1. (20) Answer the following true or false (T/F) questions.

Each question is worth 2

points.

_____ The magnitude and direction of a lattice distortion associated with a dislocation are
specified by its Burgers vector.

_____ During the elastic deformation of a metal, the volume of the tensile specimen is not
conserved.

_____ The magnitude of the grain boundary energy in a polycrystalline solid increases
with the degree of misalignment between neighboring grains.

_____ Toughness is defined as the ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically
deform before fracturing.

_____ For a metal specimen, the onset of necking occurs at the proportional limit.

_____ A network type polymer is expected to show high ductility in a tensile test.

_____ In steady-state diffusion, the concentration gradient is the driving force that
compels diffusion to occur.

_____ Flexural strength, σfs, of a ceramic depends on size; that is, with an increase in
specimen volume there is a decrease in flexural strength.

_____ Cu migration in brass proceeds via the vacancy diffusion mechanism.

_____ Na+ migration in NaCl proceeds via the interstitial diffusion mechanism.

Mechanical Behavior

Circle the answer that correctly completes each statement below.

2. (2) During elastic deformation, energy is __________ by the tensile specimen.

ABSORBED or STORED

3. (2) During plastic deformation, energy is __________ by the tensile specimen.

ABSORBED or STORED
Complete the following short answer questions on Mechanical Behavior. Make sure to
show all of your work and circle your final answer.

4. (15) Answer the following questions regarding the engineering stress-strain curves
shown below. (Each part is worth 3 points.)

4A. Compute the modulus of elasticity.

4B. Determine the yield strength at the strain offset of 0.002.

4C. Determine the tensile strength of this alloy.

4D. The aluminum alloy specimen is

stressed to 360 MPa, indicated by the
“arrow” on the curve reproduced to the
right. The specimen is then unloaded.
Explicitly demonstrate on the stress-
strain curve below how to quantify the
amount of unrecovered strain upon
unloading.

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4E. If the aluminum alloy specimen is stressed to 360 MPa, compute the percent elongation
(%EL) upon unloading.

5. (10) A cylindrical rod 380 mm long and having a diameter of 10.0 mm is to be

subjected to a tensile load. If the rod is to experience neither plastic deformation nor an
elongation of more than 0.9 mm when the applied load is 24,500 N, which of the four
metals or alloys listed in the following table are possible candidates?
Show all of the work necessary to support your answer. Justify your choice(s).

Modulus of Elasticity Yield Strength Tensile Strength

Material (GPa) (MPa) (MPa)
Aluminum alloy 70 255 420
Brass alloy 100 345 420
Copper 110 250 290
Steel alloy 207 450 550

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Diffusion

Complete the following short answer questions on Diffusion. Make sure to show all of
your work and circle your final answer.

6A. (15) An FCC iron-carbon alloy initially containing 0.35 wt% C is exposed to an oxygen
rich and virtually carbon-free atmosphere at high temperature.

Under these circumstances the carbon diffuses from the alloy and reacts at the surface with
the oxygen in the atmosphere; that is, the carbon concentration at the surface position is
maintained essentially at 0 wt% C. (This process of carbon depletion is termed
decarburization.)

At what position will the carbon concentration be 0.15 wt% after a 10-h treatment? The
value of D at this temperature is 6.9 × 10-11 m2/s. Show all of your work and circle your
final answer.

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6B. (6) At what temperature (in K) is the carbon depletion process described above being
carried out? For C in FCC iron, D0 = 2.3 x 10-5 m2/s and Qd = 148 kJ/mol (1.53 eV).

6C. (4) The plot of the natural logarithm of the diffusion coefficient versus the reciprocal
of absolute temperature is shown below for carbon in BCC iron and carbon in FCC iron.

Given only the following information, determine which curve below (A or B) best
represents the behavior for carbon in BCC iron. Briefly justify your choice in the space
provided.

Interstitial Solid Solution Activation Energy (Qd)

C in BCC iron 80 kJ/mol
C in FCC iron 148 kJ/mol

6. (20) Answer the following true or false (T/F) questions. Each question is worth 2 points.

_____ In response to an applied tensile or compressive stress, slip in a single crystal commences
on the most favorably oriented slip system when resolved shear stress reaches some critical
value.

_____ Since dislocation-dislocation strain field interactions are, on average, repulsive, dislocation
mobility becomes more restricted with increasing dislocation density.

_____ The measured fracture strengths for most brittle materials are significantly lower than those
predicted by theoretical calculations based on atomic bonding energies. This is due to the

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 presence of microscopic flaws or cracks that always exist in the specimen under normal
conditions.

_____ Grain boundaries act as a barrier to dislocation motion. As a consequence, a smaller

average grain size in a material specimen correlates with increased specimen yield strength.

_____ At room temperature, lead and tin do not strain harden when deformed.

_____ Nacre is an inorganic composite material that makes up the inner layer of sea shells. This
composite has a negative Poisson’s ratio.

