UNIT IV - MECHANICAL TESTING

AND CHARACTERISATION
 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
• The mechanical properties of a material are
those which effect the mechanical strength
and ability of material to be molded in
suitable shape.
• Some of the typical mechanical properties of a
material are listed below-
• Strength
• Toughness
• Hardness
 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
• Hardenability

• Brittleness

• Malleability

• Ductility

• Creep and Slip

• Resilience

• Fatigue
 Strength
• It is the property of material which opposes
the deformation or breakdown of material in
presence of external forces or load.
• Material which we finalize for our engineering
product, must have suitable mechanical
strength to be capable to work under different
mechanical forces or loads.
 ELASTICITY
• The ability of a material to absorb force and
flex in different directions, returning to its
original position.
 PLASTICITY
• The ability of a material to be change in shape
permanently.
 TENSILE STRENGTH
• The ability of a material to stretch without
breaking or snapping.
 TOUGHNESS
• It is the ability of material to absorb the energy and gets plastically
deformed without fracturing.
• Its numerical value is determined by the amount of energy per unit
volume.
• It unit is Joule/ m3.
• Value of toughness of a material can be determines by stress-strain
characteristics of material.
• For good toughness material should have good strength as well as ductility.
• For example: brittle materials, having good strength but limited ductility
are not tough enough.
• Conversely, materials having good ductility but low strength are also not
tough enough. Therefore, to be tough, material should be capable to
withstand with both high stress and strain.
 HARDNESS
• It is the ability of material to resist to
permanent shape change due to external
stress. There are various measure of hardness
– scratch Hardness, indentation hardness and
rebound hardness
• Scratch Hardness Scratch Hardness is the
ability of material to oppose the scratch to
outer surface layer due to external force.
 HARDNESS
• Indentation Hardness It is ability of material
to oppose the dent due to punch of external
hard and sharp object.
• Rebound Hardness Rebound hardness is also
called as dynamic hardness. It is determined
by the height of “bounce” of a diamond
tipped hammer dropped from a fixed height
on the material.
 HARDENABILITY
• It is the ability of a material to attain the
hardness by heat treatment processing.
• It is determined by the depth up to which the
material becomes hard.
• The SI unit of hardenability is meter (similar to
length).
• Hardenability of material is inversely
proportional to the weld-ability of material.
 BRITTLENESS
• Brittleness of a material indicates that how easily it
gets fractured when it is subjected to a force or load.
• When a brittle material is subjected to a stress is
observes very less energy and gets fractures without
significant strain.
• Brittleness is converse to ductility of material.
• Brittleness of material is temperature depended.
• Some metals which are ductile at normal
temperature become brittle at low temperature.
 MALLEABILITY
• Malleability is property of solid material which indicates that
how easily a materials gets deformed under compressive
stress.
• Malleability is often categorized by the ability of material to
be formed in the form of a thin sheet by hammering or
rolling.
• This mechanical property is an aspect of plasticity of
material.
• Malleability of material is temperature dependent.
• With rise of temperature, the malleability of material
increases.
 DUCTILITY
• Ductility is a property of a solid material which
indicates that how easily a materials gets deformed
under tensile stress.
• Ductility is often categorized by the ability of material
to get stretched into a wire by pulling or drawing.
• This mechanical property is also an aspect of plasticity
of material and temperature dependent.
• With rise of temperature, the ductility of material
increases.
 CREEP AND SLIP
• Creep is the property of material which indicates the
tendency of material to move slowly and deform
permanently under the influence of external
mechanical stress.
• It results due to long time exposure to large external
mechanical stress with in limit of yielding.
• Creep is more severe in material that are subjected
to heat for long time.
• Slip in material is a plane with high density of atoms.
 RESILIENCE
• Resilience is the ability of material to absorb the energy
when it is deformed elastically by applying stress and release
the energy when stress is removed.
• Proof resilience is defined as the maximum energy that can
be absorbed without permanent deformation.
• The modulus of resilience is defined as the maximum energy
that can be absorbed per unit volume without permanent
deformation.
• It can be determined by integrating the stress-strain curve
from zero to elastic limit.
• Its unit is joule/m3.
 FATIGUE
• Fatigue is the weakening of material caused by the repeated
loading of material.
• When a material is subjected to cyclic loading, and loading
greater than certain threshold value but much below the
strength of material (ultimate tensile strength limit or yield
stress limit, microscopic cracks begin to form at grain boundaries
and interfaces.
• Eventually the crack reached to a critical size.
• This crack propagates suddenly and the structure gets fractured.
• The shape of structure effects the fatigue very much.
• Square holes and sharp corners lead to elevated stresses where
the fatigue crack initiates.
 STIFFNESS
• Amount of force needed to change the shape
of a material, opposite to flexible.
 Ductile materials
• A body is said to have yielded or to have undergone
plastic deformation if it does not regains its original
shape when a load is removed.
• The resulting deformation is called permanent set. If
permanent set is obtainable, the material is said to
exhibit ductility.
• Ductility measures the degree of plastic deformation
sustained it fracture.
• One way of specify a material is by the percentage of
elongation (%EL).
 Ductile materials
• A ductile material is one with a large Percentage of
elongation before failure.
• The magnitude of percentage of elongation will
depend on the specimen length.
Material Percentage of
Elongation

Low-Carbon 37%

Medium-Carbon 30%

High-Carbon 25%
 Ductile materials
• For ductile material, the ultimate tensile and
compressive strength have approximately the same
absolute value.
• The steel is ductile material because it far exceeds the
5% elongation.
• High strength alloys, such as spring steel, can have 2%
of elongation but even this is enough to ensure that
the material yields before it fractures.
• Hence it is behaved like a ductile material. Gold is
relatively ductile at room temperature. Most of the
material becomes ductile by increasing the
temperature.
 Ductile materials
Properties of ductile materials:
• Easily drawn into wire or hammered thin.
• Easily molded or shaped.
• Capable of being readily persuaded or influenced
tractable.
• Easily stretched without breaking in material
strength.
 Stress – strain behavior of ductile materials

• The rate of applied load to original cross-sectional

area is termed the nominal stress.

• This continues to increase with elongation, due to

strain hardening or work hardening, until the
tensile stress is maximum.

• This is the value of stress at maximum load and

can be calculated by dividing the maximum load by
the original cross-sectional area. This stress is
called ultimate tensile stress.
Concepts of Stress and Strain (tension and compression)
To compare specimens of different sizes, the load is calculated
per unit area.
Engineering stress: s = F / Ao
F is the load applied perpendicular to specimen cross-section; Ao
is cross-sectional area (perpendicular to the force) before
application of the load.
Engineering strain: ε = l / lo (× 100 %)
l is change in length, lo is the original length.
These definitions of stress and strain allow one to compare test
results for specimens of different cross-sectional area Ao and of
different length lo.
Stress and strain are positive for tensile loads, negative for
compressive loads
 Elastic Moduli
When only elastic deformation exists, strain is proportional to the applied
stress

stress
Modulus of Elasticit y  Young’ s modulus 
strain
The greater the forces of attraction between atoms in a
material, the higher the modulus of elasticity

Any lengthening or compression of the crystal structure in

one direction, due to a uniaxial force, produces an
adjustment in the dimensions at right angles to the force.
Poisson’s Ratio
The –ve ratio between the lateral strain ey and the direct
tensile strain ez
ey

ez

In shear loading, the two forces are parallel but are not aligned. As
a result, the shear stress, s is the shear force, Fs divided by the
sheared area, As:
 = Fs/As

Shear stress produces angular displacement, .

Shear strain, , is the tangent of that angle = x/y in the next
Figure
Elastic Shear Strain: Shear couples produce a relative
displacement of one plane of atoms past the next. The
strain is elastic as long as the atoms keep their original
neighbours. (a) No strain, (b) Shear strain
The recoverable or elastic shear strain  shear stress
G=/
G is the shear modulus or the modulus of rigidity.
It is different from the modulus of elasticity but they inter-
related.
E = 2G (1 + )

Poison’s ratio between 0.25  0.5, G is approx. 35% E.

Bulk Modulus, K
The reciprocal of the compressibility  = hydrostatic
pressure Ph/unit volume of compression, V/V
 Ph 1
K 
V 
the bulk modulus is related
to the modulus of elasticity
E
K
3(1 - 2 )
Elastic Moduli vs Temperature

Discontinuity in case of Fe is due to the change from

bcc to fcc which required greater stress. Why?
Elastic Moduli vs Crystal Direction

• Elastic moduli are anisotropic within materials; vary

with crystallographic direction. E.g. Fe modulus of
elasticity = 205 GPa;

• Actually, modulus of a crystal of iron varies from 280

GPa in the [111] direction to only 125 GPa in the
[100] direction.

