UNIVERSITY OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

Tensile Testing
ENGN 1250: Materials Science
Phong Trinh – 317726
02/03/2020
ENGN 1250 Group 2A Phong Trinh -317726

1. Introduction
In this experiment, students had an opportunity to understand the material properties such as yield
strength, tensile strength fracture strength, and toughness through tensile testing. Three metals are
investigated in this experiment including aluminum, brass, and steel. Tensile properties indicate
how the material will react to forces being applied in tension. A tensile test is a fundamental
mechanical test where a carefully prepared specimen is loaded in a very controlled manner while
measuring the applied load and the elongation of the specimen over some distance. The main
product of a tensile test is a load versus elongation curve which is then converted into stress versus
strain curve. Based on the stress versus strain curve, we can determine the modulus of elasticity,
elastic limit, elongation, proportional limit, reduction in area, tensile strength, yield point, yield
strength and other tensile properties.

Figure 1: Sample of Stress Versus Strain Curve

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2. Materials and Equipment

The equipment required to perform the experiments is a laboratory-scale hand-driven bench top
tensile testing machine, 20 kN capacity (Figure 1).

Figure 2: Bench Top Tensile Testing Machine

Three samples of metals including aluminum, brass, steel shown in figure 2

Steel
Aluminum Brass

Figure 3: Three samples of metals

3. Setup and Procedure

Students tested three given metals by using the bench top tensile testing machine following the
professor's instruction. The data were collected by a laptop connected to the machine.

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4. Results and Discussion

a. Brass

The samples of brass before and after testing are shown in figure 4

Before After

Figure 4: Samples of Brass Before and After Testing

Using the experimental data, the graph of stress versus strain for brass is shown below.

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Brass: Strain Vs. Stress

700
Tensile Strength (580.92 Mpa)
600
Yield Strength
500 (418.6 Mpa)
f(x) = 121.32 x − 0.24
400
Stress (MPa)

300

200

100

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Strain

Figure 5: The Graph of Brass: Strain Vs. Stress

Young’s Modulus

Method 1:

As can be seen in figure 5, the stress and strain initially increase with a linear relationship from
point A (0.036630037, 36.54) to point B (2.600732601, 334.12). The slope of the line connect to
those points is Young’s Modulus value.

334.12−36.54
 Young’s Modulus value = = 116.05 Mpa
2.600732601−0.036630037

Method 2:

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To be more precise, we can use excel application to plot the line from point A and point B (Figure 6)

Brass: Strain Vs Stress

400

350
f(x) = 121.32 x + 20.39
300 R² = 1

250
Stress (MPa)

200

150

100

50

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Strain

Figure 6: The linear relationship equation of Brass

As can be seen, the equation connecting those points from point A to point B is y = 121.32x +20.386.
Young’s Modulus is equal to the slope of this line  Young’s Modulus = 121.32 MPa

Yield strength

To determine the yield strength, firstly we determine the offset line. The offset line will be parallel
to the stress-strain line which is y = 121.32x +20.386  yo = 121.32x + b.

The offset line pass a point (0.002, 0)  b = -0.24264

 The equation offset line ( 0.2%) yo = 121.32x - 0.24264. (Figure 5)

This offset line will intersect the stress-strain line slightly after it begins to curve, and that
intersection is defined as the yield strength with a 0.2% offset. As can be seen in figure 5, the
intersection point is at point (3.47985348, 418.6)  yield strength σ y = 418.6 MPa.

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Tensile Strength

Tensile strength is defined as the maximum engineering stress level reached in a tension test. In
figure 5, the maximum stress of brass in this experiment is 580.92 MPa.

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Fracture Strength

The fracture strength corresponds to the stress at fracture. Figure 5 suggests that fracture strength
is 580.45 Mpa

Table 1: The properties of Brass

Properties Value
Young’s Modulus 121.32 MPa
Yield strength 418.6 MPa
Tensile Strength 580.92 MPa
Fracture Strength 580.45 MPa

Ductility

l f −l 0 (39.0−37.50)mm
% elongation = .100 = .100=4%
l0 37.50 mm

A 0− A f D20−D2f 5.182 −5.132

% reduction in area = .100=¿ 2
.100= 2
.100=¿ 1.92%
A0 D0 5.18

Resilience

Resilience can be determined to be an area under the stress-strain curve to yield strength. If
assume a linear stress-strain curve, Resilience simplifies

1
U r ≅ σ y ε y = (0.5)(418.6 MPa)( 3.47985348) = 728.3 Mpa
2

Toughness

Toughness is the amount of energy absorbed before fracture. It can be determined to be

approximate by the area under the stress-strain curve (Figure 7).

