901681846 February 5, 2013 Solid Mechanics Lab 1 Diane Wagner

Abstract This report includes a comprehensive review of the procedure, data and conclusion attained from AME 221241 Laboratory 1: Uniaxial Tension Test. The lab objectives and general procedures are discussed first. Next the report details the axial tension test of a certain A36 hot-rolled structural steel specimen, with observations, numerical data and figures. Data analysis and the figures created from the test are next with attention to the methods of data acquisition, potential sources of error, mechanical properties, and the corresponding stress-strain diagrams. The experimentally measured properties are then compared with their engineering handbook-cited equivalents. Lastly, the two alloys performances are compared with reference to their mechanical properties.

Introduction and Objectives A uniaxial tension test is a test that measures the mechanical properties of materials. This is a widely used test that measures the stress-strain response of a material by subjecting a rod of material to increasing axial elongation until it breaks. In this lab, we conducted uniaxial tension tests on A36 hot rolled structural steel and 1018 cold rolled steel using uniaxial testing machines. These machines were manufactured by the Applied Test Systems Corporation and are referred to as the ATS machines. The basic setup of the machine is as follows: two wedge grips, attached to crossheads, that hold them in place; the upper crosshead is fixed and the lower crosshead is connected to a screw 1

and an electric motor which can be moved up and down based on user input. In our lab there are two machines each calibrated similarly that have their own individual constants: the load cell, measured the axial load; the LVDT, measured the displacement; and the axial extensometer, outputted an electrical signal proportional to the measured strain. The results from tension tests are reported as a stress-strain plot with stress () on the y-axis and strain () on the x-axis. There are common stress-strain parameters that can be obtained from a uniaxial tension test. The ones that we calculated in this lab include: Youngs modulus (E) slope of the linear elastic region of the graph Proportional Limit (pl/yu) the point at which the graph ceases to be linear Yield stress (y) intersection of the 0.2% strain offset and the stress-strain curve Ultimate stress (ult) point at which necking occurs

The graph is split up into sections (Figure 1). The origin is the point where the specimen is unloaded. The first section of the graph is the linear elastic region where there is a relation of =E. This region corresponds to the range in which the bar can still recover its initial dimensions despite loading/unloading. The point at which the graph ceases to be linear is pl. The next section is the point at which the material becomes plastic y, and lastly, ult is the point of maximum stress before the specimen fails. The purpose of this lab was to experimentally measure the mechanical properties of two metal alloys using tension tests and compare the results to the corresponding values found in the texts. The lab also gave us a chance to become familiar with the equipment and methods that pertain to performing a uniaxial tension test.

Methods In this lab we used a color-coded specimen that we got from our TA (black for hot rolled and white for cold rolled), a caliper, a ruler, the ATS machine, an extensometer and the computer. There were 5 main steps to the procedure: 1) collect and measure the specimen; 2) create a file to store data; 3) install the specimen into the machine; 4) run tension test; 5) wait for the specimen to break and collect data. First we collected the specimen from our TA (I had a hot rolled specimen) and used the caliper and ruler to measure the diameter of the specimen and the length (L) of the test section (Table 1). These dimensions were used to calculate cross-sectional area of the specimen which is required to calculate normal stress, , and the engineering strain, , the specimen was subjected to during the test. The calculations were made with the following equations: , and (1)

Next we placed the specimen into the ATS machine using the machine grips. Then the extensometer was carefully placed to the middle of the specimen. Tension was applied to the specimen at 0.1 in/min until it reached 0.01 on the computer output. The load was then returned to 0 and tension was applied again until it reached 0.1. At this point the extensometer was removed, to prevent it from being damaged, and the test continued until the specimen broke. The program outputted an excel file with columns for the load, the LVDT and the extensometer values.

Results The results off the experiment were plotted using Microsoft Excel. The load in Figure 1 and Figure 2 is in pounds force applied by the machine and does not account for the specimens diameter. Figure 1 shows the data obtained by plotting strain, recorded from the extensometer, versus the load. Because the extensometer is attached directly to the specimen and failure is rather violent, the extensometer was removed at a strain of 0.1 so that it too would not break. Thus the ultimate stress of the specimen could not be determined using the extensometer. Furthermore, it was not necessary to apply the 0.2% offset to the curve to determine the point where it is no longer linear because the curve is so sharp. Therefore, for the hot-rolled steel specimen the proportional limit is equivalent to the upper yield stress. Youngs moduli for my specimen during loading and unloading are in psi and can be found in Table 3. By averaging the diameters computed from the values in Table 2 I was able to calculate correct stresses. The upper and lower stresses are also in Table 3. The LVDT data versus the load is shown in Figure 2. The LVDT is not directly attached to the specimen so it was able to record the data for the duration of the tension test. The ultimate is listed in Table 3 but the upper and lower yield stresses are the same from the extensometer and the LVDT data.

