Engineering Materials – Lecture 7

– Yielding and Strength of Metals

Dr Paul Franklyn
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Lecture 7
Topic:
Discuss the strength of materials, description of a tensile test and
the main strength values that can be determined for metals.
Discuss the differences in stress strain curves for general metals
and low carbon structural steels with a yield point. Discuss plastic
yielding.

Objectives:
• Define proof strength, yield strength (upper and lower), tensile
strength, fracture strength, % elongation and % reduction in area
• Discuss the range of strength levels shown by metals
• Explain what necking is in a tensile test
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Mechanical deformation of metals

Elastic Recovery - if load is removed below the yield stress, material
returns to original dimensions.

Yielding and plastic deformation - Permanent change of shape.

Creep - Increase of strain at constant stress. Only important for

metals at high temperatures. Can be important for polymers at all
temperatures.

Fracture - Cracking and separation into two or more parts (creation

of new surfaces).

Wear - Local removal of material from surfaces in contact and

under stress (abrasion).

Fatigue - Failure under repeated (cyclic) loading.

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Mechanical failure of metals

Plastic deformation Fracture

(Lecture 7) (Lectures 10,11)

Fatigue (Lectures 12, 13), Wear (Lecture 14)

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Plastic Deformation and Fracture

 So far we have only parameterised Elastic behaviour
(E, Y) …
– Materials cannot continue to deform elastically indefinitely,
but will reach a limit.

– Polymers tend to fail either by extensive plastic deformation

or brittle fracture

– Ceramic, glasses and composites tend to fail by brittle

fracture

– Metals usually fail by plastic deformation

– There are many exceptions to these rules

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Plastic Deformation
 Plastic Deformation is permanent and
non-recoverable
Stressed into
Plastic Region,
stress, σ Elastic + Plastic

Elastic
Deformation
Stress Removed,
Plastic Deformation
Remains

εp strain, ε

plastic strain
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Material Properties
 Hence need to know when the materials in a structure
YIELD (start to undergo plastic deformation) or
FRACTURE

 These will be materials properties, so we need to

know the Yield Stress and Fracture Stress of a
material

 The design for the structure can then have a

maximum stress calculation stage to ensure that the
material is fit for purpose under the operating
conditions.
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Tensile testing
 Many mechanical properties are derived from tensile tests and
we have described many of them already

 These are destructive tests which use shaped specimens that

concentrate stress in a known gauge length

 The sample is clamped in a tester with one end fixed and the
other attached to a moveable cross-head.

 The movable end is either subjected to a contestant increase in

load (load-controlled) or moved at a constant rate
(displacement-controlled).
Measurement of strength - tensile 9

tests
 The sample shape and dimensions are dictated by
international standards.
– ASTM E8-16a or BS EN ISO 6892-1
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 Thin materials, e.g. sheet metal, would use a
rectangular section ‘dog-bone’ sample and would be
gripped by a clamped pin or by wedge grips

 The grips need to locally deform the non-gauge

length part of the sample and this involves some
localised plastic deformation.
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 Thicker materials can be made into thick ‘dog-bone’

samples…

 Otherwise, cylindrical specimens with threaded grip

ends that screw into the machine.
Measurement of strength - tensile 12

tests
 Tensile test involves applying a tensile force and
measuring the stress and strain in the sample

Engineering stress Engineering strain

= F  = l
A l

12
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Measurement of strength
Defined stress = force / area
The area can change due to deformation
Engineering stress, s, defined as force over original area
F
=
A0
True stress, sT, defined as force over instantaneous area
F
 =
A
Since A0 > A, the true stress is equal to, or larger than, the
engineering stress

For elastic deformation A0 often close to A

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Strain

Strain is the proportional size change

Engineering strain: e.g. for uniaxial tension

e = l1 – l0
l0
where l0 = original length
and l1 = extended length

Note: strain is dimensionless, i.e. it has no units

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True Stress and Strain


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True stress and strain

 The figures typically shown are for Engineering stress
and strain (calculated with the original length and
cross-sectional area).
 If instantaneous area and change in length over
instantaneous length are used (true stress and strain)
then the reduction in area during necking does not
result in an apparent decrease in stress.
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Stress True Stress - Strain
Curve
Fracture

Ultimate Tensile Strength

Engineering
Stress - Strain
Curve
Fracture

Strain

 Engineering stress and strain can be related to true

stress and strain – up to the onset of necking by:
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 After the onset of necking, actual measurements are

needed.