_____ With an applied tensile stress of =70 MPa, a slip plane oriented at an angle of =52 with
respect to a tensile specimen’s cross-section will experience a resolved shear stress that
exceeds .

Complete the following multiple choice questions by circling the best answer. There is only one
correct answer per problem. Each question is worth 3 points.

7. Consider the picture of the static edge dislocation shown below. The region indicated by the
arrow is under what type of strain?

(A) torsional strain

(B) tensile strain
(C) compressive strain
(D) comprehensive strain
(E) examination strain

8. Plastically deforming a metal specimen near room temperature will generally lead to which of
the following property changes?

(A) an increased tensile strength and a decreased ductility

(B) a decreased tensile strength and increased in ductility
(C) an increased tensile strength and an increased ductility
(D) a decreased tensile strength and a decreased ductility
(E) None of the above.

9. Slip systems can be denoted as {hkl}<hkl>, where the slip plane is identified first followed by
the slip direction. The close-packed slip system given by {111}<110> belongs to what crystal
structure?

(A) Simple cubic

(B) BCC

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 (C) FCC
(D) HCP
(E) None of the above.

10. The ___________ crystal structure has three total slip systems derived from one unique slip
plane having three slip directions.

(A) Simple cubic

(B) BCC
(C) FCC
(D) HCP
(E) None of the above.

11. A flat fracture surface where crack motion is nearly perpendicular to the direction of the applied
tensile stress is typical of what type of fracture in a metal?

(A) Very ductile

(B) Indeterminate
(C) Brittle
(D) Moderately ductile
(E) None of the above.

12. Order the materials listed below from lowest to highest fracture toughness, KIc.

A: Al2O3 (A) A < D < C < B

B: 4140 steel (15% cold-worked) (B) B < C < D < A

C: 4140 steel (annealed @ 425C)  (C) C < D < B < A

D: 4140 steel (annealed @ 260C) (D) A < B < D < C

(E) A < B < C < D

Complete the following short answer questions. Make sure to show all of your work and circle
your final answer where applicable. The point value for each problem is given in the parentheses.

8. (3) Metallurgical and materials engineers are often called on to design alloys having high
strengths yet some ductility and toughness; typically, ductility is sacrificed when an alloy is
strengthened. List the three general approaches to strengthening a metal specimen.

A)

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 B)

C)

9. (4) Cold-worked materials may be heat-treated to regain ductility.

9A. In one sentence, describe what happens during the recovery stage of heat treatment.

9B. In one sentence, describe the driving force for the formation of new crystals during the
recrystallization stage of heat treatment.

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10. (6) Two previously undeformed specimens of the same metal are to be plastically deformed by
reducing their cross-sectional areas. One has a circular cross section, and the other is rectangular;
during deformation the circular cross section is to remain circular, and the rectangular is to remain
rectangular. Their original and deformed dimensions are as follows:

Circular (diameter, mm) Rectangular (mm)

Original dimensions 15.2 125 × 175

Deformed dimensions 11.4 75 × 200

Which of these specimens will be the hardest after plastic deformation, and why?

11A. (6) A cylindrical specimen of cold-worked copper has a ductility (%EL) of 25%. If its cold-
worked radius is 10 mm, what was its radius before deformation? Show all of your work.

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11B. (4) In the plot below, the tensile strength vs. % CW for three materials (copper, brass, and
1040 steel) is shown. In physical terms, briefly explain in the space provided why brass (an alloy
composed of 70% copper and 30% zinc) shows improved mechanical behavior as compared to pure
copper.

EXTRA CREDIT: The engineering stress-strain curves

are shown in the plot to the right for two ceramic materials
- glass and aluminum oxide.

Both material specimen fracture at their respective elastic

limits, rather then showing subsequent plastic
deformation. Using only the space provided below,
explain why.

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Supplemental Information:

nA
r=
VC N A

M dC ¶C ¶2 C
J= J = -D =D 2
At dx ¶t ¶x

Cx - C0 æ x ö
=1- erf ç ÷
Cs - C0 è 2 Dt ø

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 æ Q ö æ l f - l0 ö
D = D0 exp ç - d ÷ Ductility, percent elongation: %EL = ç ÷ ´100
è RT ø è l0 ø

ex s y2
s = Ee u =- Resilience: Ur =
ez 2E

3Ff L
s fs = where L is the length of the specimen and b,d are dimensions of the rectangular
2bd 2
cross-section
æ A - Ad ö
s=
F
=
F %CW = ç 0 ÷ ´100
A0 æ d0 ö
2
è A0 ø
pç ÷
è2ø

1
æ a ö1/2 æ 2Eg s ö 2
sm = 2s 0 ç ÷ sc = ç ÷ Kc = Y s c pa = KIc
è rt ø è pa ø

𝜏𝑅 = 𝜎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃

1 MPa = 1 x 106 N/m2

NA = 6.022 x 1023 atoms per mole

0º C = 273º K

k = 1.38 x 10-23 J/atom-K = 8.62 x 10-5 eV/atom-K

R = 8.31 J/mol-K

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