CHAPTER 6:

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

ISSUES TO ADDRESS...
• Stress and strain: What are they and why are
they used instead of load and deformation?
• Elastic behavior: When loads are small, how much
deformation occurs? What materials deform least?
• Plastic behavior: At what point do dislocations
cause permanent deformation? What materials are
most resistant to permanent deformation?
• Toughness and ductility: What are they and how
do we measure them?

Chapter 6- 1
Chapter 6- 2
 6.1 Introduction

• Mechanical properties:
strength,hardness,ductility,stiffness.
• ASTM: American society for testing and
materials

Chapter 6- 3
 Elastic Deformation
1. Initial 2. Small load 3. Unload

bonds
stretch

return to
initial

F
F Linear-
elastic
Elastic means reversible! Non-Linear-
elastic

Chapter 6- 4
 Plastic Deformation (Metals)
1. Initial 2. Small load 3. Unload
bonds
stretch planes
& planes still
shear sheared

plastic
elastic + plastic

F
F
Plastic means permanent! linear linear
elastic elastic

plastic displacement
Chapter 6- 5
 6.2 Concepts of Stress and Strain

• A load applied in three ways: Fig 6.1

1.tension 2.compression3.shear

Tension Tests: Fig 6.2 and Fig 6.3

Chapter 6- 6
Chapter 6- 7
 Stress-Strain Testing
• Typical tensile test • Typical tensile
machine specimen

Adapted from
extensometer specimen Fig. 6.2,
Callister 7e.

gauge
length

Adapted from Fig. 6.3, Callister 7e. (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- 8
 Engineering Stress
• Tensile stress, : • Shear stress, :
Ft Ft F

Area, A Area, A Fs

Fs
Ft
Fs Ft
Ft lb f N  = F
= = 2 or 2
Ao
Ao in m
original area
before loading
 Stress has units:
N/m2 or lbf/in2
Chapter 6- 9
 Common States of Stress
• Simple tension: cable
F F
A o = cross sectional
area (when unloaded)
F
  
Ao
Ski lift(photo courtesy
• Torsion (a form of shear): drive shaft P.M. Anderson)

M Fs Ao 
Ac
Fs
 
Ao
M
2R Note:  = M/AcR here.
Chapter 6- 10
 OTHER COMMON STRESS STATES (1)
• Simple compression:

Ao

Canyon Bridge, Los Alamos, NM

(photo courtesy P.M. Anderson)

F

Note: compressive
Balanced Rock, Arches structure member
National Park
(photo courtesy P.M. Anderson)
Ao ( < 0 here).

Chapter 6- 11
OTHER COMMON STRESS STATES (2)
• Bi-axial tension: • Hydrostatic compression:

Pressurized tank Fish under water (photo courtesy

(photo courtesy P.M. Anderson)
P.M. Anderson)
 > 0

z > 0 h< 0

Chapter 6- 12
 Engineering Strain
• Tensile strain: • Lateral strain:
/2
L
   L 
Lo Lo wo
wo

L /2
• Shear strain:

x  = x/y = tan 

y 90º - 
Strain is always
90º dimensionless.
Adapted from Fig. 6.1 (a) and (c), Callister 7e. Chapter 6- 13
Shear and Torsional Tests

τ = F/A0 shear stress

 1  cos 2 
 '   cos 2      (6.4a )
 2 
 sin 2 
 '   sin  cos      (6.4b)
 2 
Adapted from Fig.
7.9, Callister 6e.
(Fig. 7.9 is from
C.F. Elam, The
Distortion of
Metal Crystals,
Oxford University
Press, London, Chapter 6- 14
1935.)
 6.3 Stress-Strain Behavior

1.σ = Eε (6.5)
E:modulus of elasticity or Young’s modulus(GPa)
2.Elastic deformation:stress and strain are proportional
3.The greater the modulus, the stiffer the material.

Chapter 6- 15
Chapter 6- 16
Chapter 6- 17
Chapter 6- 18
 Mechanical Properties
• Slope of stress strain plot (which is
proportional to the elastic modulus)
depends on bond strength of metal

E 
dF 

 dr  r0

Adapted from Fig. 6.7,

Callister 7e.