• The consequence of any such anisotropy becomes

significant in polycrystalline materials.
Assume, a cross-section of a
steel wire, the average stress is
205 MPa.
If the grains are randomly
oriented, the elastic strain is
0.001, because the average
modulus of elasticity is 205 GPa.
However, in reality, the stress
varies from 125 MPa to 280
MPa as shown in (b), because
grains have different
orientations, but each is strained
equally (0.001). This means that
some grains will exceed their
yield strength before other grains
reach their yield strength.
Stress – strain behavior of ductile materials
 Stress – strain behavior of ductile
materials
• stress-strain diagram for ductile material (mild steel)
showing the limit of proportionality, elastic limit, yield
point, ultimate tensile stress and fracture.
• At a certain value of load the strain continues at slow rate
without any further stress. This phenomenon of slow
extension increasing with time, at constant stress is
termed creep.
• At this point a neck begins to develop along the length of
the specimen and further plastic deformation is localized
within the neck.
• After necking the nominal stress decreases until the
material fractures at the point of minimum cross-sectional
area.
 Stress-Strain Relation for Different
Engineering Materials
• The stress and strain relation can be studied by drawing a
graph or curve by taking strain along the x axis and the
corresponding stress along the y axis. This curve is called
stress- strain curve.
For ferrous metal
• From the stress-strain diagram for different types of steel
and wrought iron the strength of the ferrous metals
depends up on carbon content.
• The proportion of carbon does not have an appreciable
effect on young’s modulus of elasticity during any
hardening process.
Stress- Strain curve for ferrous metals
 Non-ferrous metal
• The elastic properties of non-ferrous metals vary to a
considerable extent, depending upon the method of
working and their compositions in the case of alloys.
• The early portion of the stress-strain diagram for most
of the metals is never quite straight line, but the yield
point is well defined.
• Brittle materials show little or no permanent
deformation prior to fracture. Brittle behavior is
exhibited by some metals and ceramics like magnesium
oxide .
• The small elongation prior to fracture means that the
materials gives no indication of impending fracture and
brittle fracture. It is often accompanied by loud noise.
Stress- Strain curve for non-ferrous metals
 Brittle material
• Brittle material is one which is having very low percentage
of elongation.
• Brittle materials break suddenly under stress at a point
just beyond its elastic limit.
• A Brittle material exhibits little or no yielding before
failure.
• Brittle material will have a much lower elongation and
area reduction than ductile ones. The tensile strength of
Brittle material is usually much less than the compressive
strength.
• The brittle material can be deformed in a ductile only
under the conditions of high pressure.
• Grey cast iron is a best example for brittle material
 Determination of Brittle materials
• If the percentage of elongation is at or below 5%,
assume brittle behavior.

• If the ultimate compressive strength is greater

than the ultimate tensile strength assume brittle
behavior

• If no yield strength is occurred suspect brittle

behavior
Stress – strain behavior of brittle materials
 Stress – strain behavior of brittle
materials
• For the determination of yield strength in such
materials, one has to draw a straight line
parallel to the elastic portion of the stress
strain curve at a predetermined strain
ordinate value (say 0.1%).
• The point at which this line intersects the
stress-strain curve is called the yield strength.
 ELASTIC DEFORMATION
• In elastic deformation a limited distortion of the crystal
lattice is produced, but the atoms do not move
permanently from their ordered positions, and as soon
as the stress is removed the distortion disappeared.
• When metal is stressed beyond the elastic limit plastic
deformation takes place and there must, clearly , be
some movement of the atoms in to new positions, since
considerable permanent distortion can be produced.
• Our present task, then, is to consider ways in which this
extensive rearrangement of atoms with in the lattice
structure can take place to give rise to this permanent
deformation.
 PLASTIC DEFORMATION
• As mentioned previously, many materials possess an elastic limit and
when stressed they strain in an elastic manner up to a certain point.
• Beyond THIS POINT THE STRAIN developed is no longer directly
proportional to the applied stress, and also, the strain developed is no
longer fully recoverable.
• If the stress is removed elastic strain is recovered but the material will be
left in a state of permanent, or plastic, strain.
• The mechanism of plastic deformation is not the same for all classes of
materials and it is necessary to consider the various materials groups
separately.
• Metals, in general, are characterized by possessing high elastic modulus
values, and also the ability to be strained in a plastic manner.
• Some metals will begin to deform plastically at very low values of stress
and will yield to a very considerable extent before fracture occurs.
• Other metals and alloys show little plastic yielding before fracture. These
latter materials are termed brittle.
• Plastic deformation in metals may take place by the process of slip, or by
twinning.
 PLASTIC DEFORMATION
• All shaping operations such as stamping,
pressing, spinning, rolling, forging, drawing,
and extruding involve plastic deformation of
metals.
• Various machining operations such as milling,
turning, sawing, and punching also involve
plastic deformation.
 PLASTIC DEFORMATION
Plastic deformation may take place by :
• Slip
• Twinning
• Combination of slip and twinning
 Slip

• It is the deformation done by one layer or plan of

atoms gliding over another.
• An early theory evolved to explain plastic
deformation in metals was the 'block slip' theory. In
this it was postulated that when the yield stress of
the metal was exceeded plastic deformation took
place by the movement of large blocks of atoms
sliding relative to one another
• across certain planes — slip planes — within the
crystal as shown in Figure.
 SLIP
• The 'block slip' theory accounted for many of the observed
phenomena but possessed a number of drawbacks, one of
which being that the theoretical yield strength of a metal,
calculated on the basis of this theory, was about a
thousand times greater than the experimentally observed
strengths of pure metals.
• Present-day theories of plastic flow in metals are based on
the existence of small imperfections, or defects, within
crystals.
• These are structural defects, termed dislocations and
plastic deformation is due to the movement of dislocations
across the slip planes of a crystal under the action of an
applied stress.
 SLIP
• The calculated stress required to bring about the
movement of dislocations is of the same order
of magnitude as observed yield stresses in
metals.
• In recent years it has been possible to produce
small single crystals that are virtually defect free.
• These small perfect crystals, termed whiskers,
possess properties close to the very high
theoretical strengths predicted for perfectly
crystalline metals.
 SLIP
• If the slip planes were aligned either normal
to, or parallel to, the stress axis, failure
occurred in a brittle manner with negligible
plastic deformation as in Figure 2.
• If, however, the slip planes were inclined at
some angle, ɵ, other than 0° or 90°, plastic
yielding took place before failure.
Slip- Figure 2. Effect of stress on single crystals of hexagonal metal.
 SLIP

• (a) Slip planes normal to the applied stress;

brittle fracture; no slip.
• (b) Slip planes in line with the applied stress;
brittle fracture; no slip.
• (c) Slip planes inclined to the applied stress;
slip and plastic deformation caused by shear
force acting on slip planes.
 Deformation Mechanisms

Cubic metals readily deform by plastic

shear or slip.
Sliping: one plane of atoms slides over
the next adjacent plane.
Shear deformation also occurs when
compression or tension forces are applies
 Mechanism of slip

The strength of metals = shear modulus/6

If we place a shear stress along the horizontal direction, the
dislocation can be moved with shearing displacement within
the crystal.
The slip mechanism requires energy, E  IGb2
Solid solution dislocations
 TWINNING
• In addition to deformation by slip, some
metals, notably zinc, tin and iron, deform by a
process known as "twinning".
• The mechanism of this process is illustrated in
Figure 3.
TWINNING
TWINNING
 TWINNING
• In deformation by slip all atoms in one block move the same
distance, but in deformation by twinning, atoms in each successive
plane within a block will move different distances, with the effect of
altering the direction of the lattice so that each half of the crystal
becomes a mirror image of the other half.
• It is thought that twinning also proceeds by the movement of
dislocations.
• The twins thus formed are called "mechanical twins" to distinguish
them from the "annealing twins" which become apparent in copper
alloys during an annealing operation which follows cold work.
• The mechanical twins formed in iron by a sudden shock are called
"Neumann bands".
 Plastic deformation of compounds

In Metals : each atom is surrounded by similar atoms.

In compounds: two or more atom types are there, deformation
brings like atoms together and separates a fraction on unlike
atoms
High Energy is required (resistance to shear)
Plastic deformation of compounds
Fracture
 Brittle Fracture
 Ductile Fracture
 Fatigue Fracture
 Creep Fracture
 Fracture

Fracture is the separation of a specimen into two or more parts by

an applied stress.

Fracture takes place in two stages:

(i) initial formation of crack and
(ii) spreading of crack.

