1 Introduction

1.1 Materials
A-36 steel is a ferrous metal and has a Youngs modulus equal to 200 GPa. The length of the specimen had a reduced machined section 3.43 in. long and the diameter was .337 in. The ends of the specimen had an enlarged cross-sectional area to invalidate internal stresses resulting from the machine grips.

1.2 Equipment
An MTS Sintech universal testing machine (UTM) with a load capacity of 10 kip was used to test the specimen in tension. The UTM was controlled by TestWorks software on a desktop computer, which recorded position and applied force as reported by the UTM.

1.3 Methods
Each specimen was measured with a Vernier caliper to determine its gauge length and cross-sectional diameter. The specimen was then inserted and xed in the grips of the UTM, with preliminary alignment facilitated by a manual crosshead position controller. A preload of 15 lb was applied with the manual position controller, and the crosshead position was set as zero in the testing software. The automated test routine was initiated, and the crossheads began to apply force to the specimen. Specimen diameter was continuously measured at the necking region, and applied load was noted beginning at d = 0.330, and again at intervals of 0.005 inches until d reached 0.220. The test continued until the specimen experienced material failure, at which point the automated test routine stopped. The specimen was removed from the jaws.

2 Material Behavior
2.1 Observations
During testing the specimen underwent signicant deformation. There was no noticeable change until tension in the specimen reached 4900 lbs. At this load, the specimen decreased .005 inches in diameter at the necking region. This is known as the yielding point of the test material. Once engineering strength was reached, necking became noticeable. The failure diameter of the steel specimen measured to be .2 in. and the failure load was 4720 lbs. The fracture surface was found to be a cup-cone. This is a typical fracture type for ductile materials.

2.2 Specimen diagrams

Figure 1: Specimen after failure

3 Results
3.1 Comparison table
Test data 64.8% 4720 lb 0.20 in 150 ksi Test data 0.284 139 ksi Literature values 0.23 [1] 142 ksi [2] Percent error 23% 2%

Area reduction Failure load Failure diameter True failure stress

Strain hardening exponent n Strength coefcient H

3.2 Graphs

Figure 2: Cartesian

Figure 3: Log-Log 3

4 Discussion / Conclusion
4.1 Results & Adherence to Theory
The values of n and H found through