The changes encountered in cross sectional area cannot be influenced by engineering stress- strain

relationships;

the changes can only be possible for true stress- strain curves. Normally, true strains are of higher values
than those

of engineering strains. This can be explained by the fact that true strains take place in transverse
directions of the

gage length. High values of stress and strains in mild steel are attributed to strain hardening. Strain
hardening or

work hardening in mild steel occurs at higher values of stress than aluminium. In the graph, it can be
seen that for

engineering stress- strain curves, the curves drop downwards after necking has occurred. However, this
phenomenon

cannot be seen in normal true stress- strain curves, the curves would reach the highest region of
fracture.

Engineering stress and strains were calculated after the extensometers on the Instron machine
measured the strain

that was applied on each sample specimen. The data on strain was obtained on the cross head after
necking had

occurred. The engineering stress was then calculated by dividing the applied load by the original cross-
sectional

area. For engineering strains, the changes in length (extensions) were divided by the original length. In
calculations

of true stress, the load applied could be divided by the instantaneous area. True strain is calculated by
dividing the

change in length by the instantaneous final length.

V. CONCLUSION

Many engineering applications that require high tensile strength normally use mild steel. This is
because of the

crystalline structure of mild steel that allows it to withstand high axial loads before fracture can occur.
Aluminium

however has found many uses in designs that require low density materials like in aerodynamics and
some motor
vehicles. Aluminium experiences high ductility rates compared to mild steel and have therefore low level
values of

Young’s Modulus, a factor that determines deflections in structural components. This experiment
therefore gives

close relationship of tensile strength to the theoretical data.