THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

ENGINEERING MECHANICS AND MATERIALS
CIVL1113

Tensile Test of Metals

Name :Nicholas Chandra

University No. :3035492628
Date of Lab : 22 October 2018
Submission Date : 6 November 2018
 1. Objectives
Understand the stress-strain behaviour of different type of metals, ductile and non-ductile, by
testing mild-steel and cast-iron bars in the material testing machine. The testing of these metals
will help us determine the difference in properties of the two metals by,
a) Modulus of Elasticity
b) Stress at elastic limit/ proportionality limit
c) Yield stress for steel and 0.2% proof stress for cast iron
d) Peak/ultimate point and breaking point
e) Percentage of elongation

2. Theory
𝛿= Elongation
𝜎= Stress
𝜀=Strain
F= Force/ Load
L= Length of the bar
A= Cross-section area of bar
E= Elastic Modulus
Tensile in the ability of a material to resist tension force which tends to cause elongate of the
material. To find the relationship between the elongation and force, the material must be
subjected to uniaxial load and the changes in length of the material is recorded. Through
multiple testing, it is observed that that elongation of the metal follows the following
relationship,
𝐹𝐿
𝛿∝
𝐴
This relationship is observed by Robert Hooke, whom discover the Hooke’s Law. It states that
for a relatively small deformations of an object, the displacement or size of the deformation is
directly proportional to the deforming force or load and that materials remain elastic after
unloading. The law includes Elastic Modulus, E, which will be stated below.
𝐹𝐿
𝛿=
𝐴𝐸
From this law, we can use the relationship to plot a stress-strain graph which can be derived by
making the elastic modulus as function of stress and strain to observe the relationship between
the stress and strain to determine the property of the material.
Stress
𝐹
𝜎=
𝐴
Strain
𝛿
𝜀=
𝐿
Elastic Modulus
Elastic Modulus is a quantity that measures the substance’s resistance to being deformed
elastically when a stress is applied to it. Different materials have corresponding elastic modulus,
and this can be seen through the testing of ductile and non-ductile material discussed at the
sections below.
𝐹𝐿 𝜎
𝐸= =
𝐴𝛿 𝜀
3. Apparatus
- Instron Model 4469 Material Testing Machine

Tensile Testing Machine

- Data Logger

Data Logger connected to the Material Testing

Instrument
 - Digital Callipers

Digital Callipers tarred at zero

- Extensometer

Extensometer

4. Procedures
1) Measure the length and diameter of the metals 3 times and calculate the average of
the 3 data.
2) Record the gauge length of the extensometer.
3) Mark the gauge length (Lo) at an interval of size 5 times its diameter along the
specimen
4) Turn on the testing machine, install the specimen vertically to the testing machine
and attach the extensometer at approximately the middle of the of the specimen.
Check if the reading of the load and extensometer is 0, if not set the readings of
both to 0.
5) Set displacement speed for the two metals at 4mm/min (or 2.5mm/min) for mild (or
high-yield) steel bar and 0.2mm/min for cast iron bar throughout the test.
6) Start the experiment by applying load on the specimen. The load and its
corresponding extension will be automatically recorded by the data logger at a
suitable interval.
7) During the test until rupture of the specimen, removal of the extensometer is not
necessary.
8) Record the final gauge length (Lu) of the specimen by carefully fitting together the
rupture specimen, so that its axis is aligned.
*Example of the placement of the specimen onto the machine is the same as the picture of
tensile testing machine above.
 5. Measurements & Calculations
Specimen Material Diameter (mm) Average L0 Lf
1 2 3
Diameter

A Mild 10.95 11.00 11.00 10.983 95.28 119.44

Steel
B Cast Iron 13.05 12.96 13.02 13.01 - -

Area (A):
𝜋𝑑 2
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 𝜋𝑟 2 =
4
r= radius
d=diameter
Mild Steel = 94.75𝑚𝑚2
Cast Iron =132.9𝑚𝑚2
Stress (𝝈):
Using the formula stated in the theory section of this report by using the load data from the
testing machine and the area calculated above, obtain the corresponding stress for both
specimens.
Strain (𝜺):
For mild steel, calculate the strain of the metal using the formula stated in theory section by
using the deformation data collected from the testing machine and the gauge length of 100mm.
For cast iron, the machine has calculated the strain of the metal in terms of µ𝜀. To get the
percentage strain of the metal, we need to multiply the strain data collected from the machine
and multiply it by a factor of 10−4 .
 6. Results
Since the data recorded from the testing machine contains too much data to be shown as a table,
the data will be calculated using the calculations above and plotted to the graph.
Mild Steel

STRESS-STRAIN CURVE
600

Ultimate
500 Stress

Yield
400 Point
STRESS (MPA)