Discussion The data collected from the axial tension test on the hot-rolled steel specimen is compared with data from tests on the same alloy, and the same was done with the coldrolled steel specimen. The averaged values for both of the alloys mechanical properties can be found in Table 4. Table 4 shows that both alloys had different loading and unloading moduli of elasticity values when studying the data collected by the extensometer. Initially modulus of elasticity is marginally higher for the hot rolled steel (6.40E+07 to 2.52E+07). There is also a difference between the elastic modulus values taken from the extensometer and LVDT data. The extensometer data for the hot rolled steel places the modulus at 6.40E+07 whereas the LVDT data places it at 5.62E+06. I think the source of error is in the conversion factors, Table 1, that we were given. The extensometer data is computed in inches per inch, which is percent elongation, while the LVDT data is computed in inches, which is length of elongation. This unit disparity contributes to the differences in the elastic modulus. Lastly, the comparison of the experimental data and the real data is shown in Table 5 and Table 6. For the hot-rolled steel specimen the elastic modulus is 3.64E+07 higher than the value found in the handbook and the yield stress was 1.04E+04 higher than the value found in the handbook, which are significantly large errors. For the cold-rolled steel specimen the elastic modulus experimental value was 5.42E+07psi lower than the value found in the handbook and the yield stress was 2.44E+04 higher than the value found in the textbook, which are also significantly large errors. This discrepancy can be attributed to finite machine precision, human error and possible slipping between the grips and the specimen. There could also be flaws in the specimens before testing that could have been

amplified during the tests. Cold-rolled steels are less resistant to plastic deformation than hot-rolled steels, meaning colled-rolled steels are tougher than hot-rolled steels. As with all experiments, there is error. In this experiment the error stems from the high variability of ultimate stress, which is an uncontrollable factor. Also, the sample size of 8 hot-rolled steel specimen and 6 cold-rolled steel specimen is not high enough to counter the high variability of defects.

References Callister, WD, 2010, Properties of Selected Engineering Materials, Materials Science and Engineering, v. 8, Appx B3 Craig, RR, 2000, Mechanical Properties of Selected Engineering Materials, Mechanics of Materials, v. 2, Appx F3 Walsh, RA, 1990, Engineering Materials, Properties and Uses, Electromechanical Design Handbook, v. 3 p 4.23

Tables Table 1: Equipment Multiplication Constants (Machine #6) Device Constant Output Units ATS Load Cell Extensometer LVDT 1000 0.027460 0.199200 V lbf V in/in V in

Table 2: My hot rolled specimen measurements Diameter 1 Diameter 2 Diameter 3 Length .351 in .342 in .352 in 3.5 in

Table 3: Data for my hot rolled specimen (psi) Data E(loading) E(unloading) y yu yl pl ult Extensometer 3.34E+07 2.96E+07 N/A 55629 50962 N/A N/A LVDT 2.83E+06 N/A N/A 55629 50962 N/A 70807

Table 4: Averaged Measured Mechanical Properties Extensometer Data Hot-Rolled Std. Dev. Cold-Rolled Std. Dev E(loading) E(unloading) y yu yl pl 6.40E+07 6.31E+07 N/A 4.86E+04 4.24E+04 N/A 1.21E+08 1.24E+08 N/A 1.91E+04 1.79E+04 N/A 2.52E+07 2.32E+07 7.48E+04 N/A N/A 7.15E+04 9.53E+06 5.55E+06 3.16E+03 N/A N/A 2.47E+03

Units Psi Psi Psi Psi Psi Psi

LVDT Data E(loading) y yu yl ult

Hot-Rolled 5.62E+06 N/A 4.86E+04 4.38E+04 6.24E+04

Std. Dev. 9.95E+06 N/A 1.91E+04 1.62E+04 2.39E+04

Cold-Rolled 3.07E+06 7.47E+04 N/A N/A 7.85E+04

Std. Dev. 2.33E+05 2.30E+03 N/A N/A 1.48E+03

Units Psi Psi Psi Psi Psi

Property E y

Table 5: Measured vs. Cited Hot Rolled Steel E and y Measured Cited 6.40E+07 3.0E+07 4.24E+04 to 4.86E+04 3.2E^4 to 3.6E+04

Units Psi Psi

Property E y

Table 6: Measure vs. Cited Cold-Rolled Steel E and y Measured Cited 2.52E+07 2.9E+07 7.48E+04 5.40E+04

Units Psi Psi

Figures

Extensometer
80000 70000 60000 Stress (psi) 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 Strain (in/in) 0.08 0.1

yu

yl

0.05 strain

ult

0.12

Figure 1: Stress-strain plot for A36 hot-rolled steel using the extensometer data

LVDT
80000 70000 60000 Stress (psi) 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 Strain (in/in) 0.1 0.12 0.14

yu
E

yl

ult

Figure 2: Stress-strain plot for A36 hot-rolled steel using the load displacement(LVDT) data. 9