Stress Vs Strain curve

The curve is being obtained basically by performing a tensile test. Which is done by mounting the
specimen in a machine then subjecting a gradually increasing axial load on the specimen. As the
test goes the amount of axial loading is being measured along with corresponding axial
elongation that happens on the test specimen. As a convention, the following nomenclature are
used to stand for the parameters used in the calculations:

Lo: Original specimen length [m]

ΔL: Amount of elongation (change in specimen length) [m]

A: Specimen cross sectional area [m2]

F: Applied axial Load [N]

σ: Stress [Pa]

ϵ: Strain [1]

E: modulus of elasticity (Youngs modulus) [Pa]

Where:

∆𝐿
𝜖= 𝐿𝑜

𝐹
𝜎=
𝐴

For each type of material, the tensile test gives a different stress strain diagram. However, the
general shape of the diagram can be classified into two main types according to the material
behavior, namely: ductile and brittle. Figure 1 shows a typical stress strain diagram for both
ductile and brittle materials. The distinction between these two types of materials can be
observed from the fracture point where for the first type the material tends to show a
considerable amount of elongation before fracture takes place therefore the material can be
considered soft as it yields to mechanical loading. However, for the second type (brittle) the
fracture occurs suddenly just after it inhabits a small mount of elongation where the material
usually termed as hard material.

Figure 1 Stress-Strain Diagrams for Ductile and Brittle Materials

The importance of stress Vs strain diagram comes from the amount of useful mechanical
properties it can provide for the test specimen. in order to explain this we can refer to Figure 2
which shows a typical stress-strain diagram for a ductile material. It can be seen that diagram has
two main parts as follows:

Part 1: from point O to point A which shows a linear behavior

Part 2: From Point A until the fracture point which shown a nonlinear behavior

Point A: represents the proportional limit, where materials tends to obey Hocks law (linear
behavior) as provided in Equation 1 before stress reaches point A. Where E represents the
modulus of elasticity [Pa] (Youngs modulus) which can be obtained directly by taking by taking
the slope of this linear segment.

Segments OA and AY represents the elastic range where material is able to return its original
length after removing the applied loading.

Point Y: represents the yield point, where material becomes unable to return its original length
after removing the applied loading and a permanent deformation occur on the material if the
applied stress exceeded the yield strength σy [Pa]. Usually yield point is obtained by taking the
intersection point between stress-strain diagram and line parallel to the linear part but shifted
by 2% strain.

Point u: represents the ultimate tensile point which is defined at the maximum amount of stress
that a material can hold before fracture occur. This value of stress is termed as ultimate tensile
strength and denoted by σu [Pa]

Point f: represents the fracture point. And σf [Pa] is termed as the fracture strength

The area under stress-strain curve represents the modulus of toughness (resilience) [J.m-3]
which is defined as the total amount of energy per unit volume the material can withstand up to
the fracture point. This area can be obtained through performing numerical integration like
trapezoidal integration.

𝜎 = 𝐸𝜀 … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … (1)

Figure 2: Stress Vs Strain Diagram