Stress and Strain of Materials

Lizi Sironic, John Forsythe, Andrew Rodda

 Axial Loads
A member that experiences axial compression is called a strut or column.
A member that experiences axial tension is called a tie.

A tie/strut/column can act alone or as a component in another structural

form such as a truss, or tensegrity structures.
 Ductile .vs. Brittle behaviour

reinforcing
stress steel
Steel and Aluminium are Ductile.

Cast & Wrought Iron and Glass are Brittle.

mild steel
cast iron Concrete is brittle, but Reinforced
concrete is ductile.
aluminium

Ductile Materials are generally

strain
preferred when building Structures
 Design criteria for tension loading
Load or
Stress ultimate
tensile
stress

Strain x Simplified bi-linear

hardening
Yield stress, y
stress-strain curve
yield plateau
Deformation
linear or Strain
elastic

The Applied stress < yield stress, so no unwanted permanent deformation

occurs. Hence the design criteria for axial tension is,
where A = the cross-
Facting y A (=squash load) sectional area
 Design criteria for spaghetti in tension

In lab 3 we bent the spaghetti but it snapped because the side of the Spaghetti
stretching (in tension) reached its ULTIMATE STRENSILE STRENGTH

Spaghetti is brittle not ductile, so

the Applied stress < ultimate tensile stress, so the spaghetti doesnt snap.
Hence the design criteria for axial tension is,

where A = the cross-

Fmax tension UTS A (=squash load) sectional area

Spaghetti (from Lab 3): r = 0.95mm

UTS 40MPa Fmax tension < y *A = 40MPa*r2 = 113N = 11kg
 Design criteria for compression loading

A member experiencing axial compression loading

has one of two possible failure modes;

2
EI L
P=y A
L
Pe =
(Le )2
= Squash load

1.Buckling 2.Yielding
 Euler Buckling Formula (met in Lab3)
Buckling is a function of the member effective length, Le , the material stiffness, E,
and the section geometrical stiffness, I.
E=Youngs modulus
2
Euler EI
Buckling Pe = 2
I = weakest 2nd

(Le ) moment of area or

moment of inertia
Load
Le = Effective length

UNITS:
Be careful with units [ N / mm 2 ][mm 4 ]
Use N, mm and MPa (N/mm2)
[N ] = 2
[mm ]
 The Second Moment of area, I for symmetrical
sections (learn more in week 7)
I, is a geometrical property.
It describes the bending / buckling stiffness of a cross-section.

Cross-sectional areas

I values for square and circular cross-sectional areas

 Compression Failure Envelope
A compression member should be checked for both the Squash Load (yA )
and Pe, to gauge which is the actual failure mode.

Pe Note:
Failure
Long members fail
Squash load Envelope by buckling.
=yA Short members fail
2 EI
Pe = by yielding.
(Le )2
Le
 Design criteria for spaghetti in compression

In lab 2 compressed strands of spaghetti way off this graph!!

and watched them fail due buckling
failure. 30N

Spaghetti (from Lab 3):

UTS 40MPa
Fsquash = Fmax tension = 113N 20N

Pretty well guess that the spaghetti members in Spaghetti is brittle

where not ductile,
A = the cross-
compression in your truss bridges will fail due to
buckling so
10N sectional area

r = 0.95mm
 Buckling Loads

Effective length, Le =kL

where
k = the effective length factor

End restraints
pin-pin fixed-fixed fixed-pinned fixed-free

Effective L 0.5L 0.7L 2L

length (k=1) (k=0.5) (k=0.7) (k=2)
 Effective length of spaghetti in compression

The glue blobs we use to join our spaghetti members mean the member ends are
not pinned (Le=L) or fixed (Le=0.5L) but some where in between.
The effective length coefficient, k = 0.5 - 1

The effective length coefficient is difficult to

estimate which is why it is recommended that you
build your final chosen bridge and test it to failure
before competition day to;
1. come up with predicited bridge failure load and,
2. calculate an effective length coefficient for your
design calculations
 Measuring mechanical properties
We need to determine (measure) the mechanical properties of the materials to
help materials selection of a component
We do that by performing a tensile test. Load (N)

tension test
Plastic region

Elastic limit

Displacement (mm)
Extension
 Measuring mechanical properties

BUT
Load (N)
What will happen if we Bigger specimen
change the dimensions of (Larger cross section)

our specimen? Plastic region

In order to compare like

Elastic limit
with like, we must use the
derived quantities of
Displacement (mm)
stress and strain Extension

Load per unit area

Linear deformation per unit length
Engineering or Nominal Stress

F F
A0

Engineering or nominal stress: n = F/A0

Tensile load F and original area A0

 Engineering Strain

F F
A0

l0
lf = l0+ l

Engineering or nominal strain: n = l/l0 = (lf - l0)/l0

l0 original length
lf final length Strain is a dimensionless quantity (has no units)
l change in length
 Stress - strain graph

Stress (N/mm2 or MPa) The stress - strain graph is

independent of sample
Plastic region dimensions

Units:
Yield stress Stress - 1 Pascal = 1 Pa = 1 N/m2)
Elastic region 1 MPa = 1 x 106 Pa = 1 x 106 N/m2
= 1 N /10-6 m2 = 1 N/mm2
Strain
Strain has no units (dimensionless quantity)
 Youngs Modulus
Nominal stress (n) = E
Slope =Youngs modulus (E) = /

Hookes Law (valid for the linear

Elastic region)

E (= /) Youngs Modulus (Elastic

Modulus)

Youngs modulus is related to the

stiffness/deflection/buckling of a
component
Nominal strain (n)
 Yield Stress
Nominal stress (n) y The stress at which permanent
deformation occurs

Common criterion for failure eg.

beam permanently changing shape
y
However important for shaping
Plastic deformation components and design

Nominal strain (n)

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ith_tree.jpg
 Proof Stress

Nominal stress (n)

The yield stress is often difficult to

determine directly from a stress-
strain plot
PS
?
YS
PS Proof Stress (also called offset
yield strength)
(0.2% strain)

0.2% strain Nominal strain (n)

(0.002)
 Ultimate Tensile Strength & Uniform
Elongation
Nominal stress
Stress at maximum on the nominal
stress-strain curve
TS
Elongation up to this point is uniform
YS along the length of the specimen

Important for metal shaping (lid added

separately)
Impact
Uniform elongation extrusion
Uniform strain

Nominal strain Aluminium slug

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File:Green_soda_can_3d.svg
Uniform Elongation/Strain

Uniform elongation TS Necking

 Fracture point and Ductility
Nominal stress (n) Specimen will finally fracture in the
Fracture
point neck region
TS
After fracture the elastic strain is
recovered
Ductility is the plastic strain after
YS
fracture
Ductility may be expressed
quantitatively as either percentage
elongation or percentage reduction in
Plastic strain after fracture
area.
Ductility
Elastic
Nominal strain (n) strain
recovered
 Toughness
Nominal stress (n)

Toughness is defined as the amount of

Tough work done (per unit volume) in breaking
the material.

Area under the stress-strain curve can

be used to calculate toughness

Brittle Units: J/m3

Nominal strain (n)