MECHANICS OF

MATERIALS (STRENGTH
OF MATERIALS)
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
THE TENSION AND COMPRESSION
TEST

The strength of a material depends on its ability to sustain a load without

undue deformation or failure. This strength is inherent in the material itself
and must be determined by experiment. One of the most important tests to
perform in this regard is the tension or compression test. Once this test is
performed, we can then determine the relationship between the average
normal stress and average normal strain in many engineering materials
such as metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites.
THE TENSION AND COMPRESSION
TEST
THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

Once the stress and strain data from the test are known, then the results
can be plotted to produce a curve called the stress–strain diagram. This
diagram is very useful since it applies to a specimen of the material made of
any size. There are two ways in which the stress–strain diagram is normally
described.
THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM
Conventional Stress–Strain Diagram.
The nominal or engineering stress is determined by dividing the applied load P by
the specimen’s original cross-sectional area A0. This calculation assumes that the
stress is constant over the cross section and throughout the gage length. We have

Likewise, the nominal or engineering strain is found directly from the strain gage
reading, or by dividing the change in the specimen’s gage length, δ, by the
specimen’s original gage length L0. Thus,
THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

When these values of ơ and ε are

plotted, where the vertical axis is the
stress and the horizontal axis is the
strain, the resulting curve is called a
conventional stress–strain
diagram.
THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

Elastic Behavior.
The initial region of the curve, indicated in light orange, is referred to as the
elastic region. Here the curve is a straight line up to the point where the
stress reaches the proportional limit, ơpl. When the stress slightly exceeds
this value, the curve bends until the stress reaches an elastic limit. For most
materials, these points are very close, and therefore it becomes rather
difficult to distinguish their exact values. What makes the elastic region
unique, however, is that after reaching ơY, if the load is removed, the
specimen will recover its original shape. In other words, no damage will be
done to the material.
THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

Because the curve is a straight line up to ơpl, any increase in stress will
cause a proportional increase in strain. This fact was discovered in 1676 by
Robert Hooke, using springs, and is known as Hooke’s law. It is expressed
mathematically as

Here E represents the constant of proportionality, which is called the

modulus of elasticity or Young’s modulus, named after Thomas Young, who
published an account of it in 1807. Since strain is dimensionless, E will have
the same units as stress, such as psi, ksi, or pascals.
THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

Yielding.
A slight increase in stress above the elastic limit will result in a breakdown
of the material and cause it to deform permanently. This behavior is called
yielding, and it is indicated by the rectangular dark orange region. The
stress that causes yielding is called the yield stress or yield point, ơY, and
the deformation that occurs is called plastic deformation. Once the yield
point is reached, the specimen will continue to elongate (strain) without any
increase in load. When the material behaves in this manner, it is often
referred to as being perfectly plastic.
THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

Strain Hardening.
When yielding has ended, any load causing an increase in stress will be
supported by the specimen, resulting in a curve that rises continuously but
becomes flatter until it reaches a maximum stress referred to as the
ultimate stress, ơu. The rise in the curve in this manner is called strain
hardening, and it is identified as the region in light green.
THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

Necking.
Up to the ultimate stress, as the specimen elongates, its cross-sectional area
will decrease in a fairly uniform manner over the specimen’s entire gage
length. However, just after reaching the ultimate stress, the cross-sectional
area will then begin to decrease in a localized region of the specimen, and
so it is here where the stress begins to increase. As a result, a constriction
or “neck” tends to form with further elongation. This region of the curve
due to necking is indicated in dark green. Here the stress–strain diagram
tends to curve downward until the specimen breaks at the fracture stress,
ơf.
THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

True Stress–Strain Diagram.

Instead of always using the original cross-sectional area A0 and specimen
length L0 to calculate the (engineering) stress and strain, we could have
used the actual cross-sectional area A and specimen length L at the instant
the load is measured. The values of stress and strain found from these
measurements are called true stress and true strain, and a plot of their
values is called the true stress–strain diagram.
THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

Steel.
A typical conventional
stress–strain diagram
for a mild steel
specimen is shown. In
order to enhance the
details, the elastic
region of the curve has
been shown in green
using an exaggerated
strain scale, also shown
in green.
THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM
STRESS-STRAIN BEHAVIOR OF
MATERIALS DUCTILE AND BRITTLE
MATERIALS
Materials can be classified as either being ductile or brittle, depending on
their stress–strain characteristics.