 Depend upon the type of materials, the applied load, state of

stress and temperature metals have different types of fracture.
Types of fracture
 Brittle Fracture
 Ductile Fracture
 Fatigue Fracture
 Creep Fracture
 Fracture

• Fracture is usually undesirable in engineering

applications.
• Flaws such as surface cracks lower the stress
for brittle fracture where as line defects are
responsible for initiating ductile fractures.
• Different types of fracture
Fracture
 Brittle Fracture

• Brittle fracture is the failure of a material with

minimum of plastic deformation. If the broken pieces
of a brittle fracture are fitted together, the original
shape & dimensions of the specimen are restored.
• Brittle fracture is defined as fracture which occurs at
or below the elastic limit of a material.
The brittle fracture increases with
• Increasing strain rate
• Decreasing temperature
• Stress concentration conditions produced by a notch.
 Salient Features of Brittle Fracture
• Brittle fracture occurs when a small crack in materials grows.
Growth continues until fracture occurs.
• The atoms at the surfaces do not have as many neighbors as
those in the interior of a solid and therefore they form fever
bonds. That implies, surface atoms are at a higher energy
than a plane of interior atom. As a result of Brittle fracture
destroying the inter atomic bonds by normal stresses.
• In metals brittle fracture is characterized by rate of crack
propagation with minimum energy of absorption.
• In brittle fracture, adjacent parts of the metal are separated
by stresses normal to the fracture surface.
• Brittle fracture occurs along characteristics crystallographic
planes called as cleavage planes. The fracture is termed as
cleavage fracture.
• Brittle fracture does not produce plastic deformation, so that
it requires less energy than a ductile failure.
 Mechanism of Brittle Fracture
• The mechanism of Brittle fracture is explained by
Griffith theory.
• Griffith postulated that in a brittle material there
are always presence of micro cracks which act to
concentrated the stress at their tips.
• The crack could come from a number of source, e.g.
as a collection of dislocations, as flow occurred
during solidification or a surface scratch.
• In order to explain the mechanism of ideal brittle
fracture, let us consider the stress distribution in a
specimen under constant velocity in the vicinity of
crack.
 Mechanism of Brittle Fracture
• When a longitudinal tensile stress is applied,
the crack tends to increase its length causes an
increase in surface area of a crack.
• The surface energy of the specimen is
increased.
• There is also compensation release of energy.
This means, an increase in crack length causes
the release of elastic energy .
• “Griffith state that when the elastic energy
released by extending a crack equal to the
surface energy required for crack extension”
then the crack will grow.
 Mechanism of Brittle Fracture

2 E
•  =
e
Where,
• e is half of the crack length,
•  is the true surface energy
• E is the Young's modulus.
• the stress is inversely proportional to the square
root of the crack length. Hence the tensile strength
of a completely brittle material is determined by the
length of the largest crack existing before loading.
 Mechanism of Brittle Fracture

• For ductile materials there is always some

plastic deformation before fracture. This
involves an additional energy term p.
Therefore the fracture strength is given by
1
 2E  2
•  =  
 e 
 Ductile Fracture

• Ductile fracture is defined as the fracture which takes place

by a slow propagation of crack with considerable amount
of plastic deformation.
There are three successive events involved in a ductile
fracture.
• The specimen begins necking and minute cavities form in
the necked region. This is the region in which the plastic
deformation is concentrated. It indicates that the formation
of cavities is closely linked to plastic deformation.
• It has been observed that during the formation of neck
small micro cracks are formed at the centre of the
specimen due to the combination of dislocations.
• Finally these cracks grow out ward to the surface of the
specimen in a direction 45° to the tensile axis resulting in a
cup-end-cone-type fracture 0
Ductile Fracture
 Ductile Fracture

• An important characteristic of ductile fracture is that it

occurs through a slow tearing of the metal with the
expenditure of considerable energy.
• The fracture of ductile materials can also explained in
terms of work-hardening coupled with crack-nucleation
and growth.
• The initial cavities are often observed to form at foreign
inclusions where gliding dislocations can pile up and
produce sufficient stress to form a void or micro-crack.
• Consider a specimen subjected to slow increasing tensile
load. When the elastic limit is exceeded, the material
beings to work harden.
• Increasing the load, increasing the permanent elongation
and simultaneously decrease the cross sectional area.
• The decrease in area leads to the formation of a neck in
the specimen, as illustrated earlier.
 Ductile Fracture
• The neck region has a high dislocation density and the
material is subjected to a complex stress.
• The dislocations are separated from each other
because of the repulsive inter atomic forces.
• As the resolved shear stress on the slip plane increase,
the dislocation comes closed together.
• The crack forms due to high shear stress and the
presence of low angle grain boundaries.
• Once a crack is formed, it can grow or elongated by
means of dislocations which slip.
• Crack propagation is along the slip plane for this
mechanism.
• Once crack grows at the expense of others and finally
cracks growth results in failure.
 Ductile Fracture

a) crack nucleation at a slip-plane obstacle

b) Crack nucleation at low-angle grain boundaries
 Comparison between Brittle and Ductile fracture

• Ductile fracture
• Brittle fracture
• Material fractures after plastic deformation and slow propagation of crack
• Material fractures with very little or no plastic deformation.
• Surface obtained at the fracture is dull or fibrous in appearance
• Surface obtained at the fracture is shining and crystalling appearance
• It occurs when the material is in plastic condition.
• It occurs when the material is in elastic condition.
• It is characterized by the formation of cup and cone
• It is characterized by separation of normal to tensile stress.
• The tendency of ductile fracture is increased by dislocations and other defects in
metals.
• The tendency brittle fracture is increased by decreasing temperature, and
increasing strain rate.
• There is reduction in cross – sectional area of the specimen
• There is no change in the cross – sectional area.
 Ductile vs Brittle Failure

Fracture Very Moderately

Brittle
behavior: Ductile Ductile

• Ductile fracture is
nearly always desirable!

%Ra or %El Large Moderate Small

Ductile: Brittle: No
warning before warning
fracture
 Example: Failure of a Pipe
• Ductile failure:
--one piece
--large deformation

• Brittle failure:
--many pieces
--small deformation

Figures from V.J. Colangelo and F.A. Heiser,

Analysis of Metallurgical Failures (2nd ed.),
Fig. 4.1(a) and (b), p. 66 John Wiley and Sons,
Inc., 1987. Used with permission.
 Moderately Ductile Failure
• Evolution to failure:
void void growth shearing
necking and linkage fracture
nucleation at surface
s

• Resulting 50
50mm
mm
fracture
surfaces
(steel)
100 mm
Inclusion From V.J. Colangelo and F.A. Heiser, Analysis Fracture surface of tire cord wire
particles of Metallurgical Failures (2nd ed.), Fig. loaded in tension. Courtesy of F.
11.28, p. 294, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., Roehrig, CC Technologies, Dublin, OH.
serve as void 1987. (Orig. source: P. Thornton, J. Mater. Used with permission.
nucleation Sci., Vol. 6, 1971, pp. 347-56.)
sites.
 Ductile vs. Brittle Failure

cup-and-cone fracture brittle fracture

Adapted from Fig. 8.3, Callister 7e.

 Fatigue Fracture

• Fatigue fracture is defined as the fracture which takes place under

repeatedly applied stresses.
• It will occur at stresses well before the tensile strength of the materials.
• The tendency of fatigue fracture increases with the increase in
temperature and higher rate of straining.
• The fatigue fracture takes place due to the micro cracks at the surface
of the materials.
• It results in, to and fro motion of dislocations near the surface.
• The micro cracks act as the points of stress concentration.
• For every cycle of stress application the excessive stress helps to
propagate the crack.
• In ductile materials, the crack grows slowly and the fracture takes place
rapidly.
• But in brittle materials, the crack grows to a critical size and propagates
rapidly through the material.
 Creep Fracture

• Creep fracture is defined as the fracture which takes place due to

creeping of materials under steady loading.
• It occurs in metals like iron, copper & nickel at high temperatures. The
tendency of creep fracture increases with the increase in temperature
and higher rate of straining.
• The creep fracture takes place due to shearing of grain boundary at
moderate stresses and temperatures and movement of dislocation from
one slip to another at higher stresses and temperatures.
• The movement of whole grains relation of each other causes cracks along
the grain boundaries, which act as point of high stress concentration.
• When one crack becomes larger it spreads slowly across the member
until fracture takes place.
• This type of fracture usually occurs when small stresses are applied for a
longer period.
• The creep fracture is affected by grain size, strain hardening, heat
treatment and alloying.
 Griffith (1920)
• Griffith (1920), realized the significance of microcracks in
reducing the fracture strength

