Mechanical properties of Metals: Chapter 9

Strong, hard, ductile, stiff, Tough, brittle

►Careful experiments are performed in the lab under conditions matching
those in the real world ( under service )

►Factors to be considered include:

1. nature of the applied load ( stress i.e force / area )

2. duration of load ( constant or fluctuating in time )
3. environmental conditions (temperature, corrosive )

►Since mechanical properties are of great concern to:

Producers, Consumers, Government agencies, Research organization

Professional bodies are involved in defining / measuring

mechanical properties such as:
American Society for Testing and Materials ( ASTM )
Metals, alloys and their processing:
Forging ( cold working )
Bending copper wire
Welding, Casting,
Machining, Grinding, drilling
Non-uniform cooling, Non-uniform Heating
Phase change ( such as in Tin )
Rolling, extrusion
Forming Operation
Processing induces changes
such as:
►Stress is induced,
►Deformation takes place
►Grain size, shape, orientation change
►Phase may change( β-Tin to α-Tin on cooling )
►Energy is stored in the material
►Dislocation density increases
Tin allotropic transformation from one crystal from
to another undergoing 27 % volume change
 ( society demands )

Strong; hard; stiff; ductile; brittle; tough

Strengthening: Through grain size refinement

Solid-Solution strengthening
Strain Hardening
 A rotating axle under tension, Wing of an Aeroplane,
pressurized tank, Fish under water, beam in structures,
bridges

Pressurized tank
Fish under water
 Different types of stress ( tension, compression & shear )
Dotted lines represent pre-stressed shape

Strain = (l – lo ) / lo
Tensile stress Compressive Stress
Dimensionless

Stress = Pascal= N /m2

Shear stress Torsional stress ( a form of

shear )
 • Typical tensile
specimen
Stress-Strain Testing
• Typical tensile test
machine

extensometer specimen

gauge
length
 Engineering stress and Engineering strain
( in Tension only )

→Engineering stress σ = F / A0 in N / m2 = Pa, usually MPa

→Engineering strain ε = ( li – l0 ) / l0 = Δl / l0 (length/length )

dimensionless
σ ( stress ) = E . ε ( strain )

Results are plotted on next slide

Elastic deformation Elastic deformation: gray cast iron
( is reversible, linear ) & some plastics( is reversible & nonlinear )

Hooke’s Law, Young’s Modulus; E ranges between 45 to 407 GPa

Bonding between metal atoms which are stretched ( Fig 9.13 )

How many bonds are made between
atoms of a pure element ?
 Think of bonds between metal atoms
Stiffer bonds will resist deformation
Attraction
Repulsion

Adapted from Fig. 7.7,

Callister & Rethwisch 3e.
 Plastic (Permanent) Deformation
strength and hardness are measures of resistance to this kind of
deformation (at lower temperatures, i.e. T < Tmelt/3)

• Simple tension test:

Elastic+Plastic
engineering stress, s at larger stress

permanent (plastic)
after load is removed

ep engineering strain, e

plastic strain
 Yield Strength(35 – 1400 Mpa)
sy
Stress at which noticeable plastic deformation has occurred.

tensile stress, s
sy
sy
Resistance of material to plastic deformation
is due to yield strength

engineering strain, e
e p = 0.002
 Stress – Strain Tests

1. Compressive stress:
not very common, for brittle materials, stress is taken to be
negative, strain is already negative
→ compressive is much larger than tensile
2. Shear stress ( couple )
F / A0 where F is force or load applied to upper and lower faces
distance h apart, each of which has an area A0

Shear strain = a / h = tan θ

3.Torsion is special form of shear (torque) applied to shaft or axles in rotation

Axial Versus Lateral Strain and Poisson Ratio

Poisson Ratio = Lateral / Axial strain

Elastic Shear
.
modulus Modulus
Influence of temperature on Stress – strain behavior
Example – Iron ( ductility increases as T increases. Why )
 Geometric considerations of Stress - Strain on inclined planes
F/A=σ

Shear force = F cos (90- θ) = F sinθ

A / Shear Area = cosθ

Tensile
component
Shear Area = A / cosθ

θ
Shear stress = Fsinθ ÷ A / cosθ
‫׳‬

A
= F/A sin θ . Cos θ = σ sin θ . Cos θ

How much is the tensile component ?

