Engineering Materials

MEE1EMA

Lecture Notes

Week 3- Mechanical Properties of metals

Institut Tecknologi Brunei

Department of Mechanical Engineering
1
Dr. Asad A. Khalid
 Contents

 Elastic and plastic

 deformations;
 Tensile test
 Mechanical properties
 Hardness and toughness.

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 Concept of Stress and strength
Consider the overhead crane or
gantry crane
Max Load 3.2 tons= 3200 kg
Force = 3200 kg x 9.8= 31360 N
No of wires = 4
Force on one wire =31360/4=
7840 N
What size and types of wires will
be adequate and safe to be used?

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 Stress and Strength
•Stress is the internal resisting force per unit area
•Strength is the maximum stress that a material can support before it fails.
In Engineering Stress is = Force divided by area on which the force is applied
Strength is determined by testing materials; applying load on a sample of the
materials through a machine until the sample fails.
Some common types of stresses and strength will be discussed in this lecture.
The crane wires experience tensile stress ( σ) and its maximum value for a materials
is called tensile strength (Su).
Stress in the wire= Force/Area =
Force = 7840 N, Area = πd2/4 = π x102/4 = 78.54 mm2
σ =7840 N/ 78.54 = 99.82 N/mm2 or 99.82 MPa
Tensile Strength= 500 MPa= 500 N/mm2
The stress in the wire is less than its tensile strength, therefore, the wires are safe.
Factor of safety= strength/stress = 500/98.82 = 5.1
The wires are 5 times safer even under the max load which is necessary for wear
and tear and also accidentally lifting slightly heavier weights.
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 Deformation
Materials deform i.e change shape when subjected to external forces.
Deformation are two types:
 Elastic deformation:
It is a deformation that gets reversed
when the forces causing it are removed Elastic
deformation
and the object thus deformed returns
back to its original shape.
 Plastic deformation:
It is a deformation that does not get
reversed when the forces causing it
are removed and the object thus deformed
remains permanently deformed and Plastic
deformation
does not return back to its original shape.

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 Mechanisms of Deformation
 Mechanism of Elastic Deformation:
This type of deformation is caused by the forces of atomic bonding.
The atoms are stretched or compressed from their equilibrium
positions but are pulled back or pushed back to their original
positions by the attractive or repulsive forces that exist between the
atoms due to their bonding.
 Mechanism of Plastic Deformation:
Plastic deformation is caused by the movement of dislocations which
involves the breaking of a limited number of atomic bonds and the
formation of new bonds by the displaced atoms at their new
positions. Since the movement of each dislocation involves a plan of
atoms and the atoms at its edge their breaking bonds, the deformation
it produces is not reversible and the object shape does not return back
to the original position after the removal of the forces on the object.
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 Normal Stresses and Strain
Stress is the internal resisting force of materials per unit area when
materials in response to external forces.
In SI system the units of Stress N/m2 (Pascals)
We commonly use MPa which is the same as N/mm2
In US customary units for stress is psi (pounds per square inch and
ksi = 1000 psi
Conversion, 1.0 MPa = 145 psi
Normal stresses are those when the external forces are
perpendicular to the cross-section
Examples: Tensile and Compression stresses
Normal stresses are represented by the Greek letter sigma σ
Normal strain is change in length per unit length and represented
by the Greek letter epsilon ε . Units of strain are m/m or mm/mm
or in/in and normally expressed in percentage
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Engineering Stress and Strain (Normal Stresses)

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Poisson’s Ratio, Nu, lateral strain epsilon

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Shear Stress and Shear Strain

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 Tensile test

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 Tensile test
 Common test specimens:

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Load-elongation and stress-strain diagrams

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 Mechanical Properties
Modulus of elasticity (E) : Stress and strain are linearly related in
elastic region. (Hooks law) i.e, stress is directly proportional to
strain.

 Higher the bonding strength, higher is the modulus of elasticity.

Examples: Modulus of Elasticity of steel is 207 GPa.
Modulus of elasticity of Aluminum is 76 GPa
Similarly we can determine the value of modulus of rigidity G in
shear
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 Yield Strength
Yield strength is the stress at which plastic deformation
commences in metals.
Metals that do not show clear yield point, 0.2% offset yield
strength (proof strength) is used which is stress corresponding to
0.2% total deformation as shown below

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 Ultimate Tensile Strength, (UTS) or Su
 Ultimate tensile strength (UTS) Su is the maximum stress
reached by the engineering stress strain curve.
 Necking starts after UTS is reached.