300
Elastic Breaking
Limit Point
200

100

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
STRAIN (%)

CURVE ELASTIC

Information collected from Graph:

𝜎
𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 − 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒 (𝐸𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡) =
𝜀
(223.487 − 0.158)𝑀𝑃𝑎
= = 203.03𝐺𝑃𝑎
0.11%
Modulus of elasticity = 203.03GPa
Stress at elastic limit/ proportionality limit = 360.81MPa
Yield Stress = 362.50MPa
Peak/ Ultimate point = 452.96MPa
Breaking Point = 310.57MPa
Percentage of Elongation = 24.21%
*The testing is acceptable because result by manual measurement recorded in previous
section produce similar result to the elongation recorded by the extensometer.
𝐿𝑓 − 𝐿𝑜
% 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = × 100% = 25.36%
𝐿𝑜
Cast Iron

STRESS-STRAIN CURVE
400

350 Yield
Point
314.518
300
Breaking
250 Point and
Ultimate
STRESS (MPA)

Point
200

150

100

50 Elastic
Point

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
-50
STRAIN (%)

CURVE ELASTIC 0.2% PROOF

Information collected from Graph:

𝜎
𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 − 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒 (𝐸𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡) =
𝜀
44.4949𝑀𝑃𝑎
= = 144.46𝐺𝑃𝑎
0.0308%
Modulus of elasticity =144.46GPa
Stress at elastic limit/ proportionality limit = 59.87MPa
Yield Stress = 311.32MPa
Peak/ Ultimate point = 314.518MPa
Breaking Point = 314.518MPa
Percentage of Elongation = 0.4304%
Summary of Results
Mild Steel Cast Iron
Modulus of elasticity (GPa) 203.03 144.46
Stress at Elastic Limit (MPa) 360.81 59.87
Yield Stress (MPa) 362.50 311.32
Ultimate Point (MPa) 452.96 314.518
Breaking Point (MPa) 310.57 314.518
Percentage Elongation (%) 24.21 0.4304
 7. Comments and Discussions
State and comment upon the values obtained from the tests.
Both the stress-strain curve will encounter variations in gradients as the specimens undergo
different stages of elastic, plastic, strain hardening and necking. The first part of the curve will
be the elastic stage of the specimen and this could be seen by the proportionality of the stress
and the strain (Hooke’s Law). As more load is applied, it will proceed to the plastic stage where
materials undergo non-reversible changes in shape due to the loading. This could be seen when
the curve no longer follows Hooke’s law. Strain hardening could be seen at the area where
materials elongate, and maximum stress could be achieved. Necking stage could be seen before
breaking point of the material.
The stress-strain curve of mild steel shows a steep best fit gradient line in the elastic section of
the curve. This could be seen with the high modulus of elasticity of 203.03GPa. This indicates
that mild steel could resist elongation as at elastic limit of 360.81MPa, the strain is only 0.17%.
After the elastic stage, the material could be loaded further until it reaches the yielding point.
Yield point could be seen on the curve when stress reaches 362.50MPa. After this point,
material can elongate at a considerable length without significant increase in loading. The next
stage of strain hardening could be seen when the material could withstand increasing load until
its maximum load when the stress subjected to the material is 452.96MPa. This stress is the
maximum stress the material could withstand before breaking. This point also indicates the
start of the necking stage (see figure 1). The ability of the material to resist elongation decreases
drastically until the breaking point of mild steel. At breaking point (Figure 2), the material can
withstand a stress of 310.57MPa. The final elongation could then be recorded at 24.21% when
the material breaks. These observations above show that mild steel is ductile as it could
elongate considerably, and it could also withstand a substantial amount of stress when loaded.

Figure 1: Mild Steel Undergoing Necking Figure 2: Breaking of Mild Steel

The cast iron testing produces a smooth stress-strain curve unlike that of mild steel. The elastic
stage of cast iron shows a lower elastic limit of 59.87MPa with corresponds to a strain of
0.0425%. It could be seen by the gradient of the curve that cast iron has also high elastic
modulus of 144.46GPa and is resistance to elongation. Yielding, strain hardening and necking
stage are not observable from the curve. Since yielding stage is not observable, a 0.2% proof
stress is used determine the yield point of cast iron. The result obtained from the 0.2% proof
stress shows that the yield point corresponds to 311.32MPa. The ultimate point and the
breaking point of cast iron could be seen at the end of the curve at 314.518MPa. Cast iron has
a final elongation of 0.4304% when the metal breaks. This shows us that although cast iron can
resist elongation, its ability to elongate is poor which corresponds to low ductility.
The difference in ductility between mild steel and cast iron could be seen by the result shown
in the graph where there is a huge difference in strain at 24.21% and 0.4304%. However, the
strength of both metals could be said to be relatively high as they have high yielding point and
ultimate tensile stress when loaded.

