 Elasticity
 Ductility
 Brittleness
 Malleability
 Toughness
 Resilience
 Hardness
Mechanical properties for each material specified by test types as follow:
 Tension
 Compression
 Torsion
 Bending
 Impact
 Shear
 Hardness

Several important Mechanical properties are determined for each

engineering material by using a plot curve called the stress–strain
diagram which can be determined from tests. One of the most important
tests to perform in this regard is the tension or compression test.
It is used primarily to determine the relationship between the average
normal stress σave and average normal strain ϵave for many engineering
materials.

1. 3. The Stress–Strain Diagram

The load and corresponding deformation data are used to calculate various values of the stress [normal σ,
shear τ] and corresponding strain [normal ϵ, shear ɣ] in the specimen. There are two ways in which it is
usually described;
1.3.A. Conventional Stress–Strain Diagram.
Is a plotted curve resulting from using nominal or engineering stress as the vertical axis and
nominal or engineering strain as the horizontal axis.
The calculation of this Diagram assumes that; the stress is constant over the cross section and
throughout the gauge length, and the strain is assumed to be constant throughout the region
between the gauge points.
Nominal or engineering stress: It is experimental stress that determine by dividing the applied load
𝑃
P by the specimen’s original cross-sectional area Ao.  𝜎𝑒𝑛𝑔 =
𝐴𝑜
Nominal or engineering strain: It is experimental strain that determine directly from the strain
gauge reading, or by dividing the change in the specimen’s gauge length L, by the specimen’s
𝛿𝐿 𝐿−𝐿𝑜 𝐿
original gauge length Lo.  ∈𝑒𝑛𝑔 = 𝐿 = → = 1 +∈𝑒𝑛𝑔
𝑜 𝐿𝑂 𝐿𝑂
1.3.B. True Stress–Strain Diagram.
Is a plotted curve resulting from using true stress as the vertical axis while true strain as the
horizontal axis.
True stress: It is experimental stress that determines by dividing the applied load P by the
𝑃
specimen’s actual cross-sectional area A at the instant the load is measured.  𝜎𝑟 =
𝐴
True strain: It is experimental strain that determine by the summing of instantaneous dividing the
change in the specimen’s length (Lx- Lx-1), by the specimen’s initial length Lx-1 with the previous
instants. 
𝐿
𝐿1 − 𝐿0 𝐿2 − 𝐿1 𝐿3 − 𝐿2 𝑑𝐿 𝐿
∈𝑟 = + + + ⋯ →∈𝑟 = = ln
𝐿𝑜 𝐿1 𝐿2 𝐿𝑜 𝐿 𝐿𝑜
Realize, however, that two stress–strain diagrams for a particular material will be quite similar, but will never
be exactly the same. This is because the results actually depend on variables such as; the material’s
composition, microscopic imperfections, the way it is manufactured, the rate of loading, and the temperature
during the time of the test.
1.3.1. Steels' Stress–Strain Diagram.
Steel, is a commonly used material for fabricating both structural members and mechanical
elements. The characteristic stress–strain diagram for a steel specimen is shown in Fig. (1). It is
clear that the test is tension test since the stress and strain have positive sign and from this curve we
can identify four different ways in which the material behaves, depending on the amount of strain
induced in the material.

I- Elastic Behavior or Elastic region

Since Elasticity (or stretchiness), is the property of a material that returns to its original shape after
the stress (e.g. external forces) that made it deform or distort is removed.
Then Elastic region is the region under the curve of stress strain diagram that specify with:-
proportional limit, σpl (Unit: MPa).is the stress value in the stress strain diagram that below it the
curve is actually a straight line throughout most of this region, so that the stress is proportional to the
strain. The material in this region is said to be linear elastic. If the stress slightly exceeds the
proportional limit, the curve tends to bend and flatten out as shown.
Elastic limit, σel (Unit: MPa).is the stress value if the load is removed the specimen will still return
back to its original shape and beyond which there is permanent deformation.
Usually, the elastic limit is seldom determined, since it is very close to the proportional limit and
therefore rather difficult to detect.
Most engineering materials exhibit a linear relationship between stress and strain within the elastic region.
Consequently, an increase in stress causes a proportionate increase in strain. This fact was discovered by
Robert Hooke in 1676 using springs and is known as Hooke’s law. It may be expressed mathematically as:-
𝜎=𝐸∈
Modulus of elasticity or Young’s modulus, E (Unit: MPa).Is the slope of the initial straight lined
portion of the stress–strain diagram up to the proportional limit. It is a mechanical quantity that
indicates the stiffness of a material.
It must always be remembered, though, that E can be used only if a material has linear elastic
behavior. Also, if the stress in the material is greater than the proportional limit, the stress–strain
diagram ceases to be a straight line and so Hooke's law is no longer valid.
An exception would be natural rubber, which in fact does not even have a proportional limit, since stress and
strain are not linearly related. Instead, as shown in Figure below, this material, which is known as a polymer,
exhibits nonlinear elastic behavior.

Stiffness.
 Property that enables a material to withstand high stress without great strain
 resistance of a material to deformation
 Represented by the slope of the stress-strain curve (steeper slope & higher E
– greater stiffness)
 E = / (for tension or compression)
 G = / (for shear, modulus of rigidity)
 Only defined for elastic deformation; (complex for nonlinear responses)
 Compliance – opposite (inverse?) of stiffness (flatter slopes & lower E)
Values of E for commonly used engineering materials are often tabulated in engineering codes and
reference books.