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Stress Vs Strain
700

600

500

400
Stress (MPa)

300

200

100 A1

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Strain

Figure 7: Brass Strain - Stress Curve

As can be seen, the area under the stress-strain curve can be determined to be

1
SA ≅ .(3.04).(385.86MPa) = 586.5 MPa
1
2

S A ≅ (6.52 – 3.04)(385.86MPa) = 1342.8 MPa

2

1
SA ≅ .( 6.52 – 3.04).(580.45 – 385.86)MPa = 338.6 MPa
3
2

 S A ≅ S A + S A + S A = 586.5 MPa + 1342.8 MPa + 338.6 MPa = 2267.9 MPa

1 2 3

Toughness of Brass in this experiment is approximate 2267.9 MPa.

b. Aluminum

The samples of Aluminum before and after testing are shown in figure 5

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Before After

Figure 8: samples of Aluminum Before and After Testing

Young’s Modulus

The stress and strain initially increase with a linear relationship from point A (0, 45.25) to point B
(2.720588235, 274.49). As can be seen, the equation connecting those points from point A to point
B is y = 89.292x + 47.657 (Figure 9). Young’s Modulus is equal to the slope of this line  Young’s
Modulus = 89.292Mpa.

Aluminum: Strain Vs Stress

300
f(x) = 89.29 x + 47.66
R² = 1
250

200
Stress (MPa)

150

100

50

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Strain

Figure 9: The linear relationship equation of Aluminum

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Yield strength

Firstly we determine the offset line. The offset line will be parallel to the stress-strain line which is

y = 89.292x + 47.657 yo = 89.292x + b.

The offset line pass a point (0.002, 0)  b = -0.178584

 The equation offset line ( 0.2%) yo = 89.292x - 0.178584. (Figure 10)

Aluminum: Stress Vs Strain

400

350

300

250
Stress (MPa)

200

150

100

50

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Strain

Figure 10: The graph of Aluminum: Strain Vs. Stress

This offset line will intersect the stress-strain line slightly after it begins to curve, and that
intersection is defined as the yield strength with a 0.2% offset. As can be seen in figure 10, the
intersection point is at point (3.088235294, 288.91)  yield strength σ y = 288.91 MPa.

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Tensile Strength

Tensile strength is defined as the maximum engineering stress level reached in a tension test. In
figure 10, the maximum stress of aluminum in this experiment is 313.28 MPa.

Fracture Strength

The fracture strength corresponds to the stress at fracture. Figure 10 suggests that fracture
strength is 207.86 MPa

Properties Value Table 2: The Properties of Aluminum

Young’s Modulus 89.292 MPa
Yield strength 288.91 MPa
Tensile Strength 313.28 MPa
Fracture Strength 207.86 MPa

Ductility

l f −l 0 (37.53−37.50) mm
% elongation = .100 = .100=0.08
l0 37.50 mm

A 0− A f D20−D2f 5.06 2−2.762

% reduction in area = .100=¿ 2
.100= 2
.100=¿70.24%
A0 D0 5.06

Resilience

1
U r ≅ σ y ε y = (0.5)( 288.91 MPa)( 3.088235294) = 446.1 Mpa
2

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Toughness

Stress Vs Strain
350

300

250

200
Stress. MPa

150

100

50

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Strain

Figure 11: Strain - Stress Curve

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As can be seen in figure 11, the area under the stress-strain curve can be determined to be

1
SA ≅ .(3.015).(286.42MPa) = 431.8 MPa
1
2

S A ≅ (8.125 – 3.015)(286.42MPa) = 1463.6 MPa

2

S A ≅ ( 10.147 – 8.125).(310.79)MPa = 628.5 MPa

3

1
SA ≅ .(16.47- 10.147 ).(309.3 – 200)MPa = 345.6 MPa
4
2

S A ≅ (16.47- 8.125 ).(200)MPa = 1669 MPa

5

 S A ≅ S A + S A + S A + S A + S A = 431.8 MPa + 1463.6 MPa + 628.5 MPa + 345.6 MPa + 1669 MPa =
1 2 3 4 5

4538.5 MPa  Toughness of Brass in this experiment is approximate 4538.5 MPa

c. Steel

The samples of Aluminum before and after testing are shown in figure 12

Figure 12: The samples of Steel Before and After Testing

Young’s Modulus

The stress and strain initially increase with a linear relationship from point A (0, 11.19) to point B
(4.189840564, 569.67). As can be seen in figure 13, the equation connecting those points from

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point A to point B is y = 139.28x + 3.1841. Young’s Modulus is equal to the slope of this line 
Young’s Modulus = 139.28 MPa.