Figure 3: Breaking of Cast Iron Figure 4: Cross-section of the broken cast

Specimen iron rod

Observed from figure 3, the testing of cast iron is not successful since the rod breaks at a point
outside the extensometer. Therefore, the elongation recorded by the testing machine might not
be the true result that should be obtained. Shown in figure 4, the error is caused by poor
fabrication of the cast iron rod and this could be seen by the black spot on the cross-section
which confirms the error, relating to poor fabrication. Although the results shown by the stress-
strain curve might not be accurate, the overall shape of the curve could be used a reference on
how brittle materials responds to stress and how its ductility differs by looking at the strain.
The test for mild steel however is acceptable since the rod breaks in the middle of the
extensometer and result of deformation from the extensometer is similar to the difference
between final length Lf and initial length Lo recorded in the calculations and measurements
section.
Compare and comment upon the test results of steel and cast-iron specimens in respect
of tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, ductility, etc.
The results obtained from the testing shows some difference between the properties of mild
steel and cast iron, with steel having a greater strength compared to cast iron. First, mild steel
has an elastic modulus of 203.17GPa while cast iron has elastic modulus of 144.46GPa. This
shows us that mild steel has higher resistance to elongation at elastic stage compared cast iron.
Secondly, the elastic limit of mild steel is higher than cast iron at 360.81Mpa to 59.87Mpa
respectively. This shows us that mild steel can withstand a large amount of load compared to
cast iron while maintaining its elastic property. Yield stress of mild steel is also higher
compared to cast iron at 362.50Mpa to 311.32MPa. The yield stress for mild steel is obviously
seen from the curve however, a 0.2% proof stress is carried out to find the yield stress of cast
iron. The 0.2% proof stress is used because unloading of load, materials will end up with a 0.2%
permanent elongation.
The ultimate point of mild steel is 452.96MPa while cast iron has ultimate point of 314.518MPa.
This means that mild steel can withstand more load compared to cast iron before breaking. The
breaking point of mild steel is 310.57MPa and cast iron has breaking point of 314.518MPa.
Although the breaking point of cast iron is greater than mild steel, its breaking point
corresponds to its ultimate point. This indicate that cast iron breaks directly when subjected to
ultimate load. Mild steel however can withstand a certain amount of load before breaking. This
property is useful in real life events in the case of structural failure. The steel support can
withstand a certain load while failing which means that it can give extra time cushion for
evacuation process.
The percentage of elongation of mild steel has shown a 24.21% elongation during loading while
cast iron only has an elongation of 0.43034%. These results clearly show that mild steel is
ductile while cast iron is not. This could be explained by the carbon content in mild steel and
cast iron. Mild steel has a low carbon content at 0.25% while cast iron has carbon content
greater than 2%. The presence of carbon leads to more interstitial atoms which increase the
hardness and strength of cast iron but make the metal less ductile. This could be seen by the
comparable high stress that could be withstand in the two metals. However, cast iron clearly
shows that it is less ductile as its maximum elongation is 50 times lower than mild steel.
Why is stress-strain curve used instead of load and elongation?
This test measures the loading and the extension of the specimen due to loading. However, we
plot the results into stress-strain graph to enable us to better interpret the data from the machine.
At plastic stage, it is often that the force is constant while the specimen undergo elongation.
Using stress-strain curve prevent the skipping of plastic stage when elongation change is very
fast. Other reason was that stress-strain curve of a specimen will give result which is
independent of the specimen’s dimensions while load and elongation curve will yield results
which varies when same material is used but of different dimensions. This will help determine
the properties of the type of material generally and not for any particular specimen only.
Source of Errors:
- The specimen is not perfectly vertical, and this could cause some bending during
loading which would affect with the results
- Fabrication errors of rod like stated above affects the result of testing.
 8. Conclusions
The experiments done above are useful to determine the properties of metals when subjected
to tension. Although both metals have the same ingredients, iron and carbon, their percentage
composition has effect on different properties of the metal. The testing above records the stress
and the strain of metals when subjected to load which could be interpreted to show some
properties like ductility, tensile strength, etc. These informations are crucial in the future as
these properties and the informations gathered could be used in projects to determine the
viability of the materials during construction. Therefore, such testing is important for civil
engineers, not only does it help us determine viability of the material in the project but also
increase efficiency as future testing is not needed if present testing is carried out perfectly.
9. References
PHJ (2014). Lab Sheet on Tensile Test of Metals. Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong
Howie, P, R(2013). What is the difference between “load-strain” curve and “stress-strain”
curve. Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_difference_between_load-
strain_curve_and_stress-strain_curve_in_defining_the_properties_for_example_E-
modulus_of_a_material