The Relevance of YS/UTS Ratio

2017 SEAISI
Conference & Exhibition

Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore
THE RELEVANCE OF THE YIELD STRESS/

TENSILE STRESS RATIO IN MODERN
MECHANICAL TESTING REQUIREMENTS
MICHAEL WRIGHT
ROBERT GLODOWSKI
Email michael@modernmetal.com.sg
Copyright © 2017 by Michael Wright. All rights reserved.
THE RELEVANCE OF THE YIELD STRESS/ TENSILE STRESS
RATIO IN MODERN MECHANICAL TESTING REQUIREMENTS
YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

 The yield stress to tensile stress ratio (YTR) is a requirement in many
Global standards.
 It is calculated using values taken from the unique stress-strain curve
which exists for each material, and this is found by recording the amount
of strain (deformation) experienced under tensile loading of a known cross
sectional area of the material (stress).
 From this curve, the “yield stress” and the “tensile stress” are significant
factors in the characterisation of material properties identified by the test
laboratory.
 The relevance of the YTR is now being questioned.
UNDERSTANDING STRESS - STRESS CURVE

 O-A: is the “Region of Proportionality”
 A-B: is the region where the elastic limit occurs.
 Point B: is the Yield Strength. The elastic limit is
the lowest stress at which permanent
deformation can be measured.
 Point C: is a point beyond the elastic limit,
where the material begins to behave in a plastic
manner. If the load is removed, the material will
follow the line (C-D) on the graph. The
remaining strain at zero stress is known as
“permanent set”.
 Point E: After the yield point “plateau”, stress
increases again until maximum Tensile Strength.
 Point F: is the ultimate tensile strength. Beyond
this necking occurs with a continuing reduction
of load. The material will eventually fracture.
TYPES OF STRESS - STRESS CURVES

 “A” is brittle. It has fractured at the yield point,
so the yield and UTS are the same value. It has
only elastic behaviour.
 “B” is a high strength material, with minimal
plastic behaviour. There is a small separation
between the yield and UTS.
 “C” shows a typical steel curve, with both elastic
and plastic behaviour.
 “D” is a ductile material, with a limited elastic
response then plastic behaviour.
 Standards with YTR specify a separation between
Yield and Ultimate Tensile Strength in terms of a
multiple of the yield point for a material to be
deemed “ductile”. But WHY?

 In conventional structural design, the working stress is usually a
proportion of the yield stress (typically 60-80% depending upon the level
of loading). This is still well inside the elastic limit of the material.
 It is only in cases where the yield point has been exceeded and plastic
behaviour is required to prevent catastrophic failure that the YTR
becomes significant.
 In the past, the YTR has been used as a readily measurable and convenient
way to demonstrate a material’s ability to withstand increased stress
beyond the point of plastic deformation. It describes a measure of the
material’s capacity to strain harden.

 But what is the “Yield to Tensile Ratio” in reality?
 “Yield” defines the level of Engineering Stress (load/original cross
sectional area) that needs to be applied to a steel so that it ceases to
behave in an elastic manner.
 “Tensile” is the maximum amount of Engineering Stress that can be
applied to a steel.
 A ratio is “the quantitative relation between two amounts showing the
number of times one value is contained within the other”.
 “YTR” then is a requirement that the maximum stress achieved must
exceed a set multiple of the stress at which elastic behaviour ceases.
 But because this is a ratio, it means as Yield increases significantly, then
UTS must increase at an even greater rate.

 The table shows 6 different steels of different
yield strengths, but with the same YTR
requirement.
 Because TYR is a ratio, the minimum UTS
increases further as Yield increases, and so the
“separation” between the Yield and the UTS is
increasing.
 This is actually requiring the steel producer to
be able to metallurgically manipulate the
steel’s UTS independently of the Yield of the
material, which is not an easy thing to achieve.

 The term “ductility” refers to the ability of a material to undergo large
deformations without rupturing.
 Ductile materials can exceed their elastic limit, and permanently deform
under applied stresses but they do not fail. This prevents a total
structural collapse.
 Brittle materials will fail suddenly with very little warning, changing
loading within a structure and may lead to progressive total collapse.
 Ductility includes the ability to survive large deformations and a capacity
to absorb energy by hysteretic behaviour.
DIFFERENT CURVES, SAME YTR

 This graphic shows 4 different stress-strain
curves, all of which have the same YTR.
 They all exhibit different behaviour between
the elastic limit and the Ultimate Tensile
Stress.
 As defined by the YTR alone, they would be
identical.
HISTORY OF THE YTR

 The first limit for Yield to Tensile Ratio (YTR)
was introduced in the 1960’s for Tubular
joints. This was set at 0.67 and now is
generally acknowledged as being “too severe”
 But this still exists as a “relic” that is handed
down through each iteration of the Standard
or Code without being questioned.
 Other specifications have picked up on the
YTR parameter and added it into their
guidelines, but there is not a large body of
evidence on what the optimum YTR level may
be for a given product in a set environment.
 From these Standards, the YTR can be from
0.67 and 0.925 depending on code and usage

 Extending this table out for the given
Standards with a defined Yield and YTR, you
can calculate the minimum allowed UTS, and
then calculate the “Separation” between the
Yield and the UTS that would make these
steels comply with the given standard
 Plotting the data points from this, it shows no
real trend or logic behind the separation
between the Yield and Tensile when it is
plotted against the Yield strength in Figure 4.
It can be large, it can be small.