Anelasticity and Viscoelasticity

Can elastic strain be dependent on time:Yes

This is what is called Anelasticity or viscoelasticity
Anelasticity: insignificant for metals; very significant for
polymers ( termed as viscoelastic behavior of polymers )

Questions related to deformation ( elastic & Plastic ? )

►Plastic deformation of crystalline & amorphous

►What happens to bonds during plastic deformation
►What role do the presence & movement of
dislocation play in plastic deformation
►Most materials deform elastically to the extent of
5 parts in 1000 only
( for linear elastic 2 parts & for nonlinear elastic 5 parts )
Yield strength ( resistance to ? ) & Elastic – Plastic transition during
Deformation ( most materials show elastic deformation of 5 /1000 )

Plastic

Elastic

How yield strength for materials with non-linear graph is determined ?

 Tensile strength, Necking, fracture point F,
fracture strength using

(50-3000Mpa)
Yield strength
(35-1400Mpa)

►Necking starts, decreasing cross section

►Original area used for stress calculation

Plotting engineering stress – strain,

Not true stress-strain
Ductility

Where area means cross sectional area

Necking
σT = F / Af
 Toughness
• Energy to break a unit volume of material
• measured by the area under the stress-strain curve.

Engineering small toughness (ceramics)

tensile large toughness (metals)
stress, s
very small toughness
(unreinforced polymers)

Engineering tensile strain, e

Ability of a material to absorb E ( how much ? ) up to fracture

i.e material’s resistance to fracture when a crack is present
 Apply only when no
True stress and strain volume change occurs:

stress
Resilience is the capacity of a material to absorb energy when deformed
elastically and, upon unloading, to have this energy recovered

( check dimensions )
Modulus of resilience

How can you define Ur after

checking its dimensions ?
Mechanical properties of
engineering Importance

Modulus of elasticity

Yield Strength at 0.2 percent

offset

Ultimate tensile strength

Fracture strength

Ductility:
Percent elongation at fracture

Percent reduction in area at

fracture
 Ductile, Brittle, Tough materials

Strength increases along ordinate, ductility increases along abscissa,

and the product of Ordinate and abscissa i.e the area under the curve,
shows toughness ( capacity to absorb energy before fracture )
Elastic strain recovery after plastic deformation:
Concept of strain hardening of materials
 Hardness
Materials resistance to local plastic deformation
( Indentation )

1. Simple
2. inexpensive test and equipment
3. specimen need not be prepared
4. Test is non-destructive ( only small indentation results )
5. Other mechanical properties estimated from hardness test

Rockwell; Brinell; Vickers; Knoop

Load, Loading rate, Material of indenter,

shape of indenter, size of indenter are variables
Hardness Testing

Indenter shape is
Ball
Cone
Pyramidal
Hardness
(Materials resistance to localized plastic deformation)

Ability of one material to scratch another one,

Used before: Soft Talc is 1 – Hard Diamond is 10 ( Mohs )

Today, sophisticated:
Indenter made of
hardened steel,
tungsten carbide, Indenter is forced into test-surface
or diamond Using measured vertical load
With known rate of application
Depth or Cross section of the indentation is measured
and related to a HARDNESS NUMBER
( This number is relative )
Different methods of Hardness Tests:
Rockwell→ Indenter is spherical Ball of hardened steel or
Conical diamond for hardest materials
Minor and Major loads are applied & difference taken

Brinell → Indenter is Ball of hardened steel or

Tungsten carbide

Vickers → Indenter is pyramid of diamond

( Load less than 1000g, microscope used for observation )

Knoop→ Indenter is pyramid of diamond

(Load less than 1000g, microscope for observation, ceramics )
Variability of property ( Tensile strength ) and statistical analysis

Average = 517
Small for metals but large for polymers
called viscoelastic
 Precipitation Hardening:
Hypothetical diagram for precipitation-hardenable alloy of
composition Co
(pages 373-375)
Schematic temperature Vs time plot showing both solution and
precipitation heat treatments for precipitation hardening
(Pages 373-375)
T0

T2

T1
 Air-cooled / Austinite formation / Grain refining

Furnace cooled
Austinite, Fe3C
form
Course Pearlite
With proeutectoid
Phase forms

Cold worked
material made
Ductile/recovery/ Fe3C change
Recrystallization Shape into
Relatively high T spheroids
Heat-deform-cool
cycles