STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

The largest stress for which Hookes Lawapplies or the highest point on which linear
portion of the stress-starin diagram is called proportional limit.
The largest stress that a material can withstand without being permanently deformed is
called the elastic limit.
The stress at which there is significant increase in the elongation, or strain, without a
corresponding increase in stress is said to be the yield stress. It is the first point on the
stress-strain diagram where a tangent to he curve is horizontal. The Yield stress is
probably the most important property of the steel to the designer, as so many design
procedures are based on this value.
Beyond the yield stress there is a range in which a considerable increase in strain
occurs without increase in stress. The strain that occurs before the yield stress is
referred to as the elastic strain; the strain that occurs after the yield stress, with no
increase in stress, is referred to as the plastic strain. Plastic strains are usually from 10
to 15 times as large as the elastic strains.
Following the plastic strain, there is a range in which additional stress is necessary to
produce additional strain. This is called strain-hardening. This portion of the diagram is
not too important to todays designer because the strains are so large.
Ultimate strength is the maximum ordinate in the stress-strain diagram.
Rapture Strength is
breaking strength.

the strength of the material at rupture. This is also known as the

The stress- strain curved of Fig. 1 is typical of the usual ductile structural steel and is
assumed to be same for members in tension or compression. (The compression
members must be stocky, because slender compression members subjected to
compression loads tend to buckle laterally, and their properties are greatly affected by
the bending moments so produced.) The shape of the diagram varies with the speed of
loading, the type of the steel, and the temperature. One such variation is shown in the
figure by the dotted line marked upper yield.
This shape stress-strain curve is the result when mild steel has the load applied rapidly,
while the lower yield is the case for slow loading.

Fig. 1
Typical
Stress
Strain
Diagram for a low-carbon
structural steel at a room
temperature.

Fig. 2
Stress-strain diagram