 As metals deform plastically, the true flow stress

(stress to continue plastic deformation) and this can
be related by:

 Where, K is the strength coefficient and n is the

strain-hardening coefficient (0.1-0.5)
Measurement of strength - tensile 19

tests
1. Tensile test results for metals - general

Initial elastic deformation - follows Hooke’s law

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Measurement of strength - tensile tests

1. Tensile test results for metals - general

After elastic limit see plastic deformation as the material yields (yield
strength) - but not always easy to determine elastic limit.
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Measurement of strength - tensile tests

1. Tensile test results for metals - general

Construct a line parallel to the elastic portion offset by a given

amount (e.g. a strain of 0.002, i.e. 0.2%). Where the line cuts the
curve is the proof strength.
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Measurement of strength - tensile tests

1. Tensile test results for metals - general

Also define the tensile strength (maximum stress on the curve -

max. stress a structure can withstand in tension) and failure
strength.
Measurement of strength - tensile tests
23

• Yield strength σy is
defined by a 0.2%
offset from the linear
elastic region.

• When strained beyond

σy, most metals work
harden, causing the
rising part of the curve.

• Maximum stress is
defined as the tensile
strength σts.
 Measurement of strength - tensile tests 24

• Up to the tensile strength point the sample deforms uniformly

along is length.
• After the tensile strength point the sample starts to deform
locally - it forms a ‘neck’ which progressively narrows until failure.
Measurement of strength - tensile tests 25

Can also measure a % elongation and a % reduction in area from

the broken samples. These are a measure of the materials ductility.

% elongation is the percentage of plastic strain at failure

% elongation = l x 100
l
When quoting % elongation need to specify original length

A
% reduction in area = x 100
A
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low ductility

tensile
stress, σ high ductility

tensile strain, ε
Adapted from Fig. 7.13, Callister & Rethwisch 5e.

❑ A material which experiences little deformation is

brittle…
 Measurement of strength - tensile tests
• Tensile test results for metals - steel
• Most high strength steels show continuous yielding (as other
metals) hence use a proof strength.

stress, σ
• Some steels (e.g. low
carbon construction
grades) show a yield drop
hence define an upper
and lower yield strength.
 Tensile test video – metals

Please take the time to watch this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8U4G5kcpcM
 Yield drop
Significance of the yield drop - see the presence of marks on the
surface of the sample - Luders bands or stretcher strains

Can be significant when press forming components, e.g. marks

on car body panels.

DERYUGIN, YE. YE., PANIN, V. E., SCHMAUDER, S. & SOPPA, E. (2003)

The effects of macrolocalization of deformation in Al-based composites with Al2O3 inclusions.
Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures 26 (4), 295-304.
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Material variations

Stronger alloys tend to have lower ductility.

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Rate effects

 The modulus and yield stress of metallic alloys increase as

strain rates increase, but to a much smaller extent than for
polymers – the same trends are shown for decreasing
temperature.
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What can you learn from

comparing these two graphs?

Youngs Modulus v Density

and
Strength v Density?
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Measurement of Strength
• Yield strengths may range from 35 MPa for a low strength
aluminium alloy to over 1400 MPa for a high strength steel.

• Tensile strength may range from 50 MPa for a low strength

aluminium alloy to over 3000 MPa for a high strength steel.

• When strength is used for design purposes use yield strength.