Chapter 6- 19
Chapter 6- 20
 6.5 ELASTIC PROPERTIES of
Materials
• Modulus of Elasticity, E: 
(also known as Young's modulus) E F
• Hooke's Law: 1 
=E Linear-
elastic
L
Units:  F
E: [GPa] or [psi] - simple
1 tension
test

Chapter 6- 21
Chapter 6- 22
      
y
• Poisson’s ratio
x

 z  z

metals: ~ 0.33
ceramics: ~0.25 ν : dimensionless
polymers: ~0.40

• ν = 0.25 for isotropic materials

• E = 2G(1+ν) (6.9)

Chapter 6- 23
 YOUNG’S MODULI: COMPARISON
Graphite
Metals Composites
Ceramics Polymers
Alloys /fibers
1200
Semicond
Eceramics
1000 Diamond
800
600
400 Tungsten
Si carbide
Al oxide Carbon fibers only
> Emetals
Molybdenum
>> Epolymers
Si nitride
E(GPa) 200
Steel, Ni
Tantalum <111>
Si crystal
CFRE(|| fibers)*
Platinum
Cu alloys <100> Aramid fibers only
100 Zinc, Ti
80 Silver, Gold Glass-soda AFRE(|| fibers)* Based on data in Table B2,
Aluminum Glass fibers only
60
40
Magnesium,
Tin GFRE(|| fibers)* Callister 6e.
Concrete Composite data based on
109 Pa 20 GFRE*
CFRE*
reinforced epoxy with 60 vol%
of aligned
Graphite GFRE( fibers)*
10 carbon (CFRE),
8 CFRE( fibers)*
6 AFRE( fibers)*
aramid (AFRE), or
Polyester glass (GFRE)
4 PET
PS fibers.
PC Epoxy only
2
PP
1 HDPE
0.8
0.6 Wood( grain)
PTFE
0.4

0.2 LDPE Chapter 6- 24

Chapter 6- 25
Chapter 6- 26
 Plastic Deformation
6.6 Tensile Properties Yielding and Yield strength
• Plastic deformation:the stress no longer proportional to
strain, and permanent nonrecoverable
• Yielding:plastic deformation begins

Chapter 6- 27
Chapter 6- 28
 YIELD STRENGTH: COMPARISON Graphite/
Metals/ Composites/
Ceramics/ Polymers
Alloys fibers
Semicond
2000
Steel (4140)qt
y(ceramics)
>>y(metals)

in ceramic matrix and epoxy matrix composites, since

1000
Yield strength, y (MPa)

since in tension, fracture usually occurs before yield.

Ti (5Al-2.5Sn)a
>> y(polymers)

in tension, fracture usually occurs before yield.

W (pure)
700
600 Cu (71500)cw
500 Mo (pure)
Steel (4140)a
400
Steel (1020)cd
300

Hard to measure,
Al (6061)ag
Steel (1020)hr
Hard to measure, Room T values
200 ¨
Ti (pure)a
Ta (pure)
Cu (71500)hr Based on data in Table B4,
Callister 6e.
100 a = annealed
dry
70 PC hr = hot rolled
60 Al (6061)a Nylon 6,6 ag = aged
50 PET
humid cd = cold drawn
40 PVC
cw = cold worked
PP
30 HDPE qt = quenched & tempered

20

LDPE
Tin (pure) Chapter 6- 29
10
 Tensile Strength, TS
• Maximum stress on engineering stress-strain curve.
Adapted from Fig. 6.11,
Callister 7e.
TS
F = fracture or
y
ultimate
engineering

strength
stress

Typical response of a metal

Neck – acts
as stress
concentrator
strain
engineering strain
• Metals: occurs when noticeable necking starts.
• Polymers: occurs when polymer backbone chains are
aligned and about to break.
Chapter 6- 30
Chapter 6- 31
345MPa

150

Chapter 6- 32
Chapter 6- 33
 Ductility(延性)

• Ductility is a measure of the degree of plastic deformation

that has been sustained at fracture.
• Percent elongation or percent reduction in area

 l f  l0 
（percent elongation） % EL     100
 l 
 0 

% RA  
A A
0 f

  100
（percent reduction in area）  
 A 0 

Chapter 6- 34
 DUCTILITY, %EL
L f  Lo
• Plastic tensile strain at failure: %EL  x100
Lo
smaller %EL
Engineering (brittle if %EL<5%)
tensile
stress, 
Ao
larger %EL Lo Af Lf
(ductile if
%EL>5%)
Adapted from Fig. 6.13,
Callister 6e.

