UNIT- 2 :

MECHANICAL TESTING OF
MATERIAL

G.BALAJI
CONTENTS :

 Inspection
 Mechanical Testing
 Tensile Test
 Impact Test
 Hardness Test
 INSPECTION

 Inspection – concerned with how well the

physical and other specifications
of the metal (raw material) are
being met
 Includes testing of materials for checking :
 Physical
 Mechanical
 Fabricating properties
Why Inspection Testing are Performed?
The purpose of the test may be to:
• determine material structure or composition
• measure some of the object’s or material's
properties
• detect internal or external flaws
• Comply with specific standard required
 DESTRUCTIVE TESTING
Destructive testing is undertaken in order to understand a specimen’s performance or
material behaviour, these procedures are carried out to the test specimen’s failure.
Destructive testing procedures can either follow specific standards or can be tailored to
reproduce set service conditions.
Destructive testing methods are commonly used for materials characterisation,
fabrication validation, failure investigation, and can form a key part of engineering
critical assessments, which also involves non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques such
as digital radiography

NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING
Non-destructive testing (NDT) is a testing and analysis technique used by industry to
evaluate the properties of a material, component, structure or system for characteristic
differences or welding defects and discontinuities without causing damage to the
original part. NDT also known as non-destructive examination (NDE), non-destructive
inspection (NDI) and non-destructive evaluation (NDE)
 MECHANICAL TESTING
a. Destructive test :
(-Test piece is damaged in the test)
 Tensile & compressive test
 Hardness test
 Impact test
 Fatigue test
 Creep test
b. Non-destructive test :
(-Limited to visual inspection & checking)
(-Test piece is not damaged during test)
 Radiographic test
 Ultrasonic test
 Magnetic particle test

Reference for Mechanical Testing:

ASTM A370 - Standard Test Methods and Definitions for Mechanical Testing
of Steel Products
Tensile strength of a
material is the stress
required to cause fracture of
a piece of material

test piece gripped in the

jaws of a testing machine

subjected to a tensile force,

which is increased by
suitable increments

The maximum load to the

test piece obtained before
fracture is measured
- For each increment of force, the amount by which the length
of a known 'gauge’ on the test piece increases is measured
using a suitable extensometer
(extensometer is a device that is used to measure small/big
changes in the length of an object and also useful for stress-strain
measurements and tensile tests.)

- The test provides information on proof stress, yield point, tensile

strength, elongation

The force-extension diagram

 HARDNESS TESTING

Definition: The hardness of a material is defined as its resistance to

permanent indentation or abrasion.
Large hardness means:
- resistance to plastic deformation or cracking in
compression
- better wear properties
The strength for a particular material is roughly proportional to
the hardness
thus the higher the hardness of a material, the higher is likely to be
the tensile strength (generally).
 Figure: Concept of Hardness Testing

- Macrohardness scales are those that use

an indentation load greater than 1000
grams
- Microhardness scales use a load between
1 and 1000 grams (less surface damage)
 Figure : Various indenters shape used in hardness testing.

5 common hardness measuring tests are;

Macrohardness;
1- Rockwell Test (ASTM E18)
2- Brinell Test ASTM E10
Microhardness ;
3- Vickers test (ASTM E384)
4- Knoop test (ASTM E92)
5- File test
most brasses easy to machine cutting nitrided
plastics Al alloys steels file hard tools steels diamond

increasing hardness
 BRINELL HARDNESS TESTING METHODS
 One of the oldest methods of hardness testing

 Brinell hardness :

- forcing a hard steel or carbide sphere of a specified diameter

under a specified load into the surface of a material and

measuring the diameter of the indentation left after the test

Brinell Hardness Testing Method

 PROCESS DESCRIPTION
 uses a desk top machine to press a
10mm diameter, hardened steel
ball into the surface of the test
specimen

 The machine applies a load of :

 500 kilograms for soft metals
such as copper
 1500 kilogram load is used for
aluminum castings
 3000 kilogram load is used for
materials such as iron and steel

 applied for 10 to 15 seconds

After the impression is made,
a measurement of the
diameter of the resulting
round impression is taken

It is measured to plus or

minus 0.05mm using a low-
magnification portable
microscope

 The hardness is calculated by

dividing the load by area of
the curved surface of the
indention
 The indentation is measured and hardness calculated as:

where:
P = applied force (kg)
D = diameter of indenter (mm)
d = diameter of indentation (mm)
Hardness Designation
 Microhadness Test :
Vickers Hardness
The Vickers Hardness (HV) is then determined from
the formula

Where;
F = applied load, kg
D = the mean of the two diagonals of the
impression made by the indenter, in
mm.
.
 VICKERS HARDNESS TESTING METHODS
VERY SIMILAR TO THE BRINELL TESTER

