FAKULTI TEKNOLOGI KEJURUTERAAN MEKNIKAL &

PEMBUATAN
UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA

SOLID MECHANICS

BMMM 2303 SEMESTER 2 SESSION 2019/2020

LAB 1 : TENSILE TEST

DATE

NAME OF GROUP MEMBERS & 1.

MATRIX NUMBER
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR 1. EN. MOHAMMAD RAFI BIN OMAR

2. TC. MOHD KHAIRUL BIN HASSAN

EXAMINER’S COMMENT VERIFICATION STAMP

TOTAL MARKS

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OBJECTIVES OF EXPERIMENTAL WORK
To conduct the tensile test which is one of the many mechanical tests that can be used to
determine the following mechanical behaviour and properties of a material;
a) the elastic and plastic deformations of the test material
b) the tensile and ultimate strengths of the test material
c) the ductility of the material in terms of percentage of elongation and percentage
reduction in cross-sectional area at fracture.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this laboratory session, students should be able to:

1. Operate the simple ‘universal testing machine’ and understand its general functions
and features.
2. Conduct the tensile test which is one of the many mechanical tests in accordance to
the standardized methods such as based on the ASTM/ISO/EN/MS specifications.
3. Define experimentally the load-elongation graph / curve and determine the
mechanical properties such as the elastic modulus (E), yield and tensile strength (y &
ult) of the test material by using the plotted graph.
4. Calculate the ductility of the materials and compare the results obtained with the
theoretical data
5. Understand and describe the overall deformation and fracture behaviour of the test
specimen and its relation with the ‘ductility’ of the ductile or brittle materials.
6. Understanding of basic laboratory practice, including design of experiments, write
a clear and well-presented technical report, data acquisition, interpretation and
analysis, and the relationship between experiments and theory.

THEORY
When a sample of metal with the original gauge length (L0) as shown in Figure 1 (a) is
subjected to a uniaxial tensile load (P), deformation and elongation (L) of the metals occurs
as shown in Figure 1(b). If the metal returns to its original dimensions, particularly when the
tensile load/force is released before reaching its elastic limit, the metal is said to have
undergone elastic deformation. The amount of elastic deformation a metal can undergo is
small, since during elastic deformation the metal atoms are displaced from their original
positions but not to the extent that they take up new positions. Thus, when the force on a
metal that has been elastically deformed is released or removed, the metal atoms return to
their original position and the metal takes back its original shape. If the metal is subjected
to a tensile load beyond the elastic limit or being deformed to such an extent that it cannot
fully recover its original dimensions, it is said to have undergone plastic deformation.
During plastic deformation, the metal atoms are permanently displaced from their original
position and take up new positions. The ability of some metals to be deformed plastically,
without fracture is one of the most useful engineering properties of metals. In metal forming
industry, this plastically deformed material is also used to define the strain-hardening
characteristics of the material.

The tensile test is used to obtain the stress-strain diagram where mechanical properties
and overall behaviour of the metals and alloys may be determined. During the test, the
sample is subjected to the tensile load at a constant rate and it is pulled until failure occurs.
The data of load against elongation obtained from the tensile test can be converted to
engineering stress-strain data, and a graph of engineering stress versus engineering
strain can be plotted.

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 P

Lo
L

–
––––
Fig.1(a)P = 0 Fig.1(b) P ≠ 0
Mechanical properties of metals and alloys that are of engineering importance for the
structural design and metal forming purposes and can be determined from the tensile test
results are:
1. Modulus of elasticity
For the elastic region of the engineering stress-strain curve and based on the
Hooke's law, modulus of elasticity E, is defined as;
E =  /  = (∆P/∆L)(Lo/Ao) (1)
where P/L represents the slope of the elastic region of the load vs elongation
graph. Lo is the original gage length of the test specimen and ∆L = changes in
elongation for the elastic region (= L - Lo).

2. Yield strength of the material

The yield strength or yield stress of the test material is given by;
 y = Py / Ao (2)
where Py = load at yield point and Ao = original cross-sectional area (within
the gauge length and before load P is applied). It is a very important property
for use in the design of the structure or engineering components based on the
elastic theories of failure. It is also a point where the tested material begins to
experience yielding or plastic deformation.