 Drop in stress strain curve is due

to stress calculation based on
original area.
 True stress and true strain gives
continuous increase in stress and
strain until fracture.

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 True Stress and True Strain
 True stress and true strain are based upon instantaneous cross-sectional
area and length.

 True stress and strain are always greater than engineering stress and strain
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 Percent Elongation
 Percent elongation is a measure of ductility of a material.
 It is the elongation of the metal before fracture expressed as percentage of
original length.

 Measured using a pair of calipers after fitting the fractured metal together.
 Example:- Percent elongation of pure aluminum is 35%
For 7076-T6 aluminum alloy it is 11%

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 Percent Reduction in Area
 Percent reduction area is also a measure of ductility.

Fractured ends of tested samples are placed together and the

dimensions at fractured point the specimen are measured using a
pair of calipers.

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 Hardness and Hardness Testing
 Hardness is a measure of the resistance of a metal to permanent
(plastic) deformation, indentation, scratches and wear.
General procedure:

Press the indenter that

is harder than the metal
Into metal surface.

Withdraw the indenter

Measure hardness by
measuring depth or
Area of indentation.
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 Hardness Tests

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 Hardness Testing

For consistent and accurate values of hardness from Brinell tests:

P/D2 = Constant = 30 for iron and steel, =10 for Cu and its
alloys, = 5 for Al and its
alloys and =1 for tin and its alloys.
Format for Brinell Hardness Values:
(Value) (HB) (dia of indenter)/load in kg,
Example: 250 HB 10/3000
Format for Vickers Hardness Values: (Hardness value)
HV/(load) Example: 650 HV/30.
Format for Rockwell Tests : (Hardness value) (HR) (Scale)
Example: 80 HRB
Empirical Relation between HB and UTS of steel: UTS in MPa =
3.45 x HB
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 Plastic Deformation in Single Crystals
Plastic deformation of single crystal results in step markings on
surface are slip bands.
 Atoms on specific crystallographic planes (slip planes)
slip to cause slip bands.

Slip
bands

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 Slip Mechanism
 During shear, atoms do not slide over each other.
 The slip occurs due to movement of dislocations.

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 Slip in Crystals
 Slip occurs in densely or close packed planes.
 Lower shear stress is required for slip to occur in densely packed planes.
 If slip is restricted in close planes, then less dense planes become operative.
 Less energy is required to move atoms along denser planes.

Close packed
plane

Non-close-packed
plane

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 Slip Systems
 Slip systems are combination of slip planes and slip direction.
 Each crystal has a number of characteristic slip systems.
 In FCC crystal, slip takes place in {111} octahedral planes and
<110> directions.
4 (111) type planes and 3 [110] type directions.
4 x 3 = 12 slip systems

Example 3 [110] directions in (111) plane

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 Slip Systems in BCC and HCP Metals

 BCC crystals are not close packed. The slip predominantly

occurs in {110} planes that has highest atomic density. Limited
such planes and so BCC metals are generally less ductile
compared to FCC metals.

 Slip in HCP metals are also limited and so less ductile compared
to FCC metals.

 In HCP metals slip system also depends on c/a ratio. If c/a ratio
is high, slip occurs along basal planes {0001}. For metals with
low c/a ratio, slip also occurs in {1010} and {1011} planes.

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 Effects of Grain Boundaries on Strength
 Grain boundaries stop dislocation movement and hence strengthen
metals. Fine grain size is desirable, and hence metals are produced with
finer grains.

Slip bands in polycrystalline Dislocations piled up

aluminum grains against grain boundaries
in stainless steel
Stress-strain curve of single
and polycrystalline copper
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 Hall & Petch Equation

Hall-Petch equation – Empirical relation

sy = so + k / (d)1/2

Where sy = Yield strength and d = average grain diameter

so and k are constants for a metal.
so = 70 MPa and k = 0.74 MPam1/2 for mild steel.

So smaller the grains, better the mechanical properties (at room

temperature). Also uniform and more isotropic properties.

Drawback: Less resistant to corrosion and creep

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 Nano-crystalline Metals
 Average grain diameter < 100 nm

 Results in high strength and hardness, and Superplasticity

 If grain diameter reduces from 10 microns to 10 nm, yield

strength of copper increases 31 times.

 Very difficult to produce nano-crystalline metals.

 If d < 5 nm, elastic modulus drops as more atoms are in grain

boundary
 Hall-Petch equation is invalid in lower nano-crystalline range.

 Negative Hall-Petch effect might take place

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 Effects of Plastic Deformation
 Plastic deformation results in shearing of grains relative to each
other.
 The grains elongate in rolling direction.
 Dislocation density is increased because new dislocations are
created
 More dislocation entangle one another and results in hardening
called strain hardening.
 Strength such as yield strength and hardness are increased by cold
work plastic deformation
 Ductility is decreased by cold work plastic deformation
 The original properties can be restored by suitable annealing heat
treatment.

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 Effect of Cold Work on Tensile Strength

original thickness or dia − final thickness or dia

Amount or Percent cold work = × 100
original thickness or dia

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 Annealing, Recovery, Recrystallization and Grain growth

 Annealing is a heat treatment

process which increases
ductility and produces
recovery, recrystallization and
grain growth in cold work
metals.

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 Annealing, Recovery, Recrystallization and Grain growth

 Cold work creates large no of dislocations which strain hardened the

materials. Annealing recovers materials back to original condition by
three stages:

1. Recovery stage.
In this stage the heat energy relieves internal stresses by polygonization
which is the formation of sub-grain structure in which dislocations are
moved into lower energy configuration as shown here. Releases residual
stresses, improves ductility without much loss of strength

Cold worked structure Polygonised structure

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 Recrystallization and Grain Growth
2. Recrystallization
If metal is held at the right annealing temperature for long enough, cold worked
structure will be completely replaced with recrystallized grain structure. This
stage is called the recrystallization. Improves ductility but at the cost of hardness
and yield strength which decrease.
3. Grain Growth
At prolong holding of the metals at the annealing temperature, the new grains
join together and grow to larger grains. This stage is called grain growth.
Decreases strength and hardness further.
Factors affecting recrystallization:
Amount of prior deformation ( a minimum necessary for recrystallization
without which recrystallization not occurs).
Temperature and time (higher temperature less time for recrystallization)
Initial grain size (larger initial size requires greater deformation)
Composition of metal ( pure metals requires higher recrystallization
temperature)

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 Strengthening Methods
 Metals can be strengthened by: alloying, grain refinements and cold working
Alloying atoms, create stress fields around themselves and hinder the
dislocation movement. Grain boundaries block the dislocations and cold work
creates more dislocation that entangle each other.

 If the dislocation at point A moves to the left, it is blocked by the alloying

atom. If the dislocation moves to the right, it interacts with the disturbed
lattice near the second dislocation at point B. If the dislocation moves farther
to the right, it is blocked by a grain boundary.

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 Fracture of Metals – Brittle and Ductile Fractures

 Fracture results in separation of stressed solid into two or more parts.

 Brittle Fracture: Sudden fracture not preceded by significant plastic deformation

and exhibits fast crack growth in the presence of a crack

 Ductile Fracture: Stable fracture exhibiting considerable prior plastic deformation

and show slow crack growth in the presence of a crack.

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 Brittle Fracture
 Common at high strain rates and low temperature. At low
operating temperature, ductile to brittle transition takes place

 Caused by:
 Defects such as folds
 Undesirable grain flow
 Porosity
 Tears and Cracks
 Corrosion damage
 Embrittlement due to atomic hydrogen
 Limited slip systems

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 Toughness and Impact Testing
 Toughness is a measure of energy, in joules J ,absorbed before
failure. Its values tells whether a materials will have brittle or
ductile fracture.
 Low toughness brittle fracture
 High toughness ductile fracture.

 Impact test measures the ability

of metals to absorb energy in
fracture during sudden or impact
load. Qualitative test for the
determination of metals as
brittle or ductile at different
temperature

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End of week 3 (part 1): Mechanical Properties of metals

Thank you

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