Tensile Properties

Short-Term Mechanical Properties
Material suppliers provide product data listing typical Poisson’s Ratio

mechanical properties to provide design engineers with
Poisson’s ratio (υ) is the negative ratio of lateral strain
the ability to compare materials and to aid in material
to longitudinal strain within the proportional limit. To
selection for the components being designed. The
illustrate, consider a cylindrical bar subjected to tensile
values provided are determined using standardized
stress. The length of the bar increases and simultaneously
test specimens by test methods optimized to give
its diameter decreases. In this case, Poisson’s ratio would
reproducible, reliable results. In general, these data
be calculated by dividing the change in diameter by the
are suitable for comparing similar materials, but should
change in length.
not be used for design engineering calculations without
careful consideration of many factors such as strain Most materials have Poisson’s ratio values ranging
rates, stress concentration, environmental effects, between 0.0 and 0.5. A perfectly incompressible material
and end use requirements. deformed elastically at small strains would have a Poisson’s
ratio of exactly 0.5. Most steels and rigid polymers when
When considering the mechanical properties, the
used within their design limits exhibit values of about 0.3.
immediate or short-term effect of load, the effect of
Rubber has a Poisson’s ratio of nearly 0.5.
long-term sustained load, and the effect of repeated
loading and unloading are all important. In addition, The ASTM test method D638 was used to determine
the ambient temperature and the chemical environment the Poisson’s ratio of several grades of KetaSpire®
can also affect the mechanical performance of a material. polyetheretherketone (PEEK). Type 1 tensile specimens
This section deals primarily with the short-term effect were used at a crosshead speed of 5 mm/min (0.2 in./
of load and temperature. min.). Prior to testing specimens were conditioned
according to ASTM D618. The values obtained are
If the application is subjected to sustained load, then
shown in Table 3.1.
creep must be considered and creep is addressed in a
separate section. If the load is cyclical, then fatigue may Table 3.1 Poisson’s ratio of selected KetaSpire®
be the limiting factor and fatigue data is also presented PEEK grades
in the section – “Long-Term Mechanical Properties”. If
Grade Poisson’s Ratio(1)
the application will be subjected to high temperatures for
KT-820 NT 0.37
extended time periods, then thermal stability may be a
consideration and thermal stability data is presented in KT-880 NT 0.38
the Thermal Stability section. KT-820 GF30 BG20 0.39
KT-820 CF30 0.45
The properties presented in this section are Poisson’s
(1)
Poisson’s ratio is a required input for the finite element
ratio, tensile properties, flexural properties, compressive
analysis (FEA) programs that are used to estimate the
properties, and shear properties. All of these tests response of an object to applied stress.
measure response to external load. They differ primarily
in the manner the load is applied.
Tensile Properties
In tensile testing, the ends of the bar are clamped into The tensile properties typically listed on a data sheet are
jaws and the jaws are separated causing the bar to tensile strength, tensile modulus, and tensile elongation.
stretch. In flexural testing, a bar rests on two supports For ductile materials, the tensile strength at yield may
while load is applied in the center causing the bar to be listed, as well as the tensile strength at break.
bend. In compressive testing, a sample is placed upright
Tensile properties are determined by clamping a
between parallel plates and load is applied pushing the
test specimen into the jaws of a testing machine
plates together. In shear testing, a sample is supported
and separating the jaws at a specified rate. The force
on a plate with a hole in the center and a punch is driven
required to separate the jaws divided by the minimum
through the sample into the hole.
cross-sectional area is defined as the tensile stress.
A test specimen will elongate as a result of the stress,
and the amount of elongation divided by the original
length is the strain. If the applied stress is plotted
against the resulting strain, curves similar to those
shown in Figure 3.1 are obtained. Unreinforced resins
often exhibit ductile behavior while fiber reinforced
resins exhibit brittle behavior.
KetaSpire® PEEK Design and Processing Guide / 15

Figure 3.1 Typical stress-strain curve Figure 3.2 Tensile modulus calculation
Tangent
Brittle
Ductile
Stress
Stress
Secant
Strain Strain
The initial portion of a stress/strain curve is of special As seen in Figure 3.1, there is a local maximum stress
interest, and is shown in Figure 3.2. This figure shows that is commonly called the yield stress or tensile strength
that strain is directly proportional to stress, up to a certain at yield. The strain at this point is commonly called the
level of stress. This region is known as the “Hookean” elongation at yield. As the jaws continue to separate, the
region, and the limiting stress is known as the proportional specimens continues to elongate until rupture occurs.
limit. The tensile modulus is the slope of the stress/strain The stress at rupture is called the tensile strength at break
curve when a specimen is subjected to a tensile loading. and the corresponding strain is called the elongation at
Measuring the slope of a curved line is difficult, and break. The shape of the stress-strain curve is somewhat
some conventions have been developed to standardize distorted by the fact that the original cross-sectional
the testing and reduce the variability in test results. One area is used to calculate the stress, but the actual area
method uses the slope of a line drawn tangent to the is getting smaller as the specimen elongates.
curve, and another method utilizes the slope of a secant
The test methods commonly used for determining tensile
drawn through the origin and some arbitrarily designated
properties of plastics, ASTM D638 or ISO 527, define
strain level. Today most tensile testing machines are
tensile strength as the greater of the stress at yield or the
computerized and the software calculates the tangent
stress at rupture. These two test methods measure the
modulus from the stresses at 0.05 % and 0.25 % strain.
same property, but use slightly different test specimens
All of the tensile modulus data in this section was tangent
and test procedures. The test methods specify that the
modulus calculated by the testing machine software.
testing speed should be the lowest speed that results in
Ductile polymers undergo yield prior to rupture. At the rupture within 0.5 to 5 minute testing time. If this criterion
onset of jaw separation, the stress or force required to is applied then ductile materials (unreinforced grades)
elongate the specimen is directly proportional to the will usually be tested at 50 mm/min (2 inch/min) and fiber
elongation or strain. In this region, the deformation is reinforced grades will be tested at 5 mm/min (0.2 inch /
said to be elastic. Ideally, if the load were removed, min). The speed of testing does affect the results and it is
the specimen would return to its original length. As important to verify that the proper speed was used before
jaw separation proceeds and the stress increases, the comparing materials. The following table is included to
specimens exhibit greater amounts of deformation until document the variation that will result from testing speed.
the point where additional elongation is achieved without
Table 3.2 shows that when KetaSpire® KT-820 NT
additional stress. The deformation has transitioned from
was tested using the slow speed, its tensile strength
elastic to plastic. If the load were to be removed at this
was lower, but its elongation was higher. These results
point, the specimens would not return to their original
are typical when ductile materials are tested at the slow
size. At least, some of the deformation is permanent.
crosshead speed.
Table 3.3 shows the typical values for tensile strength of

various KetaSpire grades tested by both ASTM D638 and
ISO 527. Table 3.4 shows the tensile moduli tested by the
two methods.
16 \ KetaSpire® PEEK Design and Processing Guide

Tensile Properties

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Tensile Properties

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Short-Term Mechanical Properties

Material suppliers provide product data listing typical Poisson’s Ratio

KetaSpire® PEEK Design and Processing Guide / 15

Table 3.3 shows the typical values for tensile strength of

16 \ KetaSpire® PEEK Design and Processing Guide

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