• Fracture strengths are not normally specified for engineering

design purposes.
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Design safety factors

 Because of design uncertainties allowances must be
made to protect against unanticipated failure
 For structural applications, to protect against
possibility of failure—use working stress, σw, and a
factor of safety, N
yield strength

Depending on application,
N is usually between 1.2
and 4
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 So if generally we design using just yield

strengths why is plastic deformation
important?

 How does plastic deformation occur in a

material?

 Why does a material get stronger after it

yields?

35
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Full Plasticity: Metal Forming

• We can change the shape
and properties of many
metals by stressing them
beyond their yield point –
plastically deforming them

• A lower limit for the torque T

and power P required to
deform a material by rolling is
found from the plastic work
σyεpl per unit volume
(a) rolling
(b) extrusion
(c) forging (closed die)
(d) sheet forming (deep drawing; stamping)
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Full Plasticity: forging of metals

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Full Plasticity: forging of metals

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‘Desirable’ accidental damage

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 So if generally we design using just yield

strengths why is plastic deformation
important?

 How does plastic deformation occur in a

material?

 Why does a material get stronger after it

yields?

40
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How does plastic deformation

occur?
 The ability of a metal to deform plastically depends on the ability
of dislocations to move.

 Plastic deformation occurs when large numbers of dislocations

move and multiply so as to result in macroscopic deformation.

 If we want to increase the yield and tensile strength (and

hardness) of a material, we simply need to introduce a
mechanism which prohibits the mobility of these dislocations.
Crystalline Imperfections
42

Defects in metals and ceramics prevent materials

from achieving their ideal strength

Common Defects:
(a) Vacancies
(b) Solute atoms on interstitial
and substitutional sites
(c) Dislocations
(d) Grain boundaries
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Dislocations
A dislocation is an extra half-
plane of atoms in the crystal –
in the figure, the upper part of
the crystal has one more
double-layer of atoms than
the lower part – dislocations
distort the lattice and make
metals soft and ductile
Grain Boundaries
Grain boundaries form when
differently oriented crystals
meet – the individual crystals
are called grains, the meeting
surfaces are grain boundaries
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Dislocations and Plastic Flow

• The edge dislocation is made by cutting, slipping, and rejoining bonds across
a slip plane

• The dislocation line separates the part of the plane that has slipped from the
part that has not

• (b) represents the resulting atomic configuration – called an edge dislocation

because it is formed by the edge of the extra half-plane
Analogy Between Dislocation Motion and 45

Caterpillar Locomotion
• Caterpillar locomotion – hump formed and propelled by
lifting and shifting of leg pairs

• Dislocation motion – movement of extra half-plane of

atoms by breaking and reforming of interatomic bonds

Fig. 8.3, Callister & Rethwisch 5e.

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When a dislocation moves it makes the material
above the slip plane slide relative to that below

(a) Initially perfect crystal

(b) – (d) the passage of the
dislocation across the slip
plane shears the upper part
of the crystal over the lower
part by the slip vector b;
when it leaves, the crystal
has suffered a shear strain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKKxTP6xp74

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quGSfmt4V6Y
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Dislocation Movement
• For a dislocation to move, only bonds along the line it moves
along must be broken – this is significantly easier than
breaking all of the bonds in the plane

• In crystals there are preferred planes and directions for

which dislocation movement is easier – these are called the
slip planes and slip directions.

• FCC crystals have more slip planes than BCC or HCP.

• Slip displacements are tiny – however, if a large number of

dislocations traverse a crystal, moving on many slip planes,
the material deforms at a macroscopic level.
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Questions to ponder:

 Why does a material get stronger after it

yields?

 What effect do defects such as vacancies,

dislocations and grain boundaries have on the
strength of metals?
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Summary of lecture 7

Objectives:
• Define proof strength, yield strength (upper and lower), tensile
strength, fracture strength, % elongation and % reduction in area
• Discuss the range of strength levels shown by metals
• Explain what necking is in a tensile test
• Explain plastic flow by dislocation movement

Homework:
• Complete the strength table for different materials in the notes on
Canvas.