Engineering Fundamentals Refresh: Strength

vs Stiffness vs Hardness
Understanding the mechanical properties of strength vs stiffness vs hardness is foundational in
mechanical engineering, yet these properties can often be confused. These properties are related,
but there are very important differences between them:

 Stiffness is an indicator of the tendency for an element to return to its original form after
being subjected to a force.
 Strength measures how much stress can be applied to an element before it deforms
permanently or fractures.
 Hardness measures a material’s resistance to surface deformation. For some metals, like
steel, hardness and tensile strength are roughly proportional (see ASTM A 370-68 Steel
Tables).

For this Hardware Guide article, we're doing a refresh of the fundamentals, looking at
some common pitfalls in identifying between mechanical strength vs. stiffness vs hardness, the
technical differences between the three, and their relevance in the selection of materials for
product development.

Common Pitfalls: Strength vs Stiffness vs Hardness

It can be especially easy to confuse the difference between strength and stiffness. If a material is
stiff, then it must be strong enough to support a large load, right? Therefore, aren’t strength and
stiffness the same? The answer is a resounding no! A material can be strong and elastic, or strong
and stiff (See section “Axial Loading on a Straight Member”), but strength and stiffness are two
separate qualities.

Let's break it down.

Since stiffness and strength are both related to the elastic modulus of a material (Young’s
Modulus), it’s easy to look up the value in a material properties reference handbook and
determine the strength and/or stiffness of given material. The elastic modulus measures the
stiffness in a material, but strength is a function of the modulus. Both tensile strength and
hardness are indicators of a metal’s resistance to plastic deformation.
 Figure 1. A
Stress-strain curve showing the relationship between stiffness and yield strength (Yield Point).

The stress-strain curve (Figure 1) above is a good way of graphically demonstrating this. The
ratio of stress to strain is the elastic modulus—stiffness, but the stress, and only the stress,
defines the strength of the material. Remember, strength measures how much stress the material
can handle before permanent deformation or fracture occurs, whereas the stiffness measures the
resistance to elastic deformation.
 
Figure 2. Simple stress-strain curves illustrating stiff vs non-stiff behavior. Curves A and B
correspond to stiffer materials, whereas curve C represents a non-stiff material. (Image source)

Understanding the Concepts of Stress and Strain

Stress is an internal force resulting from an applied load; it acts on the cross-section of a
mechanical or structural component. Strain is the change in shape or size of a body that occurs
whenever a force is applied.

Figure 3. Top left: axial load causing tension or compression. Top right: shear stresses within a
member. Bottom left: torsional stress about a circular cross-section. Bottom right: bending
stress caused by a moment.
 

Important Definitions for Strength, Stiffness, and Hardness

Here are a few important definitions to keep top of mind:

 Yield strength is used in materials that exhibit an elastic behavior. It’s the maximum
tensile stress the material can handle before permanent deformation occurs.
 Ultimate strength refers to the maximum stress before failure occurs.
 Fracture strength is the value corresponding to the stress at which total failure occurs.
 Stiffness is how a component resists elastic deformation when a load is applied.
 Hardness is resistance to localized surface deformation.
Figure 4. Ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and fracture stress (Failure Point).

The strength of a material can refer to yield strength, ultimate strength, or fracture strength.
Tensile strength can be calculated from hardness and is convenient because hardness tests—such
as Rockwell—are usually simple to do, inexpensive, and nondestructive. Only a small
penetration is performed on the specimen. For many metals, tensile strength increases as
hardness increases.*
Retrieving Mechanical Property Data
Mechanical, thermal, or electrical property data may be obtained for specific material types from
the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM), or consult the manufacturer’s website from
which you’re planning to purchase materials.

*This is NOT the case for all materials, but for many metallic materials, hardness correlates very
well to tensile strength. For details, see ASTM A 370-68 Tables.

A reliable online source is www.MatWeb.com, where accurate data can be obtained quickly.

Examples: Strength vs. Stiffness

Beam deflection

The image below is a finite element analysis (FEA) of a beam subjected to a loading. The beam’s
response to the loading is a deflection resulting from internal bending and shear stress. If the
internal stresses exceed the yield strength of the beam’s material, then you’d want a material
with a higher Young’s modulus value—in other words, a stiffer material to resist the deformation
and also higher yield strength to prevent permanent deformation and possible fracture.
Figure 5. FEA analysis of beam deflection.

Axial loading on a straight member

Imagine a metal bar in tension, subjected to an axial load of some value. The internal stresses
cause a deformation of 1% the metal’s original length when it breaks at 100 lbf. Next, consider
some rubber-like rod-shaped polymer that’s subjected to the same force but deforms 5% its
original length and breaks at 100 lbf. Key point: Both materials are equally strong, but the metal
is stiffer than the polymer.
 

Figure 6. Tensile strength test.

 
Thermal stress
Thermal stress also affects the deformation response of a component who’s already subject to
some force. In this case, due to a temperature gradient within the member, the thermal stress
induces additional strain to the strain already imposed by forces acting on it. Thermal stress has
effects on the strength of materials. Computing thermal stress provides insight to select what
values of stiffness and strength are appropriate for your design, assuming the temperature
difference is not large enough that it will change the microscopic properties of the material!