Engineering tensile strain, 

• Another ductility measure: Ao  Af
% RA  x100
Ao
• Note: %RA and %EL are often comparable.
--Reason: crystal slip does not change material volume.
--%RA > %EL possible if internal voids form in neck.
Chapter 6- 35
Chapter 6- 36
Chapter 6- 37
Temperature effect on the stress-strain behavior

Chapter 6- 38
Resilience:彈性能
The capacity of a material to absorb energy when
it is deformed elastically and then, unloading, to
have this energy recovered.

 y

U r
   d
0

1
Linear elastic region: U   y y
r
2

Chapter 6- 39
 Toughness(韌性)

• It is a measure of the ability of a material to

absorb energy up to fracture.
• Figure 6.13:the area under curve
• Section 8.6 :impact fracture testing
Charpy,Izod

Chapter 6- 40
Chapter 6- 41
Chapter 6- 42
 LOADING RATE

• Increased loading rate... TS
--increases y and TS y larger 
--decreases %EL TS
• Why? An increased rate y
gives less time for disl. to smaller 
move past obstacles. 
• Impact loading: sample (Charpy)
--severe testing case
--more brittle
--smaller toughness
Adapted from Fig. 8.11(a) and
(b), Callister 6e. (Fig. 8.11(b)
is adapted from H.W. Hayden,
W.G. Moffatt, and J. Wulff, The
Structure and Properties of final height initial height
Materials, Vol. III, Mechanical
Behavior, John Wiley and
Sons, Inc. (1965) p. 13.)
Chapter 6- 43
 TOUGHNESS
• Energy to break a unit volume of material
• Approximate by the area under the stress-strain
curve. (Figure 6.13)
Engineering smaller toughness (ceramics)
tensile larger toughness
stress,  (metals, PMCs)

smaller toughness-
unreinforced
polymers

Engineering tensile strain, 

Chapter 6- 44
6.7 True Stress and Strain

true stress  
F
T
A i

true strain   ln l i
T
l 0

Al Al
i i 0 0 No Volume change

 T
  1   

 T
 ln1   

Chapter 6- 45
  KT
n
T n: strain hardening exponent

Chapter 6- 46
 HARDENING
• An increase in y due to plastic deformation.

large hardening
y
1
y small hardening
0

d
reload
unloa


• Curve fit to the stress-strain response:
hardening exponent:
T  C T   n n=0.15 (some steels)
to n=0.5 (some copper)
　rue?stress (F/A) 　rue?strain: ln(L/Lo)
Chapter 6- 47
Table 6.4

Chapter 6- 48
Chapter 6- 49
6.8 Elastic Recovery after Plastic Deformation

Chapter 6- 50
 6.10 Hardness
•Hardness is a measure of a material’s resistance to localized
plastic deformation.硬度是材料對局部塑性變形(如小凹痕刮痕)
抵抗能力之一種量測。

Hardness tests are performed more frequently

than any other mechanical test for several reasons:

1.They are simple and inexpensive

2.The test is nondestructive
3.Other mechanical properties often may be estimated
from hardness data, such as tensile strength(Fig 6.19)

Chapter 6- 51
 HARDNESS
• Resistance to permanently indenting the surface.
• Large hardness means:
--resistance to plastic deformation or cracking in
compression.
--better wear properties.
apply known force measure size
e.g., (1 to 1000g) of indent after
10mm sphere removing load

Smaller indents
D d mean larger
hardness.

most brasses easy to machine cutting nitrided

plastics Al alloys steels file hard tools steels diamond

increasing hardness
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- 52
 Hardness: Measurement
• Rockwell
– No major sample damage
– Each scale runs to 130 but only useful in range 20-
100.
– Minor load 10 kg
– Major load 60 (A), 100 (B) & 150 (C) kg
• A = diamond, B = 1/16 in. ball, C = diamond

• HB = Brinell Hardness
– TS (psia) = 500 x HB
– TS (MPa) = 3.45 x HB

Chapter 6- 53
Table 6.5

Chapter 6- 54
Table 6.6a

Chapter 6- 55
Table 6.6b

Chapter 6- 56
Hardness Conversion

Chapter 6- 57
Chapter 6- 58
Correlation between hardness and
tensile strength

TS(MPa) = 3.45 × HB
Fig 6.19 steels alloys
TS(psi) = 500 × HB

Chapter 6- 59
 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 y.
• Toughness: The energy needed to break a unit
volume of material.
• Ductility: The plastic strain at failure.

Note: For materials selection cases related to

mechanical behavior, see slides 22-4 to 22-10.
Chapter 6- 60