• Applied the mathematical work of Inglis (1913) for an elliptical

hole, and developed a theoretical criterion of rupture based on
the concept of minimum potential energy of classical mechanics
and thermodynamics which seeks a minimum total free energy
of a system
 Griffith Theory
• In the Griffith theory, the theoretical strength is the
microscopic fracture stress which is actually reached in a very
small volume of the rock while the mean stress may remain
very low

• Griffith's work, which has since been known as the Griffith

energy balance approach, and has served as a foundation for
fracture mechanics, deals with the equilibrium state of an
elastic, solid body, deformed by specified surface forces
 Griffith (1920) …
• Griffith extended the theorem of minimum energy by
accounting for the increase of surface energy which occurs
during formation of cracks

• He assumed that the equilibrium position is one in which

rupture of the solid occurs if the system is allowed to pass
from an unbroken to a broken state through a process
involving continuous reduction of potential energy
 Griffith (1920) …
• Griffith (1920) argued that brittle solids fail by incremental
propagation of a multitude of randomly-oriented, small pre-
existing cracks

• Griffith cracks are common in rocks and include intragranular

and intergranular microcracks (grain boundaries) and larger
transgranular cracks

• In a larger scale, the Griffith flaws include joints, faults, and

bedding planes
 Fracture Strength
• Brittle fracture strength depends largely on
the elastic properties of the elastic rock and
the length and sharpness of the flaws

• Stress concentrators such as low aspect ratio

cavities, inclusions, material property
mismatches, and fossils, give rise to tensile
stresses that may fracture rocks even when
applied stresses are compressive provided
they are non-hydrostatic
 Griffith (1920)
• The intensification of stress depends on the:

• Length and orientation of the crack with respect to the applied

stress

• Radius of curvature at their tips, rendering certain cracks more

vulnerable than others

• The propagation of these Griffith cracks involves the creation of two

new incremental crack surfaces which is a process that absorbs
energy
 Griffith (1920) …
• The creation of these new surfaces in the interior of a solid (by
crack propagation) leads to an increase in potential energy as
work must be done against the cohesive forces of the molecules
on either side of the crack

• The work is part of the potential surface energy of the system.

Thus bounding surfaces posses a surface tension and a
corresponding amount of potential energy
 Griffith Energy-Balance Concept

• If we subject the outer boundary of a rock to tension (such that

boundary moves out)

• This decreases the potential energy (i.e., dWR<0), of the loading

device (Fig. 3.2 Engelder).
R designates rock

• The work to propagate the crack is positive, and is defined as an

increase in surface energy (dUs)
 Griffith Energy-Balance Concept
• As the crack propagates, the rock undergoes a change in strain
energy (dUE).
• The total change in energy for crack propagation is:
UT = Us - WR + UE

• Griffith energy balance concept:

– Propagation occurs without changing the total
energy of the rock-crack system.
– i.e., for an increment of crack extension (dc),
d UT /dc = 0
 Griffith Energy-Balance Concept …

• This means that the mechanical and surface

energy terms within the rock-crack system
must balance

• The motion of the crack walls represents a

decrease in mechanical energy
– While work (as surface energy) must be done to
remove the restraints across crack increment
• UNIT III  FERROUS AND NON FERROUS METALS                                              

• Effect of alloying elements on steel (Mn, Si, Cr, Mo, V, Ti & W) - stainless and tool steels -
HSLA & maraging steels - Copper and its alloys - Brass, Bronze and Cupronickel –
Aluminium and its alloys – Bearing alloys.

• UNIT IV   MECHANICAL TESTING                            

• Mechanical properties - stress strain curve for ferrous and non-ferrous alloys - Mechanism
of plastic deformation, slip and twinning – types of fracture – Griffith theory - testing of
materials under tension, compression and shear loads – Hardness tests (Brinell, Rockwell
and Vickers) - Impact test (Izod and Charpy) - Fatigue and creep tests - fracture toughness
tests.
 TENSILE TEST
Mechanical properties that are important to a design
engineer differ from those that are of interest to the
manufacturing engineer.
• In design, mechanical properties such as elastic modulus
and yield strength are important in order to resist
permanent deformation under applied stresses. Thus, the
focus is on the elastic properties.
• In manufacturing, the goal is to apply stresses that exceed
the yield strength of the material so as to deform it to the
required shape. Thus, the focus is on the plastic
properties.
 TENSILE TEST
• The yield behavior of a material is determined
from the stress-strain relationship under an
applied state of stress (tensile, compressive or
shear).
• The test will be conducted in accordance with
the standards specified by the American
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM;
www.astm.org).
 TENSILE TEST
• An axial force applied to a specimen of original
length (lo) elongates it, resulting in a reduction
in the cross-sectional area from Ao to A until
fracture occurs.
• The load and change in length between two
fixed points (gauge length) is recorded and
used to determine the stress-strain
relationship.
TENSILE TEST
TENSILE TEST
TENSILE TEST
 TENSILE TEST
• Step 1: Original shape and size of the specimen
with no load.
• Step 2: Specimen undergoing uniform elongation.
• Step 3: Point of maximum load and ultimate
tensile strength.
• Step 4: The onset of necking (plastic instability).
• Step 5: Specimen fractures.
• Step 6: Final length.
 TENSILE TEST
Primary Test Output:
The primary output from a tensile test is the
load vs. elongation curve of the specimen,
which is recorded in real-time using a load cell
and an extensometer. This curve is then used
to determine two types of stress-strain curves:
– Engineering stress-strain.
– True stress-strain.
 TENSILE TEST

L
 TENSILE TEST
Engineering Stress and Strain:
• These quantities are defined relative to the
original area and length of the specimen.
• The engineering stress (e) at any point is
defined as the ratio of the instantaneous load or
force (F) and the original area (Ao).
• The engineering strain (e) is defined as the ratio
of the change in length (L-Lo) and the original
length (Lo). L  L0
F e
e  L0
Ao
 TENSILE TEST
• Engineering Stress Strain Curve:
• The engineering stress-strain curve (e- e) is
obtained from the load-elongation curve.
• The yield point, called the yield strength (Y),
signifies the start of the plastic region.
TENSILE TEST
 TENSILE TEST
• It is very difficult to find the actual yield strength
experimentally. Instead, we use a 0.2% offset yield strength.
• 0.2% offset yield strength is the point on the curve which is
offset by a strain of 0.2% (0.002) [the intersection of the curve
with a line parallel to the linear elastic line and is offset by a
strain of 0.002]
• The stress at maximum (Fmax/Ao) is referred to as the
Ultimate Tensile Strength (TS) and signifies:
– the end of uniform elongation.
– the start of localized necking i.e. plastic instability.
 TENSILE TEST
Ductility:
• Ductility can be defined as the amount of
deformation or strain that the material can
withstand before failure. For metal forming
processes, increasing the ductility increases
the material formability .
• In general, the ductility of the specimen is
defined in terms of the elongation (EL) or the
area reduction (AR) before fracture, i.e.:
 TENSILE TEST
True Stress and Strain:
• The true stress () uses the instantaneous or
actual area of the specimen at any given point,
as opposed to the original area used in the
engineering values.

F

A
 TENSILE TEST
• The true strain (ε) is defined as the
instantaneous elongation per unit length of
the specimen.
L
dL L
   ln
Lo
L L o
TENSILE TEST
TENSILE TEST

Load indicator

Clamps to hold
the specimen

Machine dial

Unload Lever

Load Lever
 TENSILE TEST
Load Vs. Elongation
12000

10000

8000
Load (lb)

6000

4000

2000

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4

Elongation (in.)
 TENSILE TEST
Engineering Stress vs. Engineering Strain
60000

50000
Engineering Stress (psi)

40000

30000

20000

10000

0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
Engineering Strain (in/in)
 TENSILE TEST
True Stress vs. True Strain

60000

50000

40000
True Stress (psi)

30000

20000

10000

0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18

True Strain (in/in)

TENSILE TEST
TENSILE TEST
 TENSILE TEST
• Necking: The localized decrease in diameter in a
specimen near the rupture point.

• Elastic Deformation Region: The area of a

stress - strain curve where the specimen will deform
under load, yet return to its original shape when the load
is removed.

• Plastic Deformation: Deformation that occurs once

the object has been stressed past its elastic limit. The
deformation is no longer reversible.
Necking

Necking” occurs as
the sample leaves
the elastic
deformation region
and begins to
deform plastically.
The classic cup &
cone shape of a
fairly ductile tensile
fracture is visible
here.
Upon completion of the test, the sample is
reassembled and final measurements for total
elongation and minimum diameter are made
using a vernier caliper.
For maximum precision, the points of the vernier
caliper must be placed exactly at the center of the
marks made by the punch prior to the test.
Compare the material properties of
these three metal samples.

