IX Material and Property Information

This chapter includes material from the book “Practical Finite Element Analysis”. It also has been
reviewed and has additional material added by Sascha Beuermann.

9.1 Hooke’s Law and two constants

It is common knowledge that for the same force effect (i.e. same stress) you get different strains
for different materials. Considering a simple tensile test you have for a lot of materials, for small
displacements there is a linear correlation between stress (force per unit area) and strain (elongation
per unit length).

V F/A

H= 'L/L

VaHDV EH

with the constant E with is dependent on the material. This equation is called Hooke’s Law (Robert
Hooke, 1635-1703) and is a material equation for linear elastic behavior. E is called the Modulus of
elasticity or Young’s Modulus, and the slope of the normal stress–strain curve in the linear elastic
domain. It is defined as normal stress / normal strain. Units: e.g. N/mm2.
Young's
Modulus
V
E

Another phenomenon can be seen at the tensile test. There is not only an elongation in the force
direction, but also a contraction in the lateral direction.
Poisson's Ratio

2
Q= -H22/H11
1

For the physical interpretation of X consider a cube of 1x1x1 mm dimension. Poisson’s ratio of 0.30
means that if the cube is elongated by 1 mm, lateral direction contraction would be 0.3 mm. For
metals poisson’s ratio is between 0.25 to 0.35. The maximum possible value of poisson’s ratio is 0.5
(for rubber).

There is also the material parameter G Modulus of rigidity, which is the slope of the shear stress-strain

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 curve in the linear elastic domain. It is defined as shear stress/shear strain. Units: e.g. N/mm2

E, G, and Xare inter-related by the equation:

E = 2 G (1+ X)

Only two independent material constants are required for a linear static analysis (i.e. E, and X).
Additional data is required for gravity, centrifugal load, and dynamic analysis (material density U =
m/V, mass per unit volume e.g. g/cm3) and for temperature induced stresses or strains (coefficient of
thermal expansion D H'T 'll'T, expansion/shrinkage per unit length per temperature e.g. 1/K).
For steel, U

t-9 t/mm3 and D

t-5 1/K, and for aluminum, U

t-9 t/mm3 and D= 2.4
t-5 1/K.

9.2 Generalized Hooke’s law and 36 total constants in the equation

Hooke’s law is familiar to us as σ = E * ε (see Section 3.1). This equation holds true for isotropic material
that is in the linear elastic domain. The general equation of Hooks law for an anisotropic material is:

σxx = E11 εxx + E12 εyy + E13 εzz + E14 γxy + E15 γyz+ E16 γzx

σyy = E21 εxx + E22 εyy + E23 εzz + E24 γxy + E25 γyz+ E26 γzx

σzz = E31 εxx + E32 εyy + E33 εzz + E34 γxy + E35 γyz+ E36 γzx

τxy = E41 εxx + E42 εyy + E43 εzz + E44 γxy + E45 γyz+ E46 γzx

τyz = E51 εxx + E52 εyy + E53 εzz + E54 γxy + E55 γyz+ E56 γzx

τzx = E61 εxx + E62 εyy + E63 εzz + E64 γxy + E65 γyz+ E66 γzx

There are a total of 36 constants (E11, E12, … ,E66) out of which 21 are independent.

9.3 Material Classification

Isotropic Orthotropic Anisotropic Laminates
Iso – same, Ortho – three, t
Different t
Two or more
Tropic - directions Tropic - directions properties along materials bonded
crystallographic together in layers.
t
Properties t
Different plane
independent of properties along t
Simplest example
direction/axes 3 axes t
21 independent is lamination
constants carried out on
t
2 Independent t
9 independent certificates,
Constants (E, υ) constants t
All real life Identity cards etc.
materials are
t
Metals t
Wood, Concrete, anisotropic t
Mainly used for
rolled metals only but we space applications
simplify them and these days in
in to category automobiles the
of Isotropic and trend is shifting
Orthotropic towards plastics
and laminates
from metals.

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 9.4 Material Properties
Elastic Yield Ultimate
Poisson’s Density
Material Modulus strength strength
Ratio (tonne/mm3)
(N/mm2) (N/mm2) (N/mm2)
Steel 2.10 t 105 0.30 7.89 t
10-9 250 420
Cast Iron 1.20 t 10 5 0.28 7.20 t
10-9 85 220
Wrought Iron 1.90 t
10 5 0.30 7.75 t
10-9 210 320
Aluminium 0.70 t 105 0.35 2.70 t
10-9 35 90
Aluminium alloy 0.75 t 105 0.33 2.79 t
10-9 165 260
Brass 1.10 t 10 5 0.34 8.61 t
10-9 95 280
Bronze 1.20 t 10 5 0.34 8.89 t
10-9 105 210
Copper 1.20 t
10 5 0.34 9.10 t
10-9 70 240
Copper alloy 1.25 t
10 5 0.33 9.75 t
10-9 150 400
Magnesium 0.45 t
10 5 0.35 1.75 t
10-9 70 160
Titanium 1.10 t
10 5 0.33 4.60 t
10-9 120 300
Glass 0.60 t
10 5 0.22 2.50 t
10-9 -- 100
Rubber 50 0.49 0.92 t
10-9 4 10
Concrete 0.25 t
105 0.15 2.10 t
10-9 -- 40

* Above listed properties are approximate and properties as per actual material composition are recommended.

Why mass is in tonne and density tonne /mm3 for N-mm unit system?
1 N = 1 kg t 1 m / s2 (F = m*a) D 1 N = 1 kg * t
1000 mm/s2
 D 1 N = 1000 kg t 1 mm / s2 D 1 N = 1 tonne t 1 mm/s2
Hence when force is specified in N, length in mm, mass must be specified in tonne and
density in tonne /mm3

Examples of sets of consistent units (see Chapter II) for steel are:

SI-system System System mm-

mm-t-s kg-ms
Length unit meter millimeter millimeter
Mass unit kilogram tonne kilogram
Time unit second second millisecond
Force unit Newton Newton kiloNewton
Young’s
210.0e+09 210.0e+03 210.0
Modulus
Density 7.85e+03 7.95e-09 7.98e-06
Poisson’s Ratio 0.3 0.3 0.3

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