Mechanics of Fibrous Structure

(TM-3051)

Dr. M Irfan
Department of Yarn Manufacturing
National Textile University Faisalabad
 References
The lectures are based on following reference books

• J.W.S. Hearle. " Structural Mechanics of Fibres Yarns and Fabrics"

• (2004)
• A.E. Bogdanovich, C. M. Pastore. "Mechanics of Textile and Laminated Composites"
(1996)
• B. Strong. "Plastics (Materials & Processing) (2001)
• Ferdinand, P. Beer, E. Russell Johnston Jr., John, T. Dewolf. "Mechanics of Materials"
(2004)
• Jinlian, Hu. "Structure and Mechanics of Woven Fabrics" (2004)
• Thormen H Courty. "Mechanical Behavior of Materials" (2005)
• E.J.Hearn. "Mechanics of Materials" (2001)
• P. Schwartz " Structure & Mechanics of Textile Assemblies" (2003)
• W.E.Morton. " Physical properties of Textile Fibres" (2002)
• W.A. Hanton. " Mechanics for Textile Students" (2007)

M Irfan, PhD
 Ductile materials
• Partially plastic range in the stress-strain
graph covers a much wider part of the
strain axis than does the elastic range. Thus
the extension of the material over this
range is considerably in excess of that
associated with elastic loading. The
capacity of a material to allow these large
extensions, i.e. the ability to be drawn out
plastically, is termed its ductility.
• Materials with high ductility are termed as
ductile materials, materials with low
ductility are termed as brittle materials
M Irfan, PhD
 Ductile materials
• A quantitative value of the ductility is obtained by its elongation
or by the reduction in area at the cross section where fracture
occurs. The percent elongation is defined as follows:
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = (𝐿1 − 𝐿𝑜)/𝐿𝑜
where Lo is the original gauge length and L1 is the distance between
the gauge marks at fracture
• The percent reduction in area measures the amount of necking
that occurs and is defined as follows:
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 = (𝐴1 − 𝐴𝑜)/𝐴𝑜
in which Ao is the original cross-sectional area and A1 is the final
area at the fracture section
M Irfan, PhD
 Ductile materials

A property closely related to ductility is malleability, which

defines a material's ability to be hammered out into thin
sheets. A typical example of a malleable material is lead. This
is used extensively in the plumbing trade where it is
hammered or beaten into corners or joints to provide a
weatherproof seal. Malleability thus represents the ability of
a material to allow permanent extensions in all lateral
directions under compressive loadings

M Irfan, PhD
 Brittle materials
• Materials that fail in tension at relatively low values of strain are
classified as brittle materials
• Brittle materials exhibit little or no necking at fracture
• Brittle materials fail with only little elongation after the proportional
limit (the stress at point A in fig) is exceeded

• the reduction in area is insignificant, and so the

nominal fracture stress (point B) is the same as
the true ultimate stress
• Examples of brittle material include concrete,
stone, cast iron, glass, ceramics, and a variety of
metallic alloys
M Irfan, PhD
 Brittle materials

• Ordinary glass is a nearly ideal brittle material, because it

exhibits almost no ductility. The stress-strain curve for glass
in tension is essentially a straight line, with failure occurring
before any yielding takes place
• Mechanical properties of plastics vary tremendously, with
some plastics being brittle and others ductile

M Irfan, PhD
 Elastic versus plastic behavior of materials
• If the strains caused in a test specimen by the application of a given load
disappear when the load is removed, the material is said to behave
elastically. The largest value of the stress for which die material behaves
elastically is called the elastic limit of the material.
• If the material has a well-defined yield point (as shown in fig), the elastic
limit, the proportional limit and the yield point are essentially equal.

M Irfan, PhD
 Elastic versus plastic behavior of materials
• In other words, the material behaves elastically and linearly as long as the
stress is kept below the yield point
• If yield point is reached and yield takes place, when the load is removed,
the stress and strain decrease in a linear fashion, along a line CD parallel to
the straight-line portion AB of the loading curve as shown in fig.
• The fact that strain does not return to
zero after the load has been removed
indicates that a permanent set or
plastic deformation of the material
has taken place.

M Irfan, PhD
 Elastic versus plastic behavior of materials
• For most materials, the plastic deformation depends not only upon the
maximum value reached by the stress, but also upon the time elapsed
before the load is removed. The stress-dependent part of the plastic
deformation is referred to as slip, and the time-dependent part—which is
also influenced by the temperature—as creep.

• Indeed, we note that the straight line

used to determine point A also
represents the unloading curve after a
maximum stress has been reached.
While the material does not behave
truly elastically, the resulting plastic
strain is as small as the selected offset
M Irfan, PhD
 Elastic versus plastic behavior of materials
If, after being loaded and unloaded the test specimen is loaded again (as
shown in fig) , the new loading curve will closely follow the earlier unloading
curve until it almost reaches point C, it will then bend to the right and connect
with the curved portion of the original stress-strain diagram. We note that the
straight-line portion of the new loading curve is longer than the
corresponding portion of the initial one. Thus, the proportional limit and the
elastic limit have increased as a result of the strain-hardening that occurred
during the earlier loading of the specimen
However, since the point of rupture R remains
unchanged, the ductility of the specimen,
which should now be measured from point D,
has decreased.

M Irfan, PhD
 Elastic versus plastic behavior of materials
We assume that the material is mild steel, for which the yield strength is the same
in tension and in compression. The initial load is tensile and is applied until point
C has been reached on the stress-strain diagram (shown in next slide). After
unloading (point D), a compressive load is applied, causing the material to reach
point H, where the stress is equal to σy We note that portion DH of the stress-
strain diagram is curved and does not show any clearly defined yield point. This is
referred to as the Bauschinger effect. As the compressive load is maintained, the
material yields along line HJ.
If the load is removed after point J has been reached, the stress returns to zero
along line JK, and we note that the slope of JK is equal to the modulus of elasticity
E. The resulting permanent set AK may be positive, negative, or zero, depending
upon the lengths of the segments BC and HJ. If a tensile load is applied again to
the test specimen, the portion of the stress-strain diagram beginning at K (dashed
line) will curve up and to the right until the yield stress σy has been reached.

M Irfan, PhD
 Elastic versus plastic behavior of materials
If the initial loading is large enough to
cause strain-hardening of the material
(point C’), unloading takes place along
line C’D'. As the reverse load is applied,
the stress becomes compressive,
reaching its maximum value at H' and
maintaining it as the material yields
along line H'J'. We note that while the
maximum value of the compressive
stress is less than σy, the total change
in stress between C’ and H' is still equal
to 2σy.

M Irfan, PhD
 Elastic versus plastic behavior of materials
If point K or K' coincides with the origin A of the diagram, the permanent
set is equal to zero, and the specimen may appear to have returned to its
original condition. However, internal changes will have taken place and,
while the same loading sequence may be repeated, the specimen will
rupture without any warning after relatively few repetitions. This indicates
that the excessive plastic deformations to which the specimen was
subjected have caused a radical change in the characteristics of the
material. Reverse loadings into the plastic range, therefore, are seldom
allowed, and only under carefully controlled conditions. Such situations
occur in the straightening of damaged material and in the final alignment
of a structure or machine

M Irfan, PhD
 Creep
• A material can develop additional strain when loaded for a longer
period of time known as Creep
• Creep is more important at high temperatures

Same load but bar extended

relaxation of the material
• Stress diminishes to a
constant value

M Irfan, PhD
 Repeated Loading and Fatigue
• If the maximum Stress in the specimen does not exceed the elastic limit
of the material, the specimen returns to its initial condition when the
load is removed. However, the material can not be reloaded for
unlimited times so that it returns to its initial stage when load is
removed even when stresses remain in the elastic range.
• In case the loadings are repeated for thousands of times, rupture will
occur at a stress much lower than the static breaking strength; this
phenomenon is know n as fatigue.
• A fatigue failure is of a brittle nature, even for materials that are
normally ductile

M Irfan, PhD
 Repeated Loading and Fatigue
• Fatigue is important to be considered in structural and machine
components that are subjected to repeated or fluctuating loads
• The number of loading cycles that may be expected during the useful
life of a component varies greatly.
• Fluctuating loads:
• the passage of traffic over a bridge will cause stress levels that will
fluctuate about the stress level due to the weight of the bridge
• Reverse loading:
• It happens when a complete reversal of the load occurs during the
loading cycle
• For example the stresses in the axle of a railroad car are
completely reversed after each half-revolution of the wheel
M Irfan, PhD
 Repeated Loading and Fatigue
• The number of cycles for repeated successive loadings and reverse loadings
required to cause failure of the specimen may be determined experimentally
for any given maximum stress level
• If a series of tests is conducted, using different maximum stress levels, the
resulting data may be plotted as σ-n curve
• A typical σ-n curve for steel is shown in next slide. If the applied maximum
stress is high, relatively few cycles are required to cause rupture. As the
magnitude of the maximum stress is reduced, the number of cycles required to
cause rupture increases, until a stress, known as the endurance limit, is
reached. The endurance limit is the stress for which failure does not occur,
even for an indefinitely large number of loading cycles. For a low-carbon steel,
such as structural steel, the endurance limit is about one-half of the ultimate
strength of the steel.
M Irfan, PhD
 Repeated Loading and Fatigue

• For nonferrous metals, such as

aluminum and copper, a typical σ-n
curve shows that the stress at failure
continues to decrease as the number
of loading cycles is increased. For such
metals, one defines the fatigue limit
as the stress corresponding to failure
after a specified number of loading
cycles, such as 500 million.

M Irfan, PhD
 Failure mechanism under repeated loading and
fatigue
Examination of test specimens, of shafts, springs, and other components that
have failed in fatigue shows that the failure was initiated at a microscopic
crack or at some similar imperfection. At each loading, the crack was very
slightly enlarged. During successive loading cycles, the crack propagated
through the material until the amount of undamaged material was
insufficient to carry die maximum load, and an abrupt, brittle failure
occurred. Because fatigue failure may be initialed at any crack or
imperfection, the surface condition of a specimen has an important effect on
the value of the endurance limit obtained in testing. The endurance limit for
machined and polished specimens is higher than for rolled or forged
components, or for components that are corroded. In applications in or near
seawater. or in other applications where corrosion is expected, a reduction of
up to 50% in the endurance limit can be expected.
M Irfan, PhD