All three failed under tension

 PLASTIC DEFORMATION REGION

ELASTIC DEFORMATION REGION

The point of departure from the elastic
deformation region is known as the “yield
point.”

In the elastic region, the slope of this

line is the material’s Modulus of
Elasticity.
Stress - Strain Plot
Comparative Stress-Strain
Stress strain diagram for brittle materials

• Brittle material :
The rupture occurs
along a surface
perpendicular to
the loading plane.
For ex: glass,
stone, normal
concrete,
aluminum.
 Tensile Strength

Tensile strength = Maximum Load

Cross section area

Maximum load is the highest point on the graph.

Often called Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS)

 Modulus of Elasticity
Modulus of Elasticity -A measure of a materials ability to regain its
original dimensions after the removal of a load or force. The
modulus is the slope of the straight line portion of the stress-strain
diagram up to the proportional limit.

Proportional / Elastic Limit Calculation

Stress (S) psi

Slope E = (F1 -F2)Lo / (1 - 2)A

Graph

Strain () in/in

 Breaking/Rupture Stress
Breaking/Rupture Stress - The maximum amount of stress
that can be applied before rupture occurs. The material
fractures in the necking region where the material reduces in
diameter as the material elongates.
Necking Region

Rupture Point
Stress (S) psi

Graph

Strain () in/in

 Modulus of Resilience
Modulus of Resilience -A measure of a materials ability to
absorb energy up to the elastic limit. This modulus is
represented by the area under the stress versus strain curve
from zero force to the elastic limit.
Elastic Region

Calculation
Ur = 1/2 (yp)( yp)
Elastic Limit
Stress (S) psi

Graph

Strain () in/in

 Modulus of Toughness
Modulus of Toughness -A measure of a materials ability to
plastically deform without fracturing. Work is performed by the
material absorbing energy by the blow or deformation. This
measurement is equal to the area under the stress versus strain
curve from its origin through the rupture point.
Plastic Region

Calculation:

Ut = 1/3(Br) (yp + 2ult)

Graph
Stress (S) psi

Strain () in/in

 Calculation Page
Total Strain/ Deformation -The total amount of
elongation of a sample to rupture normalized(divided
by) by the initial length.
Calculation: total = total/Lo
Ductility:The ability of a material to be deformed
plastically without rupture.
Calculation: % Elongation =  total(100)

Calculations:
% Reduction in area = Aoriginal - A final / A original (100)
 APPLICATION
• Aerospace Industry
• Shear and tensile strength testing of fasteners
e.g. Bolts, nuts and screws

• Textiles Industry
• 'Pull-off' characteristics of buttons, stitched-on
decorations, press studs, zip fasteners, hook-
and-loop fasteners
 Benefits of Tensile Testing

• Benefits of Tensile Testing

• The data produced in a tensile test can be
used in many ways including:
• To determine batch quality
• To determine consistency in manufacture
• To aid in the design process
• To reduce material costs and achieve lean
manufacturing goals
 Hardness

The Metals Handbook defines hardness as

Resistance of metal to plastic deformation,
usually by indentation.

OR

The dictionary of Metallurgy defines the

hardness as the resistance of a material to
indentation.
 Hardness

• Hardness is the resistance of material to permanent

deformation of the surface. It is the property of a metal,
which gives it the ability to resist being permanently
deformed (bent, broken or shape change), when a load is
applied.
• The hardness of a surface of the material is, a direct result of
inter atomic forces acting on the surface of the material.
• Hardness is not a fundamental property of a material, but a
combined effect of compressive, elastic and plastic properties
relative to the mode of penetration, shape of penetration etc.
• The main usefulness of hardness is, it has a constant
relationship to the tensile strength of a given material and so
can be used as a practical non-destructive test .

165
 Hardness Measurement
• Hardness measurement can be in Macro, Micro &
nano – seale according to the forces applied and
displacements obtained.
• Measurement of the Macro-hardness of materials is
a quick and simple method of obtaining mechanical
property data.
• The Macro-hardness measurement will be highly
variable and will not identify individual surface
features. It is here that micro-hardness
measurements are appropriate.

166
 Hardness Measurement

• Micro hardness is the hardness of a material as determined by

forcing an indenter into the surface of the material under
load, usually the indentations are so small that they must be
measured with a microscope.
• Micro hardness measurements are capable of determines the
hardness of different micro constituent with in a structure.
• Nano hardness tests measure hardness by using indenter, on
the order of nano scale.
• These tests are based one new technology that allows precise
measurement and control of the indenting forces and precise
measurement of the indentation depth.

167
 Hardness Measurement Methods

• There are several methods of hardness testing, depending

either on the direct thrust of some form of penetrator into
the metal surface, or on the ploughing of the surface as a
styles is drawn across it under a controlled load, or on the
measurement of elastic rebound of an impacting hammer
which possessing known energy.
• Measurements of hardness are the easiest to make and are
widely used for industrial design and in research.
• As compared to other mechanical tests, where the bulk of the
material is involved in testing, all hardness tests are made on
the surface or close to it.

168
 Hardness Measurement Methods

The following are the hardness test methods

• Rockwell hardness test
• Brinell hardness
• Vickers
• Knoop hardness
• shore

169
 Hardness Measurement Methods

• Brinell, Rockwell and Vickers hardness tests are used to

determine hardness of metallic materials to check quality
level of products, for uniformity of sample of metals, for
uniformity of results of heat treatment.
• The relative micro hardness of a material is determined by the
knoop indentation test.
• The shore scleroscope measures hardness in terms of the
elasticity of the material.
• Brinell hardness number is the hardness index calculated by
pressing a hardened steel ball (indenter) into test specimen
under standardized load.

170
 Hardness Measurement Methods

• The rock well hardness is another index which widely used by engineers.
• This index number is measured by the depth of penetration by a small
indenter.
• By selecting different loads and shapes of indenter, different Rockwell
scales have been developed.
• The value of Brinell hardness number is related to tensile strength.

171
 Hardness Measurement Methods
• The mechanism of indentation in all indentation tests is that
when the indenter is pressed into the surface under a static load,
a large amount of plastic deformation takes place.
• The materials thus deformed flows out in all directions.
• As a result of plastic flow, sometimes the material in contact with
the indenter produces a ridge around the impression.
• Large amount of plastic deformation are accompanied by large
amount of transient creep which vary with the material and time
of testing.
• Transient creep takes place rapidly at first and more slowly as it
approaches its maximum.
• For harder materials, the time required for reaching maximum
deformation is short (few seconds) and for soft materials the
time required to produce the derived indentation is
unreasonably long up to a few minutes.
• Hardness of materials is of importance for dies and punches,
limit gauges, cutting tools bearing surfaces etc.
172
 Introduction to hardness testing..

Hardness has variety of meanings

• Metal Industry resistance to

• Metallurgist resistance to penetration
• Mineralogist resistance to scratching
• Machinist resistance to machining
 Purpose of hardness testing

• The principal purpose of hardness test is to

determine the suitability of a material for a
given application.

• The ease with which the hardness test is

performed has made it the most common
method of inspection for metals and alloys.
 General types of hardness testing…..
• Current practice in USA divides hardness testing into two
categories:
• Macrohardness:
Refers to testing with applied loads on the indenter of
more than 1 kg and material being tested are tools, dies and
sheet material in the heavier gages(in large scale)

• Microhardness:
Refers to testing with applied loads are 1 kg or below, and
material being tested is very thin (down to 0.0125 mm or
0.0005 inch).
Brinell hardness testing
INTRODUCTION:

A Swedish, J.A.Brinell, announced Brinell

hardness test. He pressed an indenter with a
hard ball to the surface of a metal. During
testing period, the weights were maintained
constant in indicated time. A low-order
microscope measured the diameters of
indentations. The values of diameters will be
transferred respectively into the value of
Brinell hardness, HB value.
 Standard procedure..
• That the test be made with a ball
of 10 mm diameter under a load
of 3,000 kg for ferrous metals the
loaded ball is pressed into the
specimen for at least 10s.
• But for non-ferrous these
parameter are different in which
load of 500 kg is applied for 30s.
 Contd…..
• The diameter of the impression produced is
measured by means of a microscope containing an
ocular scale, usually graduated in tenths of a
millimeter, permitting estimate to the nearest 0.05
mm.
 Brinell hardness number
The Brinell hardness
number, or simply the
Brinell number, is obtained
by dividing the load used,
in kilograms, by the actual
surface area of the
indentation, in square
millimeters.
 