Steel: Stress Vs Strain

600
f(x) = 139.28 x + 3.18
R² = 1
500

400
Stress (MPa)

300

200

100

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5

Strain

Figure 13: The linear relationship equation of Steel

In a similar way with brass and aluminum, other properties are shown in figure 14 and table 3
below.

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Steel: Stress Vs Strain

900

800

700

600

500
Stress (MPa)

400

300

200

100

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Strain

Figure 14: The graph of Steel: Strain Vs. Stress

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Table 3: The properties of Steel

Properties Value
Young’s Modulus 139.28 MPa
Yield strength 532.18 MPa
Tensile Strength 707.89 MPa
Fracture Strength 463.91 MPa

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Ductility

l f −l 0 (40.93−37.19) mm
% elongation = .100 = .100=10.06 %
l0 37.19 mm

A 0− A f D 20−D 2f 4.772−3.182
% reduction in area = .100=¿ .100= .100=¿55.56%
A0 D 20 4.772

Resilience

1
U r ≅ σ y ε y = (0.5)( 532.18 MPa)( 3.819058213) = 1016.2 Mpa
2

Toughness

Steel: Stress Vs Strain

800

700

600

500
Stress (MPa)

400

300

200

100

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Strain

Figure 15: Strain - Stress Curve of Steel

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As can be seen, the area A under the stress-strain curve can be determined to be

1
SA ≅ .(5.079).(649.13MPa) = 1648.5 MPa
1
2

S A ≅ (10.048 – 5.079)(700.06MPa) = 3478.60 Mpa

2

1
S A ≅ .(14.238 – 10.048).(702.29 – 606.04)MPa = 201.6 Mpa
3
2

S A ≅ (14.238 – 10.048 ).( 603.25 – 463.91)MPa = 583.8 MPa

4

1
S A ≅ . (17.093- 14.238 ). ( 603.25 – 463.91)MPa = 198.9 MPa
5
2

S A ≅ (17.093 – 10.048 ).(463.91)MPa = 3268.2 MPa  S A ≅ S A + S A + S A + S A + S A = 1648.5 MPa

6 1 2 3 4 5

+ 3478.60 MPa + 201.6 MPa + 583.8 MPa + 198.9 MPa + 3268.2 MPa = 9379.6 MPa

 Toughness of Brass in this experiment is approximate 9379.6 MPa.

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Strain Vs Stress
800

700

600

500
Stress (MPa)

400

300

200

100

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Strain

Aluminum Brass Steel

Figure 16: The Graph of Strain Vs Stress of Three metals

As can be seen in figure 16, the curve of Brass is the shortest among the three metals. It suggests
that Brass is the least ductile compared to aluminum and steel because it experienced the least
strain at fracture. Brass is stronger and harder than aluminum, but not as strong or as hard as steel.
In figure 16, the curve of steel is above the curve of aluminum and brass. This indicates that Steel is
the strongest among the three of these metals because it has the highest yield and tensile strength.
In the graph in figure 16, we can easily estimate toughness based on the area in the curve. The
graph suggests steel is the most toughness metals among those. In the region in which stress and
strain initially increase with a linear relationship, we can see the slope of steel in this region is
slightly higher than brass. It suggests that steel is slightly stiffer than brass. Aluminum is the least
stiff because it has the lowest elastic module which is the lowest slope (Figure 16).

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References
Callister, W. D. (1997). Materials science and engineering: An introduction. New York: John Wiley &
Sons.

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Appendix A
Table 4: Measured Data

Metals Properties Before Testing (mm) After Testing (mm)

Aluminum Length 37.5 37.53
Diameter 5.06 2.76
Brass Length 37.5 39.0
Diameter 5.18 5.13
Steel Length 37.19 40.93
Diameter 4.77 3.18

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