CHAPTER 4:

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS
ISSUES TO ADDRESS...
Stress and strain

Elastic behavior

Plastic behavior

Toughness and ductility

Chapter 6- 1
Mechanical Properties of Metals
Mechanical Properties refers to the behavior of
material when external forces are applied.

From engineering point of view: allows to predict

the ability of a component or a structure to
withstand the forces applied to it.

From science point of view: what makes

materials strong helps us to design a better
new one.

Chapter 6-
 ENGINEERING STRESS
Tensile stress, s: Shear stress, t:

Ft
s
Ao
original area
before loading Stress has units:
N/m2
Chapter 6- 4
 ENGINEERING STRAIN
Tensile strain: Lateral strain:
/2

Lo
wo
/2
L/2 L/2
Shear strain:

Strain is always
dimensionless.

Chapter 6- 8
 STRESS-STRAIN TESTING
Typical tensile specimen
Adapted from Fig. 6.2,
Callister 6e.
Other types of tests:
--compression: brittle
materials (e.g., concrete)
--torsion: cylindrical tubes,
shafts.
Typical tensile
test machine
Adapted from Fig. 6.3, Callister 6e.
(Fig. 6.3 is taken from H.W. Hayden,
W.G. Moffatt, and J. Wulff, The
Structure and Properties of
Materials, Vol. III, Mechanical
Behavior, p. 2, John Wiley and Sons,
New York, 1965.)
Chapter 6- 9
Chapter 6-
1. Elastic behavior
-Here the curve is a straight line, such that stress
is proportional to strain.

2. Yielding
-Here the material deform permanently.

-Stress causing yielding is the yield stress or

yield point.

Chapter 6-
 3. Strain Hardening
-Here the stress rises and this is due to
hardening of the material.
-Hardening is caused by dislocation
entanglement.
4. Necking
-The cross sectional area uniformly decreases
up to the UTS.
-After UTS there is the sharp decrease in area
and the material fails.

Chapter 6-
Elastic and Plastic Deformation
When a piece of metal is subjected to a uniaxial force
deformation occurs.
When force is removed:
(i) metal returns to its original dimensions elastic deformation
(atoms return to their original position)
(ii) metal deformed to an extent that it cannot fully recover its
original dimensions plastic deformation (shape of the material
changes, atoms are permanently displaced from their positions)

Chapter 6-
LINEAR ELASTIC PROPERTIES

Modulus of Elasticity, E:
(also known as Young's modulus)

Hooke's Law:

s=Ee

Units:
E: [GPa] or [psi]
n: dimensionless

Chapter 6- 10
 YIELD STRENGTH, sy
Stress at which noticeable plastic deformation has
occurred.
when ep = 0.002
tensile stress, s
sy

engineering strain, e
ep = 0.002
Chapter 6- 15
 TENSILE STRENGTH, TS
Maximum possible engineering stress in tension.

Adapted from Fig. 6.11,

Callister 6e.

Metals: occurs when noticeable necking starts.

Ceramics: occurs when crack propagation starts.
Polymers: occurs when polymer backbones are
aligned and about to break.
Chapter 6- 17
 DUCTILITY, %EL
L f Lo
Plastic tensile strain at failure: %EL x100
Lo

Adapted from Fig. 6.13,

Callister 6e.

Ao A f
Another ductility measure: %AR x100
Ao
Note: %AR and %EL are often comparable.
--Reason: crystal slip does not change material volume.
--%AR > %EL possible if internal voids form in neck.
Chapter 6- 19
RESILIENCE
Capacity to absorb energy when deformed elastically and then upon
unloading, to have this energy recovered

Modulus of Resilience
ey
U r sde
0

For a linear elastic region:

1
U r s ye y
2

Chapter 6-
 TOUGHNESS
Energy to break a unit volume of material
Approximate by the area under the stress-strain
curve.
Engineering smaller toughness (ceramics)
tensile larger toughness
stress, s (metals, PMCs)

smaller toughness-
unreinforced
polymers

Engineering tensile strain, e

Chapter 6- 20
 True stress & strain

Here we use the exact area rather than the

original area.

Cross sectional area decreases rapidly within

the neck region.

Chapter 6-
 Hardening

HARDENING: An increase in sy due to plastic deformation.

Chapter 6- 22
 HARDNESS
Resistance to permanently indenting the surface.
Large hardness means:
--resistance to plastic deformation or cracking in
compression.
--better wear properties.

Adapted from Fig. 6.18, Callister 6e. (Fig. 6.18 is adapted from G.F. Kinney, Engineering Properties
and Applications of Plastics, p. 202, John Wiley and Sons, 1957.)
Chapter 6- 21
 SUMMARY
Stress and strain: These are size-independent
measures of load and displacement, respectively.
Elastic behavior: This reversible behavior often
shows a linear relation between stress and strain.
To minimize deformation, select a material with a
large elastic modulus (E or G).
Plastic behavior: This permanent deformation
behavior occurs when the tensile (or compressive)
uniaxial stress reaches sy.
Toughness: The energy needed to break a unit volume of
material.
Ductility: The plastic strain at failure.

Chapter 6- 24