OBJECTIVES

From the objectives of the experiment, the data is gathered to get the information about each
material so that we can determine the important mechanical properties. The students are also
being familiarized with the UTM machine, the data acquisition software and general steps to
perform a tensile test on a specimen.

INTRODUCTION
In this experiment, the tensile test is conducted for different materials, including
aluminium, acrylic and polypropylene using an Instron 30kN load frame (Universal Testing
Machine, UTM).
Tensile test, the most fundamental tests for engineering is used to evaluate the
strength of metals and alloys. The test provide information about a material and its properties,
as it can be used for design and analysis of engineering structures.
Two samples of material are tested, by pulling them to failure in a relatively short
time at constant rate. Before testing, the data gathered into a data acquisition software. The
data is used to calculate the various properties of each material as one of the objectives of this
experiment is to obtain stress-strain curve for each material. So that, we can use the stressstrain curve to determine modulus of elasticity, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength,
breaking strength, ductility and toughness of each material.

APPARATUS AND SPECIMEN

1) iNSTRON 30kN, Universal Testing Machine (UTM)
2) Vernier caliper
3) Test specimens ; Aluminium, Acrylic and Polypropylene

THEORY
If a load is changing relatively with time and the load is applied uniformly over a
cross section of a member, the mechanical behaviour may be ascertained by a simple stressstrain tests. These tests are commonly conducted for metals. There are three principal ways in
which the load may be applied : tension, compression and shear. Tensile test is one of the
most common mechanical stress-strain tests. A standard specimen is deformed, usually to
fracture with a gradually increasing tensile load that is applied unaxially along the long axis
of the specimen.
In tensile test, the tensile strength can be determined. It is also possible to determine
the elongation at fracture as a toughness measurement of the material. A mono-axial stress is
generated in a material sample, then the stress is induced via the external loading of the
sample in a longitudinal direction via a tensile force. In order to determine the strength of the
material, loading of the specimen is slowly and continuously increased until it fails. The
tensile strength can be calculated from the maximum test force and the initial cross-section,
Ao of the sample.

m = F/A
The elongation at fracture, refers to the change in length of the sample compared with its
original length, Li and is calculated using the length, Lf of the sample after fracture.
= (Lf Li)/Li
Using the recorded data, the engineering stress is found by dividing the applied load, P by the
specimens original cross sectional area, Ao.

m = P/Ao
The engineering strain is found by dividing the change in the specimens gage length, ( =
L-Lo) by the specimens original gage length, Lo.
= /Lo

Stress-strain curve for ductile material

Stress-strain curve for brittle material

The stress-strain curve shows the important material behaviour data. From the graph,
the material conforms to Hookes Law with modulus of elasticity, = strain is proportional to
stress, :
E = /
When the stress is exceeded, deformation is no longer proportional to the load.
Poissons ratio is defined as v = - x/z , where
x = the strain perpendicular to the tensile axis
y = the longitudinal strain

In general, v increases during the run, starting about 0.3 in the elastic region and about 0.5
after the material begin to deform plastically.

PROCEDURE
Each specimen is identified, then measured with the caliper to determine the length, width
and thickness of the gage of the specimen. The measurement is recorded in Table 1.
The IX series is clicked (double) on the computer. The specimen is loaded into the lower
and upper grip. The specimen is made sure to be straight. The Method icon is clicked and
the specimen parameter and crosshead speed are set. The Test icon is clicked and the
sample file name is entered, then the operators name is entered. The test method is chose
according to your application (Tensile, Compressive, Flexural,etc). The load and strain are
reset. Start Test is clicked. When the test is finished, the utilities in the main screen are
clicked to view the result of the experiment. Table 2 is filled up with the data of the load and
displacement from the Instron output. These data is converted to stress and strain and the
stress-strain diagram is plotted. The experiment is repeated for the other two materials.

C.2 Material Properties

The ultimate tensile strength for each material is listed in Table 1. The value of the ultimate
tensile strength was found using the process in Appendix B. The strain corresponding to the
ultimate tensile strength is where necking begins to occur.
Table 1: The ultimate tensile strength for the four materials.

Sample Material
Ultimate Tensile Strength,

(MPa)

Standard Deviation, StDev (MPa) A-36 Steel 527.9 1.161 6061-T6 374.9 2.218
Polycarbonate 59.18 0.3217 PMMA 77.62 2.606
The modulus of elasticity and the yield strengths were calculated for steel and aluminum. The
corresponding standard deviations for both values were also calculated using the procedure
outlined in Appendix B. All of these values are shown in Table 2.
Table 2: The modulus of elasticity, yield strength, and standard deviations for steel and
aluminum.
Sample Material
Modulus of Elasticity, E (MPa)
Standard Deviation of E (MPa)
Yield Strength,

(MPa)

Standard Deviation of

(MPa) A-36 Steel 209300 1966 355.6 1.357 6061-T6 69460 337

356.3 1.979
The modulus of resilience and the modulus of toughness were calculated from the area under
the engineering stress versus engineering strain curves, as outlined in Appendix C. Both are
useful for determining the amount of energy the material can absorb before yielding and
fracture. The values of both are shown in Table 3.
Table 3: The modulus of resilience and the modulus of toughness for the materials. Sample
Material Modulus of Resilience

(MPa) Modulus of Toughness

(MPa) A-36 Steel 0.9725

174.6 6061-T6 1.600 60.03 Polycarbonate 0.3793 63.73 PMMA 0.3091 2.475
9
The true fracture strength provides the actual value of the stress encountered by the sample
during the tensile test, just before fracture. The true fracture strength is the greatest stress that
the material can handle after yielding. The percent elongation and the percent reduction in
area provide information about the ductility of a material, and how much it can be stretched
before failure. The calculations of these properties are outlined in Appendix D. The averages
of all three values for each of the four materials are shown in Table 4.

Table 4: The average true fracture strength, percent reduction of area, and the percent
elongation for all four materials. Sample Material True racture Strength,

M a) ercent

Reduction of Area, %RA Percent Elongation, %EL A-36 Steel 1047 64.79% 33.47% 6061T6 571.8 54.02% 17.30% Polycarbonate 94.11 44.88% 82.20% PMMA 67.29 0.2609%
0.7333%
C.3 True Stress and True Strain One sample of aluminum was used to find the true stress and
the true strain encountered during a tensile test, and to compare both to the engineering stress
and the engineering strain. The engineering stress and strain does not account for the change
in cross sectional area, and only accounts for the axial strain in the sample. The true stress
and strain account for the change in cross sectional area, and therefore the true stress is higher
than the engineering stress. The true strain is also greater than the engineering strain due to
strains in the transverse direction along the gage of the sample. Figure 7 shows the true stress
versus the true strain, along with the engineering stress and the engineering strain for the
same sample. The second sample of aluminum was used in this analysis, as defined by
Appendix E.
10

Figure 7: The True Stress versus the True Strain, along with the Engineering Stress and Strain
for a sample of 6061-T6 Aluminum.
The true stress at the point of maximum load (where the ultimate tensile strength occurs) for
the 6061-T6 aluminum sample had a value of 404.9 MPa, compared to a maximum tensile
strength of 376.6 MPa. The true strain at this point had a value of 0.0723 m/m, compared to
an engineering strain of 0.0750 m/m. The maximum true stress at fracture was 561.5 MPa,
with a strain of 0.765 m/m. At fracture, the engineering stress was 261.3 MPa, with a strain of
0.182 m/m.