ME 2341 - Laboratory Two Mechanical Property Measurements for Metal Alloys 1. Project Premise To give a somewhat more realistic context to this exercise, assume that you are employed by a Consulting, Company. (name of your own choosing). A long-standing client has telephoned to request your services. In particular, your client is interested in your recommendation for the anost appropriate material for a common framing nail and for a knife blade, as well as justification for your recommendation. You agree to take on the project and decide that you will need to: 1) determine the property trends resulting from, impact testing of materials at different temperatures, 2) measure the hardness of the four materials at room temperature, and 3) compare the differences in mechanical properties for four materials. Your client also sends a list of specific questions that you should address. (See Assignment section for questions) Since this particular client has limited funding and cannot afford your hourly rates, he desires ouly a two-page memo, which addresses the queries. 2. Introduction Different materials show different responses to applied load, The mechanical properties will depend on several factors, including the structure of the material. its prior processing, and the testing conditions. In this lab, we willl use two standard mechanical test procedures to explore the properties of several metals: brass, aluminum alloy. cold rolled steel and hot rolled steel. The mechanical properties are investigated using both harduess testing and fracture toughness testing. The objectives of this lab experience are: 1) to investigate mechanical properties of various common materials through hardness testing and impact testing, 2) to develop skills in performing these commercially accepted tests, 3) to interpret the results, and 4) to prepare a technical report 2.1. Rockwell C Hardness Testing The termn “hardness” represents the resistance of a material to permanent damage due to an external mechanical stimulus. There are a number of alternative methods for measuring hardness, but one of the most convenient procedures is the Rockwell hartiness test. In this procedure, the hardness of various unaterials is measured relative to an anbitrary scale, There are several scales that are available, and of those, the Rockwell B and C scales will be used for the specimens in this lab. Hardness can be related to the tensile strength of materials (with some involved calculation), and because hardness is much simpler ‘to measure, this testis often used in place of a more complicated tensile testing procedure After calibrating and choosing the appropriate scale for measurement, the specimen is placed on an anvil platen on the hardness tester. beneath a diamond indenter, and a load is automatically applied, forcing the indenter into the specimen, The hardness of the specimen then appears on the digital read out; again this neasurcment is relative to a specific Rockwell scale. Hard materials will show higher Rockwell hardness than softer materials. 2.2. Charpy Impact Toughness Testing Impact tests are made on materials, particularly metals, because itis recognized that the resistance of some materials to shock is dependent upon factors other than those that control its resistance to a steady or slowly applied load, Resistance to a slowly applied load may be measured in terms of stress, but 1 _ME2i41 ~ Laborotory Two ~ Mechanical Properties Revised: January 2013resistance to impact involves, in addition to the capacity for developing stress, the capacity of the material to being deformed without damage. Thus some materials, like glass and some plastics, can shatter with relatively minor blow. As the velocity of a striking body is suddenly changed, there must be a transfer of energy onto the parts receiving the blow. The mechanics of impact involve not only the question of stresses induced by the striking body, but also a consideration of energy transfer and energy absorption and dissipation. The energy of the blow may be absorbed in a number of ways: through elastic deformation of the members of pats of a system, through hysteresis effects in the parts; through fiictional action between parts; and through effects of inertia of moving parts. The effect of impact load in producing stress depends upou the extent to which the energy is expended in causing deformation. In dealing with problems involving impact loading, the predominant way in which the load is to be resisted, obviously determines the type of information that is needed, Impact tests detect differences in the ductility of materials (ductile versus brittle) in a way that is not readily observable by standard tensile testing. In particular, wheu these tests are performed on specimens at low temperature, the results have proved useful in indicating whether or not adequate toughness is maintained at those temperatures. Two types of standardized notched-bar impact tests are commonly used to determine the tendency for a material to behave int a brittke manner, Charpy and Izod impact testing. Charpy impact testing is usually favored over the Izod testing, where the differences lie in specimen and test geometries. Specimen dimensions are shown in Figure 1. The notch is located in the center of the test bar. The specimen is supported horizontally at two points, and is then impacted fiom a pendulum of specific Weight on the side opposite the notch. ‘The specimen fails (breaks) in flexure under this impact. The principal measurement from the impact testis the energy absorbed in fracturing the specimen. This energy is measured by differences in potential energy, again using a relative scale (in ft-Ibs). Materials that show 0 ft-lbs energy absorbed indicate that it is very easy to fracture the material: it shows brittle failure, Altcmatively, materials which absorb energy (energy > 0 ft-lbs) during fracture will exhibit ductile behavior. IMPACT | — E 8mm 2 a oo 55mm 10mm. Figure 1. Charpy impact test specimen geometry by ASTM Standard Designation E23-566. 