CHAPTER 7

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

PROBLEM SOLUTIONS

Concepts of Stress and Strain

7.4 For a brass alloy, the stress at which plastic deformation begins is 345 MPa (50,000 psi), and the
modulus of elasticity is 103 GPa (15.0 106 psi).
(a) What is the maximum load that may be applied to a specimen with a cross-sectional area of 130 mm2
(0.2 in.2) without plastic deformation?
(b) If the original specimen length is 76 mm (3.0 in.), what is the maximum length to which it may be
stretched without causing plastic deformation?
Solution
(a) This portion of the problem calls for a determination of the maximum load that can be applied without
plastic deformation (Fy). Taking the yield strength to be 345 MPa, and employment of Equation 7.1 leads to

Fy = y A0 = (345 106 N/m2 )(130 10-6 m2 )

= 44,850 N (10,000 lbf)

(b) The maximum length to which the sample may be deformed without plastic deformation is determined
from Equations 7.2 and 7.5 as

li = l0 1 = l0 1

345 MPa
= (76
mm)
1

= 76.25 mm (3.01 in.)

103 103 MPa

7.12 A cylindrical rod 500 mm (20.0 in.) long, having a diameter of 12.7 mm (0.50 in.), is to be
subjected to a tensile load. If the rod is to experience neither plastic deformation nor an elongation of more than
the applied load is 29,000 N (6500 lb f), which of the four metals or alloys listed below are
1.3 mm (0.05 in.) when
possible candidates? Justify your choice(s).

Excerpts from this work may be reproduced by instructors for distribution on a not-for-profit basis for testing or instructional purposes only to
students enrolled in courses for which the textbook has been adopted. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted
by Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful.

Material

Modulus of
Elasticity (GPa)

Yield Strength
(MPa)

Tensile Strength
(MPa)

Aluminum alloy

70

255

420

Brass alloy

100

345

420

Copper

110

210

210

Steel alloy

207

450

550

Solution
This problem asks that we ascertain which of four metal alloys will not (1) experience plastic deformation,
and (2) elongate more than 1.3 mm when a tensile load of 29,000 N is applied. It is first necessary to compute the
stress using Equation 7.1; a material to be used for this application must necessarily have a yield strength greater
than this value. Thus,

F
=
A0

29,000 N
12.7 103 m 2

= 230 MPa

Of the metal alloys listed, aluminum, brass and steel have yield strengths greater than this stress.

Next, we must compute the elongation produced in aluminum, brass, and steel using Equations 7.2 and 7.5
in order to determine whether or not this elongation is less than 1.3 mm. For aluminum

l =

l0
(230 MPa)(500 mm)
=
= 1.64 mm
E
70 103 MPa

Thus, aluminum is not a candidate.

For brass

l =

l0
(230 MPa)(500 mm)
=
= 1.15 mm
E
100 103 MPa

Thus, brass is a candidate. And, for steel

l =

l0
(230 MPa)(500 mm)
=
= 0.56 mm
E
207 103 MPa

Excerpts from this work may be reproduced by instructors for distribution on a not-for-profit basis for testing or instructional purposes only to

students enrolled in courses for which the textbook has been adopted. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted
by Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful.

Therefore, of these four alloys, only brass and steel satisfy the stipulated criteria.

7.15 A cylindrical specimen of stainless steel having a diameter of 12.8 mm (0.505 in.) and a gauge length
of 50.800 mm (2.000 in.) is pulled in tension. Use the loadelongation characteristics tabulated below to complete
parts (a) through (f).

Load

Length

lbf

mm

in.

50.800

2.000

12,700

2,850

50.825

2.001

25,400

5,710

50.851

2.002

38,100

8,560

50.876

2.003

50,800

11,400

50.902

2.004

76,200

17,100

50.952

2.006

89,100

20,000

51.003

2.008

92,700

20,800

51.054

2.010

102,500

23,000

51.181

2.015

107,800

24,200

51.308

2.020

119,400

26,800

51.562

2.030

128,300

28,800

51.816

2.040

149,700

33,650

52.832

2.080

159,000

35,750

53.848

2.120

160,400

36,000

54.356

2.140

159,500

35,850

54.864

2.160

151,500

34,050

55.880

2.200

124,700

28,000

56.642

2.230

Fracture

(a) Plot the data as engineering stress versus engineering strain.

(b) Compute the modulus of elasticity.
(c) Determine the yield strength at a strain offset of 0.002.
(d) Determine the tensile strength of this alloy.
(e) What is the approximate ductility, in percent elongation?
(f) Compute the modulus of resilience.
Excerpts from this work may be reproduced by instructors for distribution on a not-for-profit basis for testing or instructional purposes only to
students enrolled in courses for which the textbook has been adopted. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted
by Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful.

Solution
This problem calls for us to make a stress-strain plot for stainless steel, given its tensile load-length data,
and then to determine some of its mechanical characteristics.
(a) The data are plotted below on two plots: the first corresponds to the entire stress-strain curve, while for
the second, the curve extends to just beyond the elastic region of deformation.