BHN = the Brinell hardness number 
     F = the imposed load in kg 
     D = the diameter of the spherical indenter in mm 
    Di = diameter of the resulting indenter impression in mm
A well structured Brinell hardness number
reveals the test conditions, and looks like
this, "75 HB 10/500/30" which means that
a Brinell Hardness of 75 was obtained using
a 10mm diameter hardened steel with a
500 kilogram load applied for a period of 30
seconds.
Rockwell hardness
testing
INTRODUCTION:

S.P. Rockwell announced hardness test in

1919. In the United States; however, it was used
to practical by C.H. Wilson.

Different weights composed of different material

indenters will inspire various usages. There are
two kinds of indenters, one is with a steel head
and the other is with a diamond head. Rockwell
hardness test is the most popular hardness test
nowadays.
 Types of Rockwell testing
• Rockwell testing:
In Rockwell testing the minor load is 10 kg and
major load (60, 100, or 150 kg) is used
regardless of the type of indenter.

• Rockwell superficial testing:

In Rockwell superficial testing minor load is 3
kg and major loads (15, 30 or 45 kg) are used.
 TEST PROCEDURE
• Apply a minor load of 10 kg.
• Then the dial is set to zero and then major load is applied.
• Then apply major load 60 to 150 kg according to the scale
used for 4 to 5 seconds.
• Release the major load only.
• Machine will show the Rockwell Hardness Number HR on
the machine.
• All these operation will be done by machine automatically.
• 100 number means most hard and 0 means least hard
 Typical HB values
Material Hardness

Softwood (e.g., pine) 1.6 HBS 10/100

Hardwood 2.6–7.0 HBS 1.6 10/100
Aluminum 15 HB
Copper 35 HB
Mild steel 120 HB
18-8 (304) stainless steel annealed 200 HB
Glass 1550 HB
Hardened tool steel 1500–1900 HB
Rhenium diboride 4600 HB
 Rockwell test principle..

• It consists of measuring the additional

depth of heavy load indenter beyond the
depth of previously applied light load
(minor).
TIP PANETRATION ROCKWELL HARDNESS
TESTER
 Types of indenters used

• Diamond cone
indenters are used
for testing hard
materials such as
hardened steel and
cemented carbides.

• Hardened steel
ball indenter are
used for testing
softer materials such
 Rockwell Hardness Scales
Scale Code Load Indenter Use

Tungsten
A HRA 60 kgf 120° diamond cone carbide

Al, brass, and

B HRB 100 kgf 1/16 in diameter steel sphere soft steels

C HRC 150 kgf 120° diamond cone Harder steels

D HRD 100 kgf 120° diamond cone

E HRE 100 kgf 1/8 in diameter steel sphere

F HRF 60 kgf 1/16 in diameter steel sphere

G HRG 150 kgf 1/16 in diameter steel sphere

 Conversion/Comparison
Tensile
HBW Strength
10/3000 HRA 60KG HRB 100KG HRC 150KG (Approx)
638 80.8 - 59.2 329,000
578 79.1 - 56 297,000
461 74.9 - 48.5 235,000
375 70.6 - 40.4 188,000
311 66.9 - 33.1 155,000
241 61.8 100 22.8 118,000
207 - 94.6 16 100,000
179 - 89 - 87,000
149 - 80.8 - 73,000
111 - 65.7 - 56,000
Advantages of Rockwell hardness testing:
• The most widely used method for determining
hardness.
• Simple to perform
• Highly skilled operators are not required.
• Different types of loads and indenters can be
used.
• The entire operation completes within 10 sec.
• Results are displayed digitally on the screen
 Precautions
• During manual operation, the work piece
should be raised very slowly with the screw as
it approaches the indenter.
• The surface being tested must be
perpendicular to the direction of the force on
the indenter within 2-5 degree.
• Careless operation in applying load, not only
result in accurate reading but can damage the
indenter.
 Vickers hardness test

• Uses square shaped pyramid

indentor.

• Accurate results.

• Measures length of diagonal

on indentation.

• Usually used on very hard

materials
 Impact Tests
• Toughness of metals is the ability to withstand
impact.
 Impact Strength

• Impact strength is the resistance of a material to

fracture under dynamic load.
• It is a complex characteristic which takes into account
both the toughness and strength of a material.
• In S.I. units the impact strength is expressed in Mega
Newton per m2 (MN/m2).
• It is defined as the specific work required to fracture
a test specimen with a stress concentrator in the
mid when broken by a single blow of striker in
pendulum type impact testing machine.

195
 Impact Strength

• Impact strength is the ability of the material to absorb energy

during plastic deformation.
• Brittleness of a material is an inverse function of its impact
strength.
• Course grain structures and precipitation of brittle layers at
the grain boundaries do not appreciably change the
mechanical properties in static tension, but substantially
reduce the impact strength.

196
 Impact Strength

• Impact strength is affected by the rate of loading,

temperature and presence of stress raisers in the materials.
• It is also affected by variation in heat treatment, alloy
content, sulphur and phosphorus content of the material.
• Impact strength is determined by using the notch-bar impact
tests on a pendulum type impact testing machine.
• This further helps to study the effect of stress concentration
and high velocity load application.

197
 Izod test
• Strikes at 167 Joules.

• Test specimen is held

vertically.

• Notch faces striker.

 Charpy impact test
• Strikes form higher position
with 300 Joules.

• Test specimen is held

horizontally.

• Notch faces away from

striker.
 Factors affecting Impact strength

• If the dimensions of the specimen are increased, the impact

strength also increases.
• When the sharpness of the notch increase, the impact
strength required causing failure decreases.
• The temperature of the specimen under test gives an
indication about the type of fractures like ductile, brittle or
ductile to brittle transition.
• The angle of the notch also improves impact-strength after
certain values.
• The velocity of impact also affects impact strength to some
extent.

Unit V Lecturer3 201

 Fatigue
Fatigue is the lowering of strength or failure of a material due to
repetitive stress, which may be above or below the yield strength.
Many engineering materials such as those used in cars, planes,
turbine engines, machinery, shoes, etc are subjected constantly to
repetitive stresses in the form of tension, compression, bending,
vibration, thermal expansion and contraction or other stresses.
At a local size scale, the stress intensity exceeds the yield strength.
For fatigue to occur at least part of the stress in the material has to be
tensile.
Fatigue is most common in metals and plastics, whereas ceramics fail
catastrophically without fatigue because of their low fracture
toughness.
 Fatigue
Many components fail by fatigue when subjected to cyclic loads,
which generate nominal stresses below the static ultimate stress
of the material.
Fatigue occurs because each half stress cycle produces minute
strains, which are not recoverable.
When these minute strains are added, they produce local plastic
strains, which are sufficient to cause submicroscopic cracks.
These small cracks act as stress intensifiers so that the local stress in
the region of the crack can exceed the stress to propagate the
crack.
The crack grows, often over a long period, until the cross sectional
area is lowered below the limit to support a stress that can cause
catastrophic fracture (the Griffith relationship)
The presence of a notch or other stress intensifiers can act as a
starting point for the process of fatigue.
 Fatigue – 3 Stages
There are typically three stages to fatigue failure.
First a small crack is initiated or nucleates at the surface and
can include scratches, pits, sharp corners due to poor design
or manufacture, inclusions, grain boundaries or dislocation
concentrations.
Second the crack gradually propagates as the load continues to
cycle.
Thirdly, a sudden fracture of the material occurs when the
remaining cross-section of the material is too small to
support the applied load.
 Fatigue
Fatigue failures are often easy to identify.
The fracture surface near the origin is usually smooth. The surface becomes
rougher as the crack increases in size.
Microscopic and macroscopic examination reveal a beach mark pattern and
striations.
Beach mark patterns indicate that the load is changed during service or the
load is intermittent.
Markings are on a much finer scale and show the position of the crack tip
after each cycle.
 Fatigue
The most important fatigue data for engineering designs are the
S-N curves, which is the Stress-Number of Cycles curves.
In a fatigue test, a specimen is subjected to a cyclic stress of a
certain form and amplitude and the number of cycles to failure is
determined.
In a rotating beam fatigue testing machine, the specimen is bent as
it rotates.
The reduced middle section of the specimen alternates between
states of tensile and compressive stress. How is this misalignment
compensated in a car’s
driveshaft?

This often happens in rotating shafts used in motors.

 The S-N Curve
Results of fatigue tests are presented as plots of nominal cyclic stress,
S, versus number of cycles to failure, N.