 THERE ARE 3 MAIN DIFFERENT :-

1. THE PENETRATOR HAS DIFFERENT SHAPE
2. THE LOAD (FORCE) IS LESS
3. THE UNIT THAT ARE READS IN A DIFFERENT MANNER
BRINELL & VICKERS COMPARISON
BRINELL VICKERS

PENETRATOR 10 mm Square based

Diameter ball diamond

LOAD 500 / 3000 g 50 g

UNITS BHN , HB DPH , HV

Procedure :

The sample to be tested is placed on the anvil of the

tester, below the hardened steel penetrator with a
diamond point

This "square based diamond penetrator" is slowly

brought into contact with the sample. The contact
pressure between the penetrator and the sample is
increased until 50 kg is reached

The penetrator is retracted and the sample shows a

small, pyramidal shaped hole.

The sample is removed and a small microscope is used to

measure
 Vickers Hardness Testing Method
The Vickers indenter is a 136 degrees square-
based diamond cone
ADVANTAGES OVER THE BRINELL
METHODS :-

 IT CAN USED ON HARDER MATERIALS

BECAUSE A POINTED PENETRATOR CAN PROBE
INTO A HARD SURFACE MORE EASILY

THAN A BALL PENETRATOR CAN

 CAN BE USED ON SMALLER AREAS

 A SMALLER LOAD REQUIRES

 KNOOP HARDNESS
TESTINg METHOD

 CALLED “MICRO HARDNESS METHODS”

 KNOWN AS > ELONGATION PYRAMID

 TESTING VERY SMALL SURFACE AREA

 TEST AREA SMALLER THAN THE SIZE OF A CRISTAL/ GRAIN

 SHARP POINT PENETRATOR IS NECESSARY

 VERY SMALL LOAD

 HAS A DIAMOND CROSS-SECTION

 UNIT : KNOOP(LOAD LESS THAN 4KG USED )

KNOOP HARDNESS TESTING
METHODS :
ADVANTAGES OVER THE PREVIOUS METHODS
 ESSENTIALLY LESS DAMAGE TO THE SPECIMENS
 ABILITY TO THIN MATERIAL
 ABILITY TO TEST SMALL SURFACE AREAS

 SURFACES SHOULD BE SMOOTH FLAT, CLEAN &

HORIZONTAL BEFORE TESTING
 Vickers VS Knoop

Table: Comparison between Vickers and Knoop.

Vickers Hardness (HV) Knoop Hardness (KHN)

 Vickers indenter penetrates about twice  Knoop test best for
as deep as Knoop indenter small elongated areas
 Vickers indentation diagonal about 1/3  Knoop test good for
of the length of Knoop major diagonal very hard brittle
 Vickers test is less sensitive to surface materials and very thin
conditions than Knoop test sections
ROCKWELL Hardness Testing Method

The ROCKWELL hardness testing method is the

most widely used of all hardness testing methods

Rockwell values are not considered to be very

accurate readings
 2 Loading Steps :
 - Preliminary Load (Minor Load)
preliminary load, called the "minor load", is applied to the sample
before the hardness test is taken, Rockwell eliminates the bad
effects of small surface imperfections
 - Actual Hardness Test(Major Load)

 PROCESS DESCRIPTION :
 MINOR LOAD:
 The sample is placed on the anvil. The anvil is raised manualIy
until the sample contacts the penetrator. Then, the sample is
raised slightly higher until a load of about 10 kg is applied. This
minor load causes the penetrator to dig slightly into the sample

 Then, the next step, the actual hardness test, is started.

 Note: Because this minor load is applied first, the hardness
value is measured slightly below the surface of the sample,
instead of on the outside surface of the metal. This
therefore almost eliminates the bad effects of surface
scale, surface roughness, smoothness and cleanliness

MAJOR LOAD
 After the minor load of 10 kg is applied, the major load
(60, 100 or 150 kg) is applied

 The hardness value is read directly off a scale on the

machine
ADVANTAGES
Because of the minor load, surface imperfections
have little effect
Because the hardness value can be read directly off
a scale, human error is almost eliminated

The three Rockwell penetrators are:

A 1/8 inch diameter tungsten carbide ball
A 1/16 inch diameter tungsten carbide ball
A diamond point penetrator
ROCKWELL SUPERFICIAL HARDNESS
TESTING METHODS
 ADVANTAGES BY ROCKWELL SUPERFICIAL :

 Thin Material can be tested

 Hardness Close To Surface Can Be Tested
 FILE HARDNESS TESTING METHOD

 Fast, Simple, Convenient But Inaccurate

 Does Give A Quick Answer
 Use Extensively In Industry Today
 IMPACT TEST

Used to indicate the toughness of a material, and

particularly its capacity for resisting mechanical
shock

2 TYPES :
IZOD Impact Test
CHARPY Impact Test
 IZOD Impact Test
The IZOD impact testing method uses a standard
notched test piece which is clamped firmly

A heavy pendulum, mounted on ball bearings, is

allowed to strike the test piece after being released
from a fixed height

The striking energy is partially absorbed in breaking

the test piece

 This indicates the amount of mechanical energy

used in fracturing the work-piece.
 CHARPY Impact Test

- Test piece is supported at each end

The apparatus consists of a pendulum swinging at a

notched sample of material.