Ductile Materials.
Any material that can be subjected to large strains before it fractures is
called a ductile material. One way to specify the ductility of a material is to
report its percent elongation or percent reduction in area at the time of
fracture. The percent elongation is the specimen’s fracture strain expressed
as a percent. Thus, if the specimen’s original gage length is L0 and its
length at fracture is Lf, then
STRESS-STRAIN BEHAVIOR OF
MATERIALS DUCTILE AND BRITTLE
MATERIALS

The percent reduction in area is another way to specify ductility. It is

defined within the region of necking as follows:

Here A0 is the specimen’s original cross-sectional area and Af is the area of

the neck at fracture. Mild steel has a typical value of 60%.
STRESS-STRAIN BEHAVIOR OF
MATERIALS DUCTILE AND BRITTLE
MATERIALS
In most metals and some plastics, however,
constant yielding will not occur beyond the
elastic range. One metal where this is the
case is aluminum. Actually, this metal often
does not have a well-defined yield point, and
consequently it is standard practice to
define a yield strength using a graphical
procedure called the offset method.
Normally for structural design a 0.2% strain
(0.002 in./in.) is chosen, and from this point
on the ε axis a line parallel to the initial
straight line portion of the stress–strain
diagram is drawn.
STRESS-STRAIN BEHAVIOR OF
MATERIALS DUCTILE AND BRITTLE
MATERIALS
Brittle Materials.
Materials that exhibit little or
no yielding before failure are
referred to as brittle
materials. Gray cast iron is
an example, having a stress–
strain diagram in tension as
shown by the curve AB.
STRESS-STRAIN BEHAVIOR OF
MATERIALS DUCTILE AND BRITTLE
MATERIALS
Stiffness.
The modulus of elasticity is a mechanical property that indicates the
stiffness of a material. Materials that are very stiff, such as steel, have
large values of E [Est = 29(10³) ksi or 200 GPa], whereas spongy materials
such as vulcanized rubber have low values [Er = 0.10 ksi or 0.69 MPa]. It
must always be remembered, though, that E, through the application of
Hooke’s law, 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.
 STRESS-STRAIN BEHAVIOR OF
MATERIALS DUCTILE AND BRITTLE
MATERIALS
Strain Hardening.
If a specimen of ductile
material, such as steel, is
loaded into the plastic
region and then unloaded,
elastic strain is recovered
as the material returns to
its equilibrium state. The
plastic strain remains,
however, and as a result the
material will be subjected to
a permanent set.
STRAIN ENERGY
As a material is deformed by an external load, the load will do external work, which in
turn will be stored in the material as internal energy. This energy is related to the
strains in the material, and so it is referred to as strain energy.
For engineering applications, it is often convenient to specify the strain energy per unit
volume of material. This is called the strain energy density, and it can be expressed as

Finally, if the material behavior is linear elastic, then Hooke’s law applies, ơ = Eε, and
therefore we can express the elastic strain energy density in terms of the uniaxial stress
ơ as
 STRAIN ENERGY
Modulus of Resilience.
When the stress in a material reaches the
proportional limit, the strain energy density, as
calculated by the previous equations, is referred to as
the modulus of resilience. It is

Here ur is equivalent to the shaded triangular area

under the elastic region of the stress–strain diagram.
Physically the modulus of resilience represents the
largest amount of strain energy per unit volume the
material can absorb without causing any permanent
damage to the material. Certainly this property
becomes important when designing bumpers or shock
absorbers.
STRAIN ENERGY

Modulus of Toughness.
Another important property of a
material is its modulus of
toughness, ut. This quantity
represents the entire area under the
stress–strain diagram, and therefore
it indicates the maximum amount of
strain energy per unit volume the
material can absorb just before it
fractures. Certainly this becomes
important when designing members
that may be accidentally overloaded
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 1

A 100-mm-long rod has a diameter of 15 mm. If an axial tensile load of 100

kN is applied, determine its change in length. Assume linear elastic
behavior with E = 200 GPa.
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 2

A bar has a length of 8 in. and cross-sectional area of 12 in². Determine the
modulus of elasticity of the material if it is subjected to an axial tensile load
of 10 kip and stretches 0.003 in. The material has linear elastic behavior.
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 3