Since most metallic alloys fails to show a clear or well-defined yield point on the
stress-strain curve, where elastic strain ends and plastic strain begins, then the
yield strength of these type of materials are chosen when a definite amount of
plastic strain has occurred. Normally, a point when 0.2 percent plastic strain has
taken place during the tensile test is defined as a yield strength of such materials
as recommended by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM),
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or British/European
(BS/EN) standards. This is also known as a proof stress or strength of the
material.

3. Ultimate tensile strength

The ultimate tensile strength is the maximum strength reached in the engineering
stress-strain curve. This is also called simply the tensile strength.

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  ult = Pult / Ao (3)
where, Pult = Ultimate load (the highest load) as given by the load – elongation
graph. When the material achieved its ultimate tensile strength, the test
specimen develops a localized decrease in cross sectional area (commonly
called as necking) the engineering stress will decrease with increasing strain until
fracture occurs.

4. Fracture strength
The engineering fracture strength, f, is obtained from the load at fracture
point, Pf, which is not necessarily the highest load reached during the test.

f = Pf / Ao
For a very brittle materials such as glass or ceramics based materials, u = f.

5. Percent of elongation
It is the amount of elongation (or deformation in its general term) that a tensile
specimen undergoes during tensile test which represents the degree of ductility of
a material. In general the higher the percent elongation, then it shows that the
tested material has a higher level of ductility.
Percent of elongation, %∆L = 100(Lf – Lo)/Lo (4)
Lf = Final gauge length of the specimen.

6. Percentage reduction in cross-sectional area

The ductility of a material can also be expressed in terms of the percent
reduction in area.
Percent reduction in area %∆RA = 100(Ao-Af)/Ao (5)

Percentage of elongation and percentage of reduction in area are also two

material properties that are normally used to describe the “formability properties”
of the materials especially in the field of metal forming. Generally, the ability of a
material to undergo deformation when subjected to an applied load may be
defined through these values.

EQUIPMENT
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4
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Figure 2 Tensile tester

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 As shown in Figure 2;
1. Machine base (1) with hand grip (11)
2. Support with cross head (2)
3. Load frame with upper (3) and lower cross-member (4)
4. Hydraulic system consisting of a main cylinder (5) and a master cylinder with a hand
wheel (6)
5. Force display (7)
6. Elongation display via a dial gauge (8)
7. Gripping heads (9) with specimen (10)

PROCEDURE
The test device is set up as follows:
1. Untwist the hand wheel on the master cylinder as far as it will go and move the load
frame to its lower position.
2. If this is not yet done, insert the gripping heads in the upper cross-member and the
cross-head.
a) Screw down the gripping head with the short bolt at the bottom and with the
pressure pad (a).
b) Gripping head with long bolt at the top (b).
3. Insert the required tensile specimen as shown in Figure 3
a) Screw the specimen into the lower gripping head by hand as far as the end stop.
b) Screw the sample into the upper gripping head as far as the end stop, by
rotating the gripping head itself.
c) Tighten the nut on the upper gripping head by hand until the gripping head is
seated without slack in the upper cross-member.

Figure 3 Procedure of fitting the specimen

4. Adjust the dial gauge as shown in Figure 3

a) Push the dial gauge upwards on the support bar until the tracer pin is touching the
driver.
b) Push further up the dial gauge and pre-stress to 8 mm.
c) Lightly pre-stress the sample using the hand wheel until the pointer on the force
display moves. This compensates slack.
d) Set the rotating scale on the dial gauge to zero.
e) Set the maximum pointer on the force display to zero.
f) Set force-measuring system to zero by simultaneously pressing (1) and (2) on force
display (Figure 4).