The energy transferred to the material can be

inferred by comparing the difference in the height of
the hammer before and after a big fracture.
 COMPARISON : IZOD & CHARPY TESTING

IZOD CHARPY

1. The test notches for the  The Charpy test has three
impact specimens for the tests different specimen types:
have different dimensions. Key-hole, U-notch, and
The Izod test is a V-notch V-notch.

 the Charpy test is held such

2) The specimens are held
differently. that the specimen rests
The Izod specimen is held in against two supports on
either side of the test notch.
a cantilevered manner
3) The impact location is  The Charpy test is struck
different. directly behind the test
 The Izod test impact is notch such that the
against the end of the specimen undergoes three
exposed cantilever point bending.

4) The test specimens have  The basic Charpy test

different dimensions. specimen is 55 x 10 x
 The basic Izod test 10mm (2.165" x 0.394" x
specimen is 75 x 10 x 0.394")
10mm (2.95" x 0.394" x
0.394")
 Fatigue
It is caused by repeated application of stress to the metal. It is the failure of a material
by fracture when subjected to a cyclic stress.
1)Fatigue is an important form of behaviour in all materials including
metals, plastics, rubber and concrete.
2)All rotating machine parts are subjected to alternating stresses.
Example: aircraft wings are subjected to repeated loads, oil and gas pipes are
often subjected to static loads but the dynamic effect of
temperature variation will cause fatigue.
3)There are many other situations where fatigue failure will be very
harmful.
4)Because of the difficulty of recognizing fatigue conditions, fatigue
failure comprises a large percentage of the failures occurring in
engineering.
5)To avoid stress concentrations, rough surfaces and tensile residual
stresses, fatigue specimens must be carefully prepared.
Fatigue is distinguished by three main features.
i)Loss of strength
ii)Loss of ductility
iii)Increased uncertainty in strength and service life
 S-N Curve
A very useful way to visual the failure for a specific material is with
the S-N curve.
The “S-N” means stress verse cycles to failure, which when plotted
using the stress amplitude on the vertical axis and the number of
cycle to failure on the horizontal axis.
An important characteristic to this plot as seen is the “fatigue limit”.
1)The point at which the curve flatters out is termed as fatigue limit
and is well below the normal yield stress.
2)The significance of the fatigue limit is that if the material is loaded
below this stress, then it will not fail, regardless of the number of
times it is loaded.
3)Materials such as aluminium, copper and magnesium do not show a
fatigue limit; therefore they will fail at any stress and number of
cycles.
4)Other important terms are fatigue strength and fatigue life.
5)The fatigue strength can be defined as the stress that produces
failure in a given number of cycles usually 107.
6)The fatigue life can be defined as the number of cycles required for
a material to fail at a certain stress
 Factors affecting fatigue properties
Surface finish:
1)Scratches dents identification marks can act as stress raisers and so
reduce the fatigue properties.
2)Electro-plating produces tensile residual stresses and have a
detrimental effect on the fatigue properties.
Temperature:
As a consequence of oxidation or corrosion of the metal surface
increasing, increase in temperature can lead to a reduction in fatigue
properties.
Residual stresses:
Residual stresses are produced by fabrication and finishing processes.
Residual stresses on the surface of the material will improve the fatigue properties.
Heat treatment:
Hardening and heat treatments reduce the surface compressive stresses; as a result the
fatigue properties of the materials are getting affected.
Stress concentrations:
These are caused by sudden changes in cross section holes or sharp corners can more
easily lead to fatigue failure. Even a small hole lowers fatigue-limit by 30%.
 Stress Cycles
There are different arrangements of fatigue loading.
The simplest type of load is the alternating stress where the stress
amplitude is equal to the maximum stress and the mean or average stress
is zero. The bending stress in a shaft varies in this way
 Fatigue Failure
1)Fatigue fracture results from the presence of fatigue cracks, usually
initiated by cyclic stresses, at surface imperfections such as machine
marking and slip steps.
2)The initial stress concentration associated with these cracks are too
low to cause brittle fracture they may be sufficient to cause slow
growth of the cracks into the interior.
3)Eventually the cracks may become sufficiently deep so that the
stress concentration exceeds the fracture strength and sudden
failure occurs.
4)The extent of the crack propagation process depends upon the
brittleness of the material under test.
5)In brittle materials the crack grows to a critical size from which it
propagates right through the structures in a fast manner, whereas
with ductile materials the crack keeps growing until the remaining
area cannot support the load and an almost ductile fracture suddenly
occurs
 Design for Fatigue
To secure satisfactory fatigue life
1)Modification of the design to avoid stress concentration eliminating
sharp recesses and severe stress raisers.
2)Precise control of the surface finish by avoiding damage to surface
by rough machining, punching, stamping, shearing etc.
3)Control of corrosion and erosion or chemical attack in service and to
prevent of surface decarburization during processing of heat
treatment.
4)Surface treatment of the metal
 Creep
The creep is defined as the property of a material by virtue of which
it deforms continuously under a steady load.
• Creep is the slow plastic deformation of materials under the application of a constant
load even for stressed below the yield strength of the material.
• Usually creep occurs at high temperatures.
• Creep is an important property for designing I.C. engines, jet engines, boilers and
turbines. Iron, nickel, copper and their alloys exhibited this property at elevated
temperature.
• But zinc, tin, lead and their alloys shows creep at room temperature.
• In metals creep is a plastic deformation caused by slip occurring along
crystallographic directions in the individual crystals together with some deformation of
the grain boundary materials
The creep curve usually consists of three stages of creep.
Primary Stage(Transient):
In this stage the creep rate decreases with time, the effect of work hardening is more
than that of recovery processes. The primary stage is of great interest to the designer
since it forms an early part of the total
extension reached in a given time and may affect clearness provided
between components of a machine.
Load platform or sometimes called load hanger is where the object will endure
pressure at a constant rate.
Grips are used to hold the material you are testing in a certain position. Position
is important because if the alignment is off, the machine will deliver inaccurate
readings of the creep of the material.
Dial Gauge is used to measure the strain. It is the object that captures the
movement of the object in the machine. The load beam transfers the movement
from the grip to the dial gauge.
Heating Chamber is what surrounds the object and maintain the temperature
that the object is subjected to.