(b) The elastic modulus is the slope in the linear elastic region (Equation 7.10) as
Excerpts from this work may be reproduced by instructors for distribution on a not-for-profit basis for testing or instructional purposes only to
students enrolled in courses for which the textbook has been adopted. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted
by Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful.

E =

400 MPa 0 MPa

=
= 200 103 MPa = 200 GPa (29 106 psi)

0.002 0

(c) For the yield strength, the 0.002 strain offset line is drawn dashed. It intersects the stress-strain curve at

approximately 750 MPa (112,000 psi ).

(d) The tensile strength is approximately 1250 MPa (180,000 psi), corresponding to the maximum stress on
the complete stress-strain plot.
(e) The ductility, in percent elongation, is just the plastic strain at fracture, multiplied by one-hundred. The
total fracture strain at fracture is 0.115; subtracting out the elastic strain (which is about 0.003) leaves a plastic strain
of 0.112. Thus, the ductility is about 11.2%EL.
(f) From Equation 7.14, the modulus of resilience is just

Ur =

2y
2E

which, using data computed above gives a value of

(750 MPa)2
= 1.40 106 J/m3 (210 in.- lbf /in.3 )
(2) (200 103 MPa)
7.18 A steel alloy to be used for a spring application must have a modulus of resilience of at least
Ur =

2.07 MPa (300 psi). What must be its minimum yield strength?

Solution
The modulus of resilience, yield strength, and elastic modulus of elasticity are related to one another
through Equation 7.14; the value of E for steel given in Table 7.1 is 207 GPa. Solving for y from this expression
yields

y =

2U r E =

(2) (2.07 MPa) (207 103 MPa)

= 925 MPa (134,000 psi)

7.22 Find the toughness (or energy to cause fracture) for a metal that experiences both elastic and plastic
deformation. Assume Equation 7.5 for elastic deformation, that the modulus of elasticity is 103 GPa (15 10 6 psi),
and that elastic deformation terminates at a strain of 0.007. For plastic deformation, assume that the relationship
between stress and strain is described by Equation 7.19, in which the values for K and n are 1520 MPa (221,000
Excerpts from this work may be reproduced by instructors for distribution on a not-for-profit basis for testing or instructional purposes only to
students enrolled in courses for which the textbook has been adopted. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted
by Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful.

psi) and 0.15, respectively. Furthermore, plastic deformation occurs between strain values of 0.007 and 0.60, at
which point fracture occurs.

Solution
This problem calls for us to compute the toughness (or energy to cause fracture). The easiest way to do this
is to integrate both elastic and plastic regions, and then add them together.

Toughness = d
0.007

0.60

E d +

E2
=
2

Kn d

0.007

0.007

0.60

K
+
(n 1)
(n 1)
0

0.007

6
2
103 109 N / m2
2 + 1520 10 N/ m (0.60)1.15 (0.007)1.15
(0.007
)
2
(1.0 0.15)

= 7.33 108 J/m3 (1.07 105 in.-lb /in.3)

f

Elastic Recovery After Plastic Deformation

7.24 A steel alloy specimen having a rectangular cross section of dimensions 19 mm 3.2 mm

( 3 in.
4

1
8

in.) has the stressstrain behavior shown in Figure 7.33. If this specimen is subjected to a tensile force of 110,000 N
(25,000 lbf) then

(a) Determine the elastic and plastic strain values.

(b) If its original length is 610 mm (24.0 in.), what will be its final length after the load in part (a) is
applied and then released?

Solution
(a) We are asked to determine both the elastic and plastic strain values when a tensile force of 110,000 N
(25,000 lbf) is applied to the steel specimen and then released. First it becomes necessary to determine the applied
stress using Equation 7.1; thus

F
F
=
A0
b0 d0

Excerpts from this work may be reproduced by instructors for distribution on a not-for-profit basis for testing or instructional purposes only to
students enrolled in courses for which the textbook has been adopted. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted
by Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States
Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful.

where b0 and d0 are cross-sectional width and depth (19 mm and 3.2 mm, respectively). Thus

(19

110,000 N
= 1.810 109 N / m2 1810 MPa (265,000 psi)
103 m)(3.2 103 m)

From Figure 7.33, this point is in the plastic region so the specimen will be both elastic and plastic strains. The total

strain at this point, t, is about 0.020. We are able to estimate the amount of permanent strain recovery e from
Hooke's law, Equation 7.5 as

e =

And, since E = 207 GPa for steel (Table 7.1)

e =

1810 MPa
= 0.0087
207 103 MPa

The value of the plastic strain, p is just the difference between the total and elastic strains; that is

p = t e = 0.020 0.0087 = 0.0113

(b) If the initial length is 610 mm (24.0 in.) then the final specimen length li may be determined from a
rearranged form of Equation 7.2 using the plastic strain value as
li = l0(1 + p) = (610 mm)(1 + 0.0113) = 616.7 mm (24.26 in.)

Excerpts from this work may be reproduced by instructors for distribution on a not-for-profit basis for testing or instructional purposes only to
students enrolled in courses for which the textbook has been adopted. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted
by Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful.