Mechanicalproperties IJofmodernstudies
Mechanicalproperties IJofmodernstudies
Mechanicalproperties IJofmodernstudies
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S Senthil Murugan
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Abstract: Mechanical properties of the metals are associated with the ability of the material to resist
mechanical forces and load. But basically, those properties are associated with stress and strain. The
mechanical properties of a material indicate how it responds under specific stresses, which helps to
determine its suitability for different applications. In this paper, the definition and applications are explained
in an easy way and gives the overview of the importance of such properties. Every design engineers must
know how to select the apt materials for their design applications and it is necessary to understand the
mechanical properties of the material to select the material for the engineering applications.
Keywords: Strength, hardness, mechanical property, toughness, elasticity, cryo-treatment.
1. INTRODUCTION
The mechanical properties are those which affect the mechanical strength and ability of a material to
be molded in suitable shape. Some of the typical mechanical properties show huge applications in
space and automobile industries. These properties are associated with the capability of the materials to
resist mechanical forces and load and they are measured in terms of the behavior of the material when
subjected to a force. Mechanical properties may be determined to provide either design data for the
engineer or as a check on the standard of raw materials [1]. Mechanical properties may be changed by
heat treatment process and the working temperature. Mostly, the strength, toughness and hardness of
materials are to be measured after the metal forming process [2]. The main objective of the paper is to
give the overview of the importance of mechanical properties of the materials, testing. This paper,
includes the concepts of strength, plasticity, malleability, stiffness, elasticity, brittleness, ductility,
toughness, resilience, fatigue, creep and shown how improper understanding of properties can lead to
have confusion. The engineering concepts of mechanical properties dominate the teaching in the
technological universities over natural sciences.
2. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES DEFINITION
2.1. Strength and Stress-Strain Curve
Strength of the materials refers to the ability of a material to resist the externally applied forces
without breaking or yielding. The maximum stress is that any material withstands before destructive is
called its ultimate strength (D). Figure 1 shows the stress and strain relationship. Stress and strain
curve of the material obtained during tensile test describe its ductility and yield strength [3].
According to figure 1, upto the elastic limit, the elasticity of material, that means the material would
return to its original dimension, would be maintained, over it the plasticity would follow. Once the
material exceeds the ultimate stress point (D), necking starts to have on the specimen [4]. The strain
hardening is kept between yield points to ultimate tensile strength. A material obeys hooks law upto
proportional limit accurately. The stress and strain curve is used to obtain Young‘s modulus of
materials by comparing stress and strain value upto elastic limit. In the figure, A-B range is measured
as elastic limit. The Ability of materials to sustain loads without undue failure or distortion is known
as strength and it is known that the ability of a material to provide an equal reaction to an applied
force (tensile, compression, shear) without rupture. Simply, the strength is a maximum resistance by
the material to the deformation. Similarly, tenacity is the ability of a material to resist rupture due to a
tensile force.
material to withstand cold deformation without fracture. Ductility of a material is to stretch under the
application of tensile load and retain the deformed shape on the removal of the load. If subjected to a
shock load the material would yield and become deformed. Ductile material can be worked into a
shape without loss of strength. All materials which are formed by drawing are required to be ductile,
e.g.- drawing into wire form.
2.6. Brittleness
Breaking of a material with little permanent distortion simply states the property of brittleness. Brittle
materials when subjected to tensile loads snap off without giving any sensible elongation [5]. Usually
the tensile strength of brittle materials is only a fraction of their compressive strength. Examples of
brittle materials are glass, bricks, cast iron etc… It is also a tendency of a material to fracture when
subjected to shock loading or a blow. Material that shatters is also a brittle material.
2.7. Malleability
It is the ability of materials to be rolled, flattened or hammered into thin sheets without cracking by
hot or cold working. Malleable material should be plastic but it is not essential to be strong and
malleability is considered as a compressive quality. Examples for malleability Al, Cu, Sn, Pb, soft
steel, wrought iron. This is the property of a material to deform permanently under the application of a
compressive load. A material which is forged to its final shape is required to be malleable. Forging,
Rolling processes are malleability.
2.8. Toughness and Testing
It is the ability of a material to withstand bending without fracture due to high impact loads.
Toughness of material decreases when it is heated [16]. It is also measured by the amount of energy
that a unit volume of the material has absorbed after being stressed up to failure point and is the area
under stress strain curve. For example, if a load is suddenly applied to a piece of mild steel and then to
a piece of glass, the mild steel will absorb much more energy before failure occurs. Thus mild steel is
said to be much tougher than a glass. This property is desirable in parts subjected to shock and impact
loads. Notch toughness is the measure of the metal‘s resistance to brittle fracture in presence of flaw
or notch and fast loading conditions [17]. Examples are Mn-steel, wrought iron, MS, etc…it can be
also defined as property of absorbing energy before fracture. To the opposite of brittleness, the ability
of a material is to resist fracture under shock loading. Basically, two main impact tests for measuring
the toughness of material in Joule are available namely Izod and Charpy test. Figure 2 shows the three
types of Notches used for fracture study. U type notch specimens can also be used for testing. In case
of ductile materials, when the material is stressed, it plastically deforms by absorbing high energy and
then the material fractures. But in the case of brittle materials, the cohesive strength of the material
exceeds before getting plastically deformed and hence absorbs less energy before getting fractured.
There are factors responsible for brittle behaviour; they are notch, low temperature, thickness and
microstructure. When temperature falling, the failure mode of certain materials changes from ductile
to brittle. For FCC materials, if the temperature increases, the energy absorbed also slightly increases.
The factors responsible for the Charpy impact test are ductility, yield strength, notch, temperature, and
fracture mechanism. Figure 3, shows the working procedure of impact testing. The pivoting arm is
raised to a specific height, which is the potential energy and then this arm gets released. The arm
swings down hitting a notched sample, available on the specimen holding vise, and breaking the
specimen. The energy absorbed by the sample is measured from the height the arm swings to after
hitting the sample. The fracture energy (Joule) is determined from the swing-up angle of the hammer
and its swing-down angle. A notched sample is generally used to determine impact energy and notch
sensitivity. Some of the standards are followed worldwide for the test they are ASTM D6110, ASTM
E23, and ASTM D256 etc..., Figure 4 depicts the difference between Izod and Charpy test. In Charpy
test (figure 4 a), a test specimen having a V-shaped notch (figure 5) is placed on the holder in such
position that the notched section is in the center of the holder and the specimen is broken by striking
the back of the notched section with the hammer. The Charpy impact value (kJ/m2) is calculated by
dividing the fracture energy by the cross-section area of the specimen. If a test specimen having a V-
shaped notch is fixed vertically, and the specimen is broken by striking it from the same side as that of
the notch by the use of the hammer, this is called Izod test (figure 4 b). The Izod impact energy value
(J/m,) is calculated by dividing the fracture energy by the width of the specimen.
(a)
(b)
Figure4. Impact loading and specimen difference for Charpy and Izod impact test
limit. This is essential for spring materials. Two kind of resilience are available. Proof resilience:
Maximum energy which can be stored in a body up to elastic limit is called the proof resilience. But
the Proof resilience per unit volume is called modulus of resilience.
2.10. Creep
When a part is subjected to a constant stress at high temperature for a long period of time, it will
undergo a slow and permanent deformation called creep. Property is considered in designing IC
engines, boilers, turbines. Simplest type of creep deformation- viscous flow Plastics, rubber and
amorphous materials are very temperature sensitive to creep. Stress for a specified rate of strain at a
constant temperature is called creep strength. When a material sustains steady loads for long periods
of time, the material may continue to deform until they may tend to fracture under the same load. This
is called creep. If a load is applied and left on the sample for months or years, the sample will slowly
extend. In metals with high melting temperatures, creep becomes a problem at higher temperatures.
e.g.- gas turbines that operate at the highest temperature. ASTM E139 is the standard specimen test
procedure for creep strength. Creep and Stress Rupture Testing are designed to analyze the amount of
stress a material can safely withstand until failure and elongation. These are important indications for
products in the aerospace, automotive, power generation, medical, oil & gas and many other
industries. The three stages of classical creep curve is shown in figure 6. The primary Creep starts at a
rapid rate and slows with time. But the secondary creep has a relatively uniform rate. While in the
third stage, in the Tertiary Creep, creep rate has been accelerated and terminates when the material
breaks or ruptures. It is associated with both necking and formation of grain boundary voids.