The material for the 50-mm-long

specimen has the stress–strain
diagram shown. If P = 100 kN,
determine the elongation of the
specimen.
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 4

The material for the 50-mm-

long specimen has the
stress–strain diagram
shown. If P = 150 kN is
applied and then released,
determine the permanent
elongation of the specimen.
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 5

If the elongation of wire BC is 0.2

mm after the force P is applied,
determine the magnitude of P. The
wire is A-36 steel and has a
diameter of 3 mm.
POISSON’S RATIO

When a deformable body is subjected to a force,

not only does it elongate but it also contracts
laterally.

In the early 1800s, the French scientist S. D.

Poisson realized that within the elastic range
the ratio of these strains is a constant, since the
displacements δ and δ’ are proportional to the
same applied force. This ratio is referred to as
Poisson’s ratio, υ (nu), and it has a numerical
value that is unique for any material that is
both homogeneous and isotropic. Stated
mathematically it is
POISSON’S RATIO

The negative sign is included here since longitudinal elongation (positive

strain) causes lateral contraction (negative strain), and vice versa. Poisson’s
ratio is a dimensionless quantity. For most nonporous solids it has a value
that is generally between 0.25 and 0.355. Typical values for common
engineering materials are listed on the inside back cover.
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 6

A bar made of A-36 steel has the

dimensions shown. If an axial
force of P = 80 kN is applied to
the bar, determine the change in
its length and the change in the
dimensions of its cross section.
The material behaves elastically.
THE SHEAR STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

It was shown that when a small element of material is subjected to pure shear,
equilibrium requires that equal shear stresses must be developed on four faces
of the element. Furthermore, if the material is homogeneous and isotropic,
then this shear stress will distort the element uniformly, producing shear
strain.
THE SHEAR STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

For most engineering materials, like the one just described, the elastic
behavior is linear, and so Hooke’s law for shear can be written as

Here G is called the shear modulus of elasticity or the modulus of rigidity.

Its value represents the slope of the line on the Ƭ–ϒ diagram, that is, G =
Ƭpl/Ƭpl. Units of measurement for G will be the same as those for Ƭ (Pa or
psi), since ϒ is measured in radians, a dimensionless quantity.
THE SHEAR STRAIN

Notice that if θ is smaller than π/2, then the shear strain is positive, whereas
if θ is larger than π/2, then the shear strain is negative.
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 7

A specimen of titanium alloy is

tested in torsion and the shear
stress–strain diagram is shown.
Determine the shear modulus G,
the proportional limit, and the
ultimate shear stress. Also,
determine the maximum distance
d that the top of a block of this
material, could be displaced
horizontally if the material
behaves elastically when acted
upon by a shear force V. What is
the magnitude of V necessary to
cause this displacement?
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 8

An aluminum specimen shown has a

diameter of d0 = 25 mm and a gage
length of L0 = 250 mm. If a force of
165 kN elongates the gage length
1.20 mm, determine the modulus of
elasticity. Also, determine by how
much the force causes the diameter
of the specimen to contract. Take Gal
= 26 GPa and ƠY = 440 MPa.
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 9

A 20-mm-wide block is firmly bonded

to rigid plates at its top and bottom.
When the force P is applied the block
deforms into the shape shown by the
dashed line. Determine the
magnitude of P. The block’s material
has a modulus of rigidity of G = 26
GPa. Assume that the material does
not yield and use small angle
analysis.
FAILURE OF MATERIALS DUE TO CREEP
AND FATIGUE
Creep.
When a material has to support a load for a very long period of time, it may
continue to deform until a sudden fracture occurs or its usefulness is impaired. This
time-dependent permanent deformation is known as creep. Normally creep is
considered when metals and ceramics are used for structural members or
mechanical parts that are subjected to high temperatures.

Fatigue.
When a metal is subjected to repeated cycles of stress or strain, it causes its
internal structure to break down, ultimately leading to fracture. This behavior is
called fatigue, and it is usually responsible for a large percentage of failures in
connecting rods and crankshafts of engines; steam or gas turbine blades;
connections or supports for bridges, railroad wheels, and axles; and other parts
subjected to cyclic loading.
THE END!!

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