Properties of Materials

Name: Naser Salem Al Hajri

College of Technological Studies,

PAAET, Kuwait

Introduction

The mechanical properties of a material affect how it behaves as it is loaded. The elastic modulus of the
material affects how much it deflects under a load, and the strength of the material determines the stresses
that it can withstand before it fails. The ductility of a material also plays a significant role in determining
when a material will break as it is loaded beyond its elastic limit. Because every mechanical system is
subjected to loads during operation, it is important to understand how the materials that make up those
mechanical systems behave.

One of the most important characteristics of polymers is their inherent toughness and resistance to
fracture (crack propagation). It is not coincidence that the name plastic, which describes any kind of
polymeric material, is similar to the word plasticity which is the propensity of a solid to undergo
permanent deformation under stress.
The mechanical properties of plastic materials depend on both the strain (rate) and temperature. At low
strain, the deformation of most solids is elastic, that is, the deformation is homogenous and after removal
of the deforming load the plastic returns to its original size and shape. In this regime, the stress (σ) is
proportional to the strain (ε):

Stress = Constant x Strain

or
σ = E ε

where E is the tensile (or Young's) modulus of the plastic which is a measure of the stiffness of the
material. This relationship is known has Hooke's law. It means, when a plastic specimen is pulled at a
(constant) strain rate the applied stress (or load) is directly proportional to the observed strain (or
elongation). The maximum stress up to which the stress and strain remain proportional is called
the proportional limit. If a plastic material is loaded beyond its elastic limit, it does not return to its
original shape and size, i.e. a permanent deformation occurs. With increasing load a point is eventually
reached at which the material starts yielding. This point is known as the yield point. A further increase in
strain occurs without an increase in stress.
The stress-strain behavior of a polymer greatly depends on the temperature. At very low temperature well
below the glass transition temperature, brittle failure is observed as a break at low strain rate at the stress
maximum. If the temperature is increased, a polymeric material changes from brittle (crazing) to ductile
(yielding) behavior in deformation and fracture. This temperature is called the brittle-ductile transition
temperature (Tβ).1
 STRESS-STRAIN BEHAVIOR OF POLYMERS

A ductile material shows a characteristic yield point followed by a drop in strength and break at lower
stress but much higher strain. At this point, the material starts to undergo plastic deformation. Materials
with high plasticity show strong necking and, in some cases, cold drawing. Beyond the yield point, the
cross section in the necking region will steadily reduce until the material breaks abruptly. For some
polymers, strong stretching with a stress minimum and break at a much higher stress is observed. This
phenomenon is known as "strain hardening" and "stress induced crystallization". It is caused by
orientation and alignment of polymer chains in the direction of the load which increases the strength and
stiffness of the plastic in stretch direction and explains the observed increase in (true) stress. The opposite
of strain hardening is strain softening.  Amorphous polymers, when physically aged, exhibit sometimes
true strain softening.3 In that case, the deformation process progressively removes the effect of aging
which leads to a decrease in stress when the specimen is pulled at a constant strain rate. postulated that
the true strain softening is the result of localized shear band formation.
When the temperature exceeds the glass transition temperature, the plastic material abruptly changes its
mechanical behavior. In this region, the ultimate extension can be very high at rather low loads. In some
cases, it can exceed several hundred percent before failure occurs. The behavior before break will depend
on the crosslink and entanglement density; materials that are lightly crosslinked will undergo large elastic
deformation prior break, whereas uncross linked polymers will show viscoelastic behavior.
References:

1. The brittle-ductile transition temperature, Tb, is not always identical with the glass transition
temperature, Tg. For example, for very tough plastics like polycarbonate and polysulfide, the
ratio Tb / Tg ≈ 0.38, whereas for polyphenol methacrylate Tb and Tg coincide, Tb / Tg ≈ 1.0.2
2. Souheng Wu, J. of Appl. Poly. Sci., Vol 46, pages 619-624 (1992)
3. Strain hardening is sometimes erroneously called "strain softening" when the shear or tensile
resistance decreases with increasing strain. The observed drop in stress beyond the yield point is
caused by a reduction of the cross-section area (necking). The true stress, however, which is the
load divided by the actual cross-sectional area, typically increases.
4. C. Miehe, S. Goektepe and J. Mendez Diez, Int. J. Of Solids and Structures, Vol. 46, 1, pages
181-202 (2009)
5. M.D Lechner, K. Gehrke, E.H. Nordmeier, Makromolekulare Chemie, 1993