area of an indentation left by an indenter with a specific force applied for a specific time [19]. Three
kind of forces for hardness measurement available, with that force it is classified as macro hardness
(force >30 N), small hardness (force 3-30 N) and micro hardness (<0.5N). In, Brinell hardness test
(BHN), an iron ball of tempered steel or carbide steel with a known diameter is pressed vertically with
a test force ‗F‘ on the testing surface of specimen [19, 20]. Test force is exerted during a defined time
called dwell time. Brinell hardness (figure 7 a) is calculated by the pressure diameter and the test
force. The Brinell hardness measurement is used for the soft metals and medium hard metals. In
Vickers hardness test (HV), indenting the test material with a diamond indenter, in the form of a right
pyramid with a square base and an angle of 136° between opposite faces subjected to a load of
different kgf for 10 to 15 seconds. After removal of the load, two diagonals of the indentation left
(figure 7 b) on the surface of material are measured using a microscope and their average is
calculated. Vickers hardness is the quotient obtained by dividing the kgf load by the square mm area
of indentation. Knoop Hardness Test employed on miniature material feature that cannot be put on
test by other methods. It uses a testing load of 1 Kg or less. Just like the Brinell hardness test, the
Knoop is performed by applying force to an indenter in a rhombus-shape over a period of time.
Meticulous measurement of the impression is done, and is employed alongside test load for
calculation of value on the scale. Rockwell Hardness test consists of indenting the test material with a
diamond cone or hardened steel ball indenter. The standard for this test is ASTM E18. For B, C, A
(hard and very hard materials) and N versions (for thin walls) a diamond ball is used. For B and F
version or T (for thin walls) steel ball is used. The permanent increase in depth of penetration,
resulting from the application and removal of the additional major load is used to calculate the
Rockwell hardness number. The abbreviations used for Rockwell hardness measurement are HRC,
HRA, HR30N, etc.. The ASTM standards for hardness test are Brinell (ASTM E10), Knoop (ASTM
E92, ASTM E384) and Vickers (ASTM E92, ASTM E384).
Brinell hardness (BHN) calculation is given in equation 1, 2
Load on ball
BHN = (1)
Area of indentation
2P
BHN = (2)
2 2 0.5
nD (D-(D -d ) )
where, P- Applied load (kgf), D- Diameter of the indentor ball (mm), d- Diameter of the impression
(mm)
Moh‘s scale of hardness measurement is given in table 1. The measurement can be calculated by the
element and the acting of load as shown in table 1. Diamond is the hardest material; it can be
penetrated or cut by another diamond.
Table1. Moh’s scale of Hardness (Scale value in number)
Scale Element Applying load for penetration
1 Talc Can be crushed by a finger nail
2 Gypsum Scratched by a finger nail
3 Calcite By a bronze coin
4 Fluorite By glass
5 Apatite By penknife
6 Orthoclase By Quartz
7 Quartz By Hard steel file
8 Topaz By Corundum
9 Corundum By Diamond
10 Diamond Only by diamond
(a) (b)
8. CONCLUSION
This paper discusses the different classifications of mechanical properties and their application with
their testing procedure. It is mandatory to know them to convert the concept design into a product in
an industry since the success of the material selection is completely depending on how an engineer
selects a material for their designing products. The new technology developed in India for property
improvement is also quoted here. The mechanical properties of CI and their applications are also
given here. The standards for the various mechanical testing are also given here. Titanic ship
drowning into sea is also due to one of the reasons of materials properties failure. In the development
of new materials, we need to learn a lot more from what exists in nature.
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AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Mr.S.Senthil Murugan, hails from the state of Tamilnadu, India. He was born in
the year of 1984. He completed both UG and PG degree in mechanical
engineering and in 2005, 2012 respectively. He is pursuing Ph.D degree in the
field of welding engineering at National institute of technology (NIT),
Thiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, India.
He has around 10 years of teaching experience and 4 years of industrial
experience. He has undergone faculty summer fellowship at IIT, Delhi during
May-July 2016 and now working as assistant professor (senior grade) in
Department of mechanical engineering, Mepco Schlenk engineering college,
Sivakasi, Tamilnadu. His area of interest are welding,, environmental safety, composites and
manufacturing engineering.
Mr. Murugan published more than 70 research articles in conferences and journals. He was awarded
sivler faculty for INFOSYS campus connect programme in the years 2018, 2019. He is also the
members of institute of engineers India (MIE), Indian institute of metals (MIIM), professional
member in society of mechanical engineers Hong Kong, etc…