 And in the case of Rebar specifications, a 500 MPa product in the Brazilian
specifications is much more forgiving that the AS/NZS standards.
 Which level is correct, if any? And why are they so different?
 A low YTR has been considered to provide a “high” capacity for plastic
deformation, and so a safe margin against fracture.
 But in reality, the YTR is an indication of the level of stress the steel will
sustain beyond its yield point to reach UTS, and it is represented as a
factor of the original yield stress. The strain component is not taken into
consideration.
STRESS STRAIN CURVE

 A stress-strain curve contains more
useful information than is reported
numerically in a Test Certificate.
 The shape of curve and critical
inflexion points should be noted and
understood.
 The graphic shows key points along
the length of the curve:
 The elastic region
 A “yielding” section
 A “strain hardening” component
 Final “necking” to failure
 The yielding and strain hardening
sections cover the section of the
curve we are discussing post yield
but prior to UTS.
YIELD PLATEAU & STRAIN HARDENING

 The Yield plateau relies on the manufacturing process and the strain
history and is not an intrinsic material property. It is dependent on the
chemical composition, heat treatment, grain size and strain ageing.
 Test laboratories like a yield plateau as it makes the yield point readily
apparent. But a Yield plateau is telling us that the steel is elongating with
little increase in applied stress. From the viewpoint of being able to
maintain dimensional values, the yield plateau should be as short as
possible, and preferably have some incline.
 Strain hardening is primarily due to dislocations in the steel. When a
material is deformed beyond its plastic limit, dislocations move until they
are stopped by something else, such as grain boundaries, alloying
elements or other dislocations. Where dislocations run on different planes
and intersect, they cannot pass through each other. They pile up and
become intertwined, preventing any further permanent deformation of
that particular grain. This increases the strength of the material.
 This produces a separation between the yield point and the UTS that is
critical for achieving YTR value.
ALTERNATIVE TO YTR
 There are alternative methods possible:
 The steel needs strength beyond yield. The
separation of the yield and tensile strength
will vary depending on the service
environment. But as an example it could be set
at 100 MPa.
 The strain also could be defined by elongation
of the steel after yielding until it achieves
UTS. As an example it could be set at 7.5%.
 The shaded area now defines acceptable
curves for a 400 MPa steel to attain its
UTS value and be considered “ductile”
under the nominated conditions.
 If conditions were extreme, such as in a
Seismic environment, these limits may be
increased as required.
MORE DATA FROM CURVE

 Returning to the stress-strain
BRITTLE
curve, it can be seen that the
“brittle” steel had a very
limited area under the curve
between yield point and UTS.
 The ductile steel would have a
much larger area under the
curve in the nominated region. DUCTILE
YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE

STRESS RATIO
CONTINUOUS
 The “continuous curve” and
“Yield plateau” steel would
also have a larger area than
the brittle steel, but lower
than a true ductile product.
 Calculation of the area under
the curve by Integration may YIELD PLATEAU
even allow a numerical figure
to be put to this concept of
“ductility beyond yield”.

 Modern structural steels are looking to reduce weight (or “dead load”) in
structures while increasing strength levels to give greater economical
efficiency in design. Mobile structures / vehicles are always seeking
lightweight designs that may only be realised using high strength steels.
 The full exploitation of these steels is being hampered by the YTR, which
is increasingly being seen as an outdated conservative (but convenient)
measurement from the 1960’s and appropriate only for steels from that
Technical era.
 There is a need for a separation between Yield and UTS for design
integrity. But to what extent does this need to be a factor of the yield
value. Why does this degree of separation need to be intrinsically
linked to the yield stress? It could just be a straight numerical figure. It
would need to be supported by a minimum level of strain required to
produce this separation.

 Improvements in production techniques and alloying design have allowed
the large scale production of high strength steels by techniques such as
Thermo-mechanically Controlled Processing (TMCP), Accelerated Cooling
(AC) or Quench & Temper (QT) routes.
 These processes result in various microstructures that will actually alter
the shape of the stress strain curve of a steel. The combination of strength
and toughness in modern steels is primarily achieved by promoting a fine
grain size for a given microstructure.
 These steels can have yield strengths up to 1000 MPa, and so a “typical”
YTR of 0.75 would mean the UTS would need to exceed 1333 MPa.
 Modern processing routes have a stronger effect on impeding the
movement of dislocations in the steel which governs yield strength than
they do on the UTS.

 Yield strength can be moved independently to the UTS by metallurgically
sophisticated processing. But it can be difficult and there are limits to
how much this separation of UTS and YS can be managed. By enshrining
the YTR in current Standards, it means the steel maker will now have to
increase UTS at a greater margin than the yield strength increase to meet
the YTR acceptance limits.
 The region of the stress-strain curve beyond the yield point of a steel is
coming under closer scrutiny now with the development of new design
methodologies for steel structures such as the Generalised Capacity
Curve, Reference Resistance Design, and the Continuous Strength
Method which formally permit the full plastic resistance of a structure to
be attained and exceeded.

 These developments are based on significant advances in computational
modelling that can now treat great structural and material complexities.
 However, to become an effective and widespread design tool, any such
new methodology requires reliable knowledge of the post-yield
characteristics of the Steel. At this point in time, these properties are
seldom known with certainty, are not defined in any structural steel
materials standard and are not guaranteed by any steel manufacturer.
 Current knowledge of steels behaviour beyond the yield point is coming
under scrutiny and needs to be understood better. In the future a
traditional YTR requirement may impede steel development and will be
inadequate for these higher computational modelling programs.

The Relevance of YS/UTS Ratio

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2017 SEAISI

Conference & Exhibition

THE RELEVANCE OF THE YIELD STRESS/

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

UNDERSTANDING STRESS - STRESS CURVE

TYPES OF STRESS - STRESS CURVES

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

DIFFERENT CURVES, SAME YTR

HISTORY OF THE YTR

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

STRESS STRAIN CURVE

YIELD PLATEAU & STRAIN HARDENING

MORE DATA FROM CURVE

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

YIELD STRESS TO TENSILE STRESS RATIO

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