MATERIALS SELECTION AND

FAILURE ANALYSIS
Mechanical Properties of
Materials
The minimum force (load ) at which a permanent dimensional changes will
result in the material used,
The maximum force (load) the material can withstand without breaking,
How flexible or rigid the selected material is? How resistant the material is
against impacts or sudden /rapid loading?
How easily the material can be stretched, bent or generally shaped by
applying external forces (loads)?
How hard the material is?
How strong the material would be , if the nature of loading or working
temperature is varied?
1

Fig. 1

Deformation of Materials
Elastic Deformation
The dimensional or shape changes in a material disappear if
the applied external force is removed.
F

Plastic Deformation
In this case the applied external force brings about a
permanent dimensional change in the material and the
material will not regain its initial dimensions even if the force
is removed.
F

F
original

Fig. 2

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Elastic Deformation (Atomic Scale)

Fig 3
Plastic Deformation (Atomic Scale)
F

F
F

Fig 4

Tensile Test

grip / jaw

test
piece

F
gauge length(L0)

CYLINDRICAL
Cross Section
diameter

or

RECTANGULAR
Cross Section
thickness
width

Fig 5
38

Load-Extension graph
D

UTF

Proportional Limit ,(point B)

The Force beyond which the Force - Extension variation is no longer
linear.

Off set Yield Force or Point 0.2% Proof Force, (point C)

The Force (FY) beyond which the material is deformed plastically.

a
d

Tensile Force (FST) or Ultimate Tensile Force (UTF), (point D)

The maximum Force the material can tolerate without failure.

(N)

Fracture Force, (point F)

The Force at which the material breaks (fails).

Extension (mm)

Fig. 6

TS

F A= Initial Cross sectional Area

F= Applied Force (Load)
A o = Stress

L f L o L

Lo
Lo

D
F

S
T
C

Proportional Limit ,(point B)

The stress beyond which the Stress-Strain variation is no longer linear.

E
S

Off set Yield Strength or Point 0.2% Proof strength, (point C)

The Stress (Y) beyond which the material is deformed plastically.

Tensile Strength (ST) or Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS), (point D)

The maximum Stress the material can tolerate without failure.

(MPa)

Fracture Strength, (point F)

The Stress at which the material breaks (fails).

Strain

Fig. 7

F
Ao

Eq. 1

L f L o L

Lo
Lo

A= Initial Cross sectional Area

= Strain

F= Applied Force (Load)

Lo = Initial gauge length

= Stress

Lf = Final gauge length

Eq. 2

The unit used to express stress is called Pascal (Pa) which is a force of
1 N applied over an area of 1 m2 (Pa = N/m2). 1 MPa= 106 Pa, 1 GPa=109
Pa, 1GPa=103 MPa

The AB line is also referred to as the Hooks line and its

slope is known as the modulus of elasticity (E) according to
Hooks law;

Eq. 3
8

Fig. 8
39

Material

Yield Strength(MPa)

Youngs Modulus(GPa)

Aluminum Alloys

35-600

60-80

Copper Alloys

70-1000

100-110

Steels

200-1700

110-115

Tungsten Alloys

900-1800

300-450

Nylon

40-120

2-3.5

PVC

30-40

1.5-2.5

Epoxies

25-80

1-6

Alumina

2000-5000*

200-350

SiC

5000-9000*

400-500

Diamond

>9000*

900-1000

* compressive strength (data extracted from the book by M.F.Ashby, materials selection in mechanical
design,pergamon press,1992.)

Table 1: Yield strength and modulus of elasticity

for several materials.

Fig. 9
(Figs. 1-9: R. Ghomashchi, 1999)

40

nd

Kalpakjian, 2 edition1991 (both Tables)

Fig. 10: Stress-Strain graph for Brass and Materials with and without a distinct yield point (Callister Book)

Engineering stress vs. True stress

If the applied load is divided by the instant cross sectional area of the test
piece, the stress is called true stress and has the following relationship with
strain
(Eq. 4)

n = strain hardening exponent K= Strength coefficient

(CallisterBook)

Fig. 11: Comparison between true stress and engineering stress

Engineering Strain (e) =

Eq. 5

Remember: reduction in area should not be considered as equal to engineering strain.