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 Figure 4 Force indicator

5. Performing experiment;
Slowly and constantly load the sample by rotating the hand wheel.
a) Application of the force should be extended over a period of 5~10 minutes.
b) It is essential to avoid sudden or jerky load application of force.
c) Observe the dial gauge. Read the force from the display every 0.1 mm and make
a note of it with the corresponding extension. From 1 mm extension, the reading
interval can be extended to 0.2 mm.
d) Monitor the sample and note when constriction begins. From now on, the sample
will no longer increase, but instead, will tend to decrease.
e) ATTENTION! Don’t be startled! Particularly with steel, rupture of the sample occurs
with a loud bang.
f) Remove the sample from the gripping heads.
g) Twist back the hand wheel on the master cylinder as far as it will go and move the
load frame down.

6. Repeat the above procedure for other specimens.

Name: _________________________________ Student ID Number: _____________

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Section / Group: _________________________ Date of experiment: _____________

EXPERIMENTAL DATA
Type of material:
Initial dimensions of specimen (before load P is applied):
Original Gauge Length (Lo): mm
Average Original Diameter (Do): mm
Final dimensions of specimen (after fracture):
Final gauge length (Lf) : mm
Final diameter (Df) : mm (*)
Note (*): In order to obtain this data (*), the fractured specimen need to be reconnected
closely, before the final diameter (Df) at the necking zone may be measured.

Table 1 Tensile Test Raw Data

Elongation Test Load Observation Elongation Test Load Observation
(mm) (kN) (mm) (kN)

Table 2 : Calculated results of the tensile test

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No Mechanical properties Results (Units)
1 Modulus of Elasticity, E
2 Yield Strength, y
3 Ultimate tensile strength, ult
4 Fracture strength, f
5 Ductility: Based on %EL
6 Ductility: Based on %RA

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
1. Based on the measured data shown in Table 1, plot the overall graph of Load P
(kN) versus Elongation ∆L (mm) for each specimen. Indicate and label this graph
with the important parameters such as yield and ultimate points, elastic and plastic
regions and the fracture point. Calculate y and ult from Eqs. (2) and (3).
2. Plot another graph for the elastic region only and from the slope of the straight line
of this graph, determine the modulus of elasticity (E) for each specimen by using Eq.
(1).
3. By using Eq. (4) and Eq. (5), calculate the percentage of elongation and reduction of
area of the fractured specimen.
4. Draw the fractured surface of each specimen and briefly explain of your
examination of this surface.

N.B All calculations for this laboratory work must be shown under this section of the lab
report and recorded as shown in Table 2

DISCUSSION (N.B This section of your report must be written in the paragraph form)

• Discuss the results of this testing work , especially the mechanical properties and the
overall deformation behaviour of the materials. Give your interpretations of the
graphs and relate its to the behaviour of the ductile or brittle materials. Support
your descriptions with the relevant diagram / figures.
• Compare between the experimental and theoretical (as may be obtained from any
references / handbooks) results as defined in this work. Explain the differences.
• State the main factors that may be considered as the source of discrepancies /
differences (experiment errors). Justify your answer / arguments.

CONCLUSION (N.B Content of this section should not more than 150 words)

Give your conclusion of this experiment work / report. Summarize its main findings.

QUESTIONS (For the Formal Report Only):

1. Explain the importance of conducting the tensile test based on the internationally
recognized standard method in determining the mechanical properties of the
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 materials. Give one example of this standard method (state its specification), where
the current test method may be based on. Explain briefly or justify why the current
test method cannot be done precisely in accordance with the standard method
where results obtained may contain many discrepancies.
2. Give another simple and cost effective method such as through bending test that
may be used to determine the Modulus of Elasticity of the materials.
3. Explain briefly how the test graphs may be used to explain about the ductility or
formability behaviour of various metallic materials. How its can be used to
characterize the material as either brittle or ductile material ?.

REFERENCES (For the Formal Report Only)

List at least 3 main references that have been referred to write the formal report of this
laboratory exercise.

REMAINDER FOR STUDENTS (PRELIMINARY READING @ RECITATION WORKS):

1. You are required to carry out necessary literature study at least for three days
before coming to the laboratory to conduct this test.
2. At least three (3) standard reference books, metal handbooks and the relevant
Annual Book of ASTM Standards must also be REFERRED.
3. You also are expected to search the “www” to find any relevant information or
understand any key terms and terminologies highlighted in this laboratory hand-out.

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