At a nominal stress equal to the ultimate stress, the component will

fail after the first half cycle.
At a nominal stress below the yield strength, the number of cycles to
failure is relatively large but still finite.
In iron-based materials, there is a nominal stress below which fatigue
does not occur during “normal” life times, the endurance limit,
which is used as a design parameter.
The S-N curves for a tool steel and an aluminum alloy showing the number of cycles to
failure
Al does not show a fatigue limit but continuously decreases.

For materials, which do not show a endurance limit such as Al, Cu,
and Mg (non-ferrous alloys), fatigue strength is specified as
the stress level at which failure will occur for a specified
number of cycles, where 107 cycles is often used.
 Fatigue
Fatigue Limit:
• For some materials such as steels and Ti alloys, the S-N curves
become horizontal when the stress amplitude is decreased to a
certain level.
• This stress level is called the Fatigue Limit, or Endurance
Limit, which is typically ~35-60% of the tensile strength for
steels.
• In some materials, including steels, the endurance limit is
approximately half the tensile strength given by:
endurance limit
Endurance ratio   0.5
tensile strength
 Example of Surface Stress Raiser on S-N Curve

The endurance limit is sensitive to the size of the stress raiser that
may exist in the material.
The endurance limit decreases as the size of the stress raiser
decreases (radius of crack), which agrees with the increase in the
concentrated stress as the crack radius decreases.

 c   n 1  2 c/r 
 Fatigue Failures
Types of stresses for fatigue tests include,
1) axial (tension – compression)
2) flexural (bending)
3) torsional (twisting)
From these tests the following data is generated.
 max   min
Mean Stress,  m 
2
 max   min
Stress Amplitude,  a 
2
Stress Range,  r   max   min
 min
Stress Ratio, R 
 max
By convention, tensile stresses are positive and compression
stresses are negative.
 Fatigue Failures

Examples of stress cycles

where a) shows the stress a
in compression and
tension, b) shows there’s
greater tensile stress than
compressive stress and in b
c) all of the stress is
tensile.

c
 Fatigue Failures
As the mean stress increases, the stress amplitude must decrease
in order for the material to withstand the applied stress. This
condition is summarized by the Goodman relationship:
  m 
Stress Amplitude,  a   fs 1   
   TS 
Where sfs is the desired fatique strength for zero mean stress, sm
and sTS is the tensile strength of the material.
Example, if an airplane wing is loaded near its yield strength,
vibrations of even a small amplitude may cause a fatigue crack
to initiate and grow. This is why aircraft have a routine
inspection in order to detect the high-stress regions for cracks.
 Fatigue Failures
Crack Growth Rate
To estimate whether a crack will grow, the stress intensity factor (DK), can
determine the crack geometry and the stress amplitude to be used.
Below a threshold DK a crack doesn’t grow.
For somewhat higher stress intensities, the cracks grow slowly.
For still higher stress-intensities a crack
grows at a rate given by:

da
 C K 
n

dN
Where C and n are empirical
constants that depend on
the material.
When DK is high, the cracks
grow in a rapid and
unstable manner until
fracture occurs.
 Fatigue Failures
From the steady state crack growth relationship of
da
 C K 
n

dN
if we integrate between the initial size of a crack and the crack
size required for fracture to occur, we find that the number
of cycles to failure, N, is given by

N

2 (ac ) ( 2 n ) / 2  (ai ) ( 2 n ) / 2 
n n n/2
(2  n)Cf  
where C and n are empirical constants that depend on the
material.
 Fatigue
Failure under fluctuating stress

Under fluctuating / cyclic stresses, failure can occur at

lower loads than under a static load.

90% of all failures of metallic structures (bridges,

aircraft, machine components, etc.)

Fatigue failure is brittle-like –

even in normally ductile materials. Thus sudden and
catastrophic!

216
 Fatigue: Cyclic Stresses
Characterized by maximum, minimum and mean
Range of stress, stress amplitude, and stress ratio

Mean stress m = (max + min) / 2

Range of stress r = (max - min)
Stress amplitude a = r/2 = (max - min) / 2
Stress ratio R = min / max

Convention: tensile stresses  positive

compressive stresses  negative
217
 Fatigue: S—N curves (I)

Rotating-bending test  S-N curves

S (stress) vs. N (number of cycles to

failure)

Low cycle fatigue: small # of cycles

high loads, plastic and elastic deformation

High cycle fatigue: large # of cycles

low loads, elastic deformation (N > 105)

218
 Fatigue: S—N curves (II)

Fatigue limit (some Fe and Ti alloys)

S—N curve becomes horizontal at large N
Stress amplitude below which the material
never fails, no matter how large the number
of cycles is
219
 Fatigue: S—N curves (III)

Most alloys: S decreases with N.

Fatigue strength: Stress at which fracture
occurs after specified number of cycles (e.g.
107)
Fatigue life: Number of cycles to fail at
specified stress level
220
 Fatigue: Crack initiation+ propagation (I)
Three stages:
1. crack initiation in the areas of stress
concentration (near stress raisers)
2. incremental crack propagation
3. rapid crack propagation after crack
reaches critical size
The total number of cycles to failure is the sum of
cycles at the first and the second stages:

Nf = Ni + Np
Nf : Number of cycles to failure
Ni : Number of cycles for crack initiation
Np : Number of cycles for crack propagation

High cycle fatigue (low loads): Ni is relatively high.

With increasing stress level, Ni decreases and Np
dominates 221
 Fatigue: Crack initiation and propagation (II)

 Crack initiation: Quality of surface and

sites of stress concentration
(microcracks, scratches, indents, interior
corners, dislocation slip steps, etc.).
 Crack propagation
 I: Slow propagation
along crystal planes with
high resolved shear
stress. Involves a few
grains.
Flat fracture surface
 II: Fast propagation
perpendicular to applied
stress.
Crack grows by repetitive
blunting and sharpening
process at crack tip.
Rough fracture surface.
 Crack eventually reaches critical dimension
and propagates very rapidly 222
 Factors that affect fatigue life
 Magnitude of stress
 Quality of the surface

Solutions:
 Polish surface
 Introduce compressive stresses (compensate for
applied tensile stresses) into surface layer.
Shot Peening -- fire small shot into surface
High-tech - ion implantation, laser
peening.
 Case Hardening: Steel - create C- or N- rich
outer layer by atomic diffusion from surface
Harder outer layer introduces
compressive stresses
 Optimize geometry
Avoid internal corners, notches etc.

223
 Factors affecting fatigue life
Environmental effects
 Thermal Fatigue. Thermal cycling causes
expansion and contraction, hence thermal
stress.
Solutions:
 change design!
 use materials with low thermal
expansion coefficients

 Corrosion fatigue. Chemical reactions induce

pits which act as stress raisers. Corrosion also
enhances crack propagation.
Solutions:
 decrease corrosiveness of medium
 add protective surface coating
 add residual compressive stresses

224
 Fatigue
• Fatigue is due to the repeated loading and unloading.
• When a material is subjected to a force acting in different
directions at different times it can cause cracking. In time this
causes the material to fail at a load that is much less than its
tensile strength, this is fatigue failure. Vibration for example
is a serious cause of fatigue failure.

• Fatigue can be prevented with good design practice.

1. A smooth surface finish reduces the chance of surface
cracking.
2. Sharp corners should be avoided.
3. Corrosion should be avoided as this can cause fatigue cracks.
• High Temp Behavior of Materials:
Mechanical degradation
Chemical Degradation

• Gas Turbine and jet Turbine

• Nuclear reactors
• Power plants
• Spacecraft
• Chemical processing
 Creep
• When a weight is hung from a piece of lead
and left for a number of days the lead will
stretch. This is said to be creep.
• Problems with creep increase when the
materials are subject to high temperature
or the materials themselves have low
melting points such as lead.
• Creep can cause materials to fail at a stress
well below their tensile strength.
 Creep
• When a material is loaded below the yield stress
point for a long period of time, it may incur
plastic deformation.
• When the material is stretched below the yield
point at increased temperatures creep will
develop over several stages.
• The temperature level at which creep will initiate
depends on the alloy
– For aluminum, creep may start at approx. 200°C and
for low alloying steel at approx. 370°C
• Creep is the tendency of a solid material to slowly deform
permanently under the influence of stresses. It occurs as a
result of long term exposure to levels of stress that are below
the yield strength of the material. Creep is more severe in
materials that are subjected to heat for long periods, and near
the melting point. Creep always increases with temperature.
• The rate of this deformation is a function of the material
properties, exposure time, exposure temperature and the
applied structural load. Depending on the magnitude of the
applied stress and its duration, the deformation may
become so large that a component can no longer perform its
function — for example creep of a turbine blade will cause
the blade to contact the casing, resulting in the failure of the
blade.
• Creep is usually of concern to engineers and
metallurgists when evaluating components that
operate under high stresses or high temperatures.