True Strain

=ln

Eq. 6

Ductility: Amount of plastic deformation at fracture (% elongation

or % area reduction). The value of Elongation% and Area
Reduction% are different.
Toughness: Ability of a material to absorb energy before failure
Energy required to propagate a crack to cause failure, (Area under
41

) (Eq. 7)
the True stress-Strain Curve, =

The beginning of necking corresponds to the highest stress the material

can take, Tensile strength (TS or UTS). At necking, = n, so metals with
larger (n) can deform uniformly and with greater amount. (See Tutorial for an
example)
4

Fig. 12: True stress-true strain for several engineering alloys

Kalpakjian book, both Fig & Table

42

Effect of Temperature on Engineering Stress-Strain curve;

Fig.13: Engineering stress-strain behaviour for iron at three temperatures (Callister book)

Fig 14: The effect of temperature on the modulus of elasticity for various materials. (Kalpakjian book)

Effect of Strain rate (

: it is an expression for speed of deformation

a) Engineering strain rate

.

(Eq. 8)

V is the speed of deformation, (Ram speed)

b) True strain rate ( )
.

(Eq.9)

True strain rate decreases with specimen stretched in tensile test.

43

Effect of strain rate on Materials strength

As increases, so tensile strength
C = strength coeff.

(Eq. 10)
m = strain rate sensitivity exponent

Fig. 15: The effect of strain rate on the

ultimate tensile strength of aluminium.
Note that as temperature increases, the
slope increases. Thus tensile strength
becomes more sensitive to strain rate as
temperature increases.
Source: After J. H. Hollomon.

10

44

Tables and graph - Kalpakjian book

Compression
Forging, rolling, extrusion compression loading (ho and h are initial
and instantaneous height of work piece)
(Eq. 11)
(Eq. 12)
In plane strain compression test (used to simulate rolling) the width
remains constant and the yield strength in plane strain (`y) is;

1.15

(Eq. 13)

(Fig. - Kalpakjian book)

45

Torsion: To study forgeability, the greater the No. of twist prior to

failure, the better (greater) forgeability
Shear modulus/ modulus of rigidity (G); shear stress (), shear strain (),
Poissons ratio ()
(Eq. 14)
For most metals, E is about 2.6 times G.

(Eq. 15)

(Eq. 16)

t = thickness of the reduced section

The length of the reduced section
= Angle of twist (radian)
T= torque

(Fig - Kalpakjian book)

Note that unlike tension and compression tests, we do not have to be

concerned with changes in the cross-sectional area of the specimen in
torsion testing. The shear stress-shear strain curves in torsion increase
monotonically, hence they are analogous to true stress-true strain curves.

Twisting moment (in-lb) is plotted against

angle of twist (Dieters book)

Tension and torsion true stress-true strain curves

for low carbon steel, Dieters book.

46

Bending: The measured strength is called modulus of rupture, transverse

rupture strength or bend strength. The specimen fails due to tensile forces at its
lower surface as the load-specimen geometry is schematically shown below.

The modulus of rupture, (mr), is calculated as;

(Eq. 17)
= distance of the specimen surface to its neutral axis
M and I = bending and inertia moments of the cross-section respectively.
The value of () is half of the thickness for symmetrical specimens such as rectangular or
cylindrical geometry.
The equation may be employed for both three and four point bend tests. (M) and (I) vary for
either test.
For three point bend test; (W= width and t = thickness of sample)
1- Rectangular test piece
Eq. 18
2- Cylindrical test piece

Eq. 19

Eq. 20 - For rectangular samples

Eq. 21 - For cylindrical samples

(R. Ghomashchi, 1999)

47

Hardness: An important mechanical properties of materials

Resistance of a material to indentation of a harder material against its
surface

(Eq. 22)

Tensile Strength (MPa) = K (BHN) for steels K=3.45-3.50

(R. Ghomashchi, 1999)

48

(R. Ghomashchi, 1999)

49

Impact test
To study the toughness (KJ/m2) of materials and determine the nature of failure (ductile or
brittle) at the working temperature. Also to measure the Ductile-To-Brittle Transition
Temperature DBTT.
1- Charpy (metric standard)

PointofImpact

www.twi.co.uk/content/jk71.html

Pointof
Impact

Izod test Machine

Charpy test machine

indonetwork.co.id/instron/412667/instron-impa...

50

(Callister Book)

The following references were used in this section.

1- Kalpakjian book, S. Kalpakjian, Manufacturing Processes for Engineering
Materials, 2nd edition, Addison-Wesley, 1991
2- Callister Book, W.D. Callister, Jr, Materials Science and Engineering-An
Introduction, 3rd edition,, Wiley and Sons, 1994
3- www.twi.co.uk/content/jk71.html
4- indonetwork.co.id/instron/412667/instron-impa...
5- Dieter Book, G.E. Dieter, Mechanical metallurgy, 2nd edition, 1976.
6- R. Ghomashchi Book, 1999, M.R. Ghomashchi, An introduction to Engineering
Materials, University of South Australia, 1999.

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