3. Experimental Procedures 3.1. Rockwell Hardness Test (See Callister pp. 233-235) For cach material, measure the average hardness at 3 points on 2 adjacent sides for each specimen to collect a total of six measurements. Use a Rockwell Hardness Scale that is appropriate for each material _ME2i41 ~ Laborotory Two ~ Mechanical Properties Revised: January 2013The indenter and anvil should be clean and well-seated. The surface to be tested should be clean and dry, smooth and free from oxide. A rough ground surface is usually adequate for the Rockwell test. The surface should be flat and perpendicular to the indenter. (This implies that you should NOT test the side 180 degrees opposite the side previously tested!) Tests on cylindrical surfaces will give low readings; the error depends on the curvature, load, indenter, and the hardness of the material, Corrections are given in ASTM E140-78 ‘The thickness of the specimen should be such that a mark or bulge is NOT produced on the reverse side of the piece. Itis recommended that the thickness be at least ten times the depth of the indentation, Tests should be mde only on a single thickness of material, ‘The spacing between indentations should be three to five times the diameter of the indentation. (Several readings can be made such that an average reading is found.) The speed of application of the load should be standardized (it is for our equipment), Each group will use a different metal specimen. Note: Brass, Aluminum, Cold Rolled Steel and Hot Rolled Steel will be used, Each group will report data for its specimen on the chalkboard for everyoue else to record. Find average hardness and standard deviation. A good procedure is outlined in Section 7.16 of Materials. Science and Engineering: An Introduction , by William D. Callister, J 3.2. Charpy Impact Toughness Test (See Callister_pp. 328-329} ‘Determine the fracture energy in ft-lbs required to break each sample at three different temperatures: room temperature, liquid nitrogen temperature (-200°C), and heated to 200°C, Zero the friction pointer. Note: this is done with the pendulum freely suspended. Place the specimen accurately in position according to the type of test. CAUTION: Use the tongs when. you pick up the specimen, The specimen will be very hot or very cold, so take care to avoid getting bumed or frostbitten, Break the specimen by releasing the suspended load, Record the energy value required to break the specimen. Examine the surface and record the type of surface at the break. Repeat with the samme metal at different temperatures. Note: the three different temperatures include: (a) room temp, (b) liquid nitrogen ‘temp. (c) furnace temp. Each group will use a different metal specimen, Note witether you have brass, aluminum, cold rolled steel or hot rolled steel Each group will report data for its specimen on the chalkboard for everyone else to record. Since you will only have one data point at each temperature, you will not be able to calculate the average or standard deviation. 4. Assignment Use the data from hardness and impact tests collected by everyone in the lab section for all specimens. ‘Use the memo format to discuss the following questions. The memo lab report format is different from the report format used for Lab 1 and is used throughout the MIE department in subsequent labwork. _ME2i41 ~ Laborotory Two ~ Mechanical Properties Revised: January 2013The goal for this lab experience is to obtain a tangible grasp of the similarities and differences among the properties of each material tested. Your assignment lies in composing a succinct memo (no more than two pages of text), which clealy states a recommendation and addresses the questions indicated below. ‘You can add additional pages containing several comparative tables (meaning more than one!) of information, You will need to present graphics or figures of your results as well. In your memo to your client, you should explicitly refer to these figures and tables i. give them numbers. (Note that captions for Figures go BELOW the Figure, while captions for Tables are placed ABOVE the Table.) Do not simply list answers to the questions. Take the time to organize your ideas, rather than just answer the prompts. The assignment requires a memo, not just answers to a list of questions. See more information ou the Memo Format Guidelines on the Blackboard web site. Please reconaiend the most appropriate material for each product. Use the following list to justify and elaborate on your recommendations in your two-page memo: + Describe the type and capacity of the equipment used, + Describe the type and size of specimen used, including type of notch. + Plot the variation of energy to rupture with temperature for each metal specimen on the same graph. + Plot the average hardness and standard deviation for each metal specimen on the same graph. Make sure that you use two y-scales if you used different Rockwell scales for the different materials + Comment on the precision of the measurements for the tests. Was there much variability? + What are the possible causes for differences in standard deviation for the hardness data collected by each group? + Did any specimens fail to break? If'so, explain why they failed to break. + Describe the nature of the fracture mode for each material, ie., describe the fracture surfaces. + Discuss the effect of the temperature upon the results of impact tests. + Comment on the relative hardness of the four materials at room temperature, and offer an explanation, + Why is it necessary for impact tests and hardness tests to be standardized? + What physical property is determined by means of an impact test? Data Collection Chart: Harduess at Room Temperature Data Point (—) Specimen (1) Brass (Cu-Zn Alloy) |Alurninum Alloy| Cold Rolled Steel 'Hot Rolled Steel] _ME2i41 ~ Laborotory Two ~ Mechanical Properties Revised: January 2013Data Collection Chart: Impact Data ‘Temperature (>) Liquid Nitrogen Temperature Room Temperature | Furnace Temperature Specimen (J) Brass (Cu-Zn Alloy) ‘Aluminum Alloy Cold Rolled Steel Hot Rolled Steel 4. References 1. GE. Dieter, Mechanical Metallurgy, McGraw-Hill, Iuc., USA 1976. 2. M.A. Meyers and K. K. Chawla, Mechanical Metallurgy: Principles and Applications, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 1984 Integrated Approach, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., NY, NY, 2012. _ME2i41 ~ Laborotory Two ~ Mechanical Properties W.D. Callister Jr. and D.G. Rethwisch, Fundamentals of Matcrials Science & Engineering: An Revised: January 2013