• Creep is a deformation mechanism that may or may

not constitute a failure mode. Moderate creep in
concrete is sometimes welcomed because it relieves
tensile stresses that might otherwise lead to
cracking.
 Creep
Time-dependent deformation due to
constant load at high temperature
(> 0.4 Tm)
Examples: turbine blades, steam generators.
Creep test:

Furnace

231
 Creep Machine

Initial position Length of specimen has increased

from L0 to L1.

Creep machine with variable lever arms to ensure constant stress on

specimen; note that l2 decreases as the length of the specimen
increases.
 Stages of creep

1. Instantaneous deformation, mainly elastic.

2. Primary/transient creep. Slope of strain vs.
time decreases with time: work-hardening
3. Secondary/steady-state creep. Rate of
straining constant: work-hardening and
recovery.
4. Tertiary. Rapidly accelerating strain rate up
to failure: formation of internal cracks, voids,
grain boundary separation, necking, etc. 233
Creep
 Parameters of creep behavior
Secondary/steady-state creep:
Longest duration
Long-life applications
 s   / t

Time to rupture ( rupture lifetime, tr):

Important for short-life creep

/t

t
r
235
 Creep: stress and temperature effects

With increasing stress or temperature:

 The instantaneous strain increases
 The steady-state creep rate increases
 The time to rupture decreases

236
 Creep: stress and temperature effects
Stress/temperature dependence of the steady-state
creep rate can be described by

 Q 
 s  K 2  n exp  c 
 RT 
Qc = activation energy for creep
K2 and n are material constants

237
 Mechanisms of Creep
Different mechanisms act in different materials and
under different loading and temperature conditions:

 Stress-assisted vacancy diffusion

 Grain boundary diffusion
 Grain boundary sliding
 Dislocation motion

Different mechanisms  different n, Qc.

Grain boundary diffusion Dislocation glide and climb

238
 Alloys for High-Temperatures
(turbines in jet engines, hypersonic
airplanes, nuclear reactors, etc.)

Creep minimized in materials with

 High melting temperature
 High elastic modulus
 Large grain sizes
(inhibits grain boundary sliding)
Following materials are especially resilient to
creep:
 Stainless steels
 Refractory metals (containing elements of
high melting point, like Nb, Mo, W, Ta)
 “Superalloys” (Co, Ni based: solid
solution hardening and secondary phases)

239
Fracture Toughness Test
 What is Fracture Toughness??
• Toughness is the resistance of a material to the
propagation of crack.
• Assumes that a sample of material contains a small
sharp crack (i.e. so small it doesn’t really reduce the
cross sectional area, s = P/A).
• FRACTURE TOUGHNESS, K1c, is the key material
property!!
• Fracture toughness, K1c, is measured in the lab using
compact fracture specimens – see samples.
 Fracture Toughness versus Strength:
• Strength is resistance to plastic flow and thus is related to the
stress required to move dislocations through the solid. The
initial strength is called the yield strength. Strength generally
increases with plastic strain because of work hardening,
reaching a maximum at the tensile strength. The tensile
strength is related to the strength of atomic bonds.
• Toughness is the resistance of a material to the propagation
of a crack. A material with low fracture toughness, if it
contains a crack, may fail before it yields. A tough material
will yield, work harden even when cracked – the crack makes
no significant difference.
What happens to a material with a small crack?

Yields then work Get high stress around

hardens, absorb crack, crack propogates
What happens and get sudden failure.
energy and
when you nick a Stress around crack is
redistribute stress.
brittle material?? In other words, high due to Kt , but
crack makes no nominal stress is much
significant lower than material yield
difference! strength!
 Ductile Fracture:

Stages of ductile fracture:

b. Plastic def’m when stress exceeds
yield.
c. Weaken and fail locally due to
A plastic zone forms at the crack tip where the stress inclusions which act as stress
would otherwise exceed the yield strength σy.
concentrations – this creates tiny voids.
Voids continue to grow and coalesce to
form larger voids.
d. Remaining area gets smaller increasing
stress until tensile strength is exceeded
then fracture.
 Motivation for Fracture Mechanics
• Very hard (if not impossible) to build a structure that is defect
free (completely without cracks).
– Cracks already in material (inclusions or voids).
– Cracks caused by shrinkage in castings and welding.
– Cracks caused by machining.
– Cracks caused by cyclic loading (fatigue).
– Cracks caused by corrosion.
• Are we all doomed to mega disasters???
• KEY – DAMAGE TOLERANT DESIGN – THE MATERIAL
MUST HAVE SUFFICIENT FRACTURE TOUGHNESS SO
A NOTICEABLE CRACK CAN BE DETECTED BEFORE
FAILURE. THIS IS THE BASES OF DAMAGE
TOLERANT DESIGN – EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR
AERSOPACE INDUSTRY.
 Brittle Behavior Causes:
• Boilers to burst
• Bridges to collapse
• Aircraft to crash
• Pipes to split
• CATASTROPHIC FAILURES
 Tests for Toughness:

(a) The tear test. (b) The impact test. Both are used as acceptance tests and for
quality control, but neither measures a true material property (one that is independent of size and shape).

To get at the real, underlying material properties we need the ideas of

stress intensity and fracture toughness!!
 The Mechanics of Fracture

 c 
 local   1  Y 

 2r 
Far from the crack where r >>
c, the local stress falls to the
value of s.
Near the crack r << c, the
local stress rises sharply as:

 c
 local
Lines of force in a cracked body under load; the local stress is proportional to
the number of lines per unit length, increasing steeply as the crack tip is Y
approached.
2r
 The Mechanics of Fracture
 c
 local Y
2r

So, for a given value of r, the local stress scales as  c

Which there fore is a measure of the intensity of the local stress.

This quantity is called the mode 1 stress intensity factor (the ‘mode 1’
means tensile fracture and is given the symbol K1.

K1  Y c
 The Mechanics of Fracture

K1  Y c = mode 1 stress
intensity factor

Constant
Average stress (i.e.
depending on Crack size
away from crack)
geometry/loading

Failure when K1 = K1c where K1c

is a material property called
fracture toughness.
 The Mechanics of Fracture

K1  Y c = mode 1 stress
intensity factor

Constant
Average stress (i.e.
depending on Crack size
away from crack)
geometry/loading

Failure when K1 = K1c where K1c

is a material property called
fracture toughness.
 Mode 1 Stress intensities K1 associated with short cracks.
In all cases, c << w.

K1   c

K1  1.1 c

K1  p c

FL
K1  3 2 c
bw

K1  0.7 c
Internal penny shaped crack
Again, Failure when:

K1  Y c  K1c

K1c Failure stress at which fracture will occur.

f  For small cracks, failure will be yield not
c fracture – check both!!!!

K12c Transition fro failure due to fracture vs

ccrit  failure due to yield will occur at ccrit.
 y2 Cracks < ccrit will yield
Cracks > ccrit will fracture

Think!
 K12c
ccrit 
 y2

Failure by yield Failure by

fracture
Summary:
 How to measure fracture toughness, K1c

Measuring fracture toughness, K1c. Two test configurations

are shown here. Again, fracture toughness is a material property not to be confused with impact.
A chart of fracture toughness Klc and modulus E.
The contours show the toughness, Gc.
A chart of fracture toughness K1c and yield strength σy.
The contours show the transition crack size, c crit.
 Damage-tolerant Design

FUNCTION AND CONSTRAINTS MAXIMISE [1]

TIES (tensile member)
Maximize flaw tolerance and strength, load-controlled design KIC and σf

Maximize flaw tolerance and strength, displacement-control KIC / E and σf

Maximize flaw tolerance and strength, energy-control KIC2 / E and σf

SHAFTS (loaded in torsion)

Maximize flaw tolerance and strength, load-controlled design KIC and σf

Maximize flaw tolerance and strength, displacement-control KIC / E and σf

Maximize flaw tolerance and strength, energy-control KIC2 / E and σf

BEAMS (loaded in bending)

Maximize flaw tolerance and strength, load-controlled design KIC and σf

Maximize flaw tolerance and strength, displacement-control KIC / E and σf

Maximize flaw tolerance and strength, energy-control KIC2 / E and σf

PRESSURE VESSEL
Yield-before-break KIC / σf

Leak-before-break KIC2 / σf

1.KIC = fracture toughness; E = Young's modulus; σf = failure strength (the yield strength for metals and ductile polymers, the tensile strength for ceramics,

glasses and brittle polymers loaded in tension; the flexural strength or modulus of rupture for materials loaded in bending).