A creep-testing machine measures the Creep (the tendency of a material

after being subjected to high levels of stress, e.g. high temperatures, to change
its form in relation to time) of an object. It is a device that measures the
alteration of a material after it has been put through different forms of stress.
Creep machines are important to see how much strain (load) an object can
handle under pressure, so engineers and researchers are able to determine
what materials to use.
Secondary Stage(Linear):
In this stage, the creep rate is a minimum and is constant with time. The work hardening
and recovery processes are exactly balanced. It is the important property of the curve
which is used to estimate the service life of the alloy.
Tertiary Stage(To rupture):
 In this stage, the creep rate increases with time until fracture occurs. Tertiary creep
can occur due to necking of the specimen and other processes that ultimately result in
failure.
 The “Creep Limit” is the stress at which a material can be formed by a definite
magnitude during a given time at a given temperature. The calculation of creep limit
includes the temperature, the deformation and the time in which this deformation
appears
 Types of Creep
Creep are classified based on temperature
Logarithmic Creep
Recovery Creep
Diffusion Creep
At low temperature the creep rate decreases with time and the logarithmic creep
curve is obtained.
At high temperature, the influence of work hardening is weakened and there is a
possibility of mechanical recovery. As a result, the creep rate does not decrease and the
recovery creep curve is obtained.
At very high temperature, the creep is primarily influenced by diffusion and load
applied has little effect. This creep is termed as diffusion creep or plastic creep.
Factors affecting Creep
Heat Treatment
• Creep resistance of steel is affected by heat treatment.
• At temperatures of 300°C or higher maximum creep resistance is usually
produced. But the quacking and drawing decreases the creep resistance.
 Factors affecting Creep
Grain size
• The major factor in creep is grain size.
• Normally large grained materials exhibit better creep resistance than fine grained one
based on the temperature.
• At temperatures below the lowest temperature of recrystallisation, a fine grained
structure possesses the greater resistance whereas at temperature above this point a large
grained structure possesses the greater resistance and we must select it for high
temperature applications
Strain Hardening
Strain hardening of steel increases its creep resistance.
Particularly below the equicohesive temperature at which the fracture
changes from intra crystalline to inner-crystalline strain hardening increases the creep
resistance and hence there is no measurable creep. So the second stage of creep curve is
almost horizontal.
At temperature above the equicohesive temperature yield rate exceeds the strain
hardening rate and creep will proceed even under low stresses.
 Applications

Displacement-Limited applications : the size must be precise and there must be

little errors or tendency to change. This is most commonly found in turbine rotors
in jet engines.
Rupture Limited applications: in this application the break cannot occur to the
material but there can be various dimensions as the material goes through creep.
High pressure tubes are examples of them.
Stress relaxation limited application : the tension at the beginning becomes more
relaxed and the tension will continue to relax as the time goes by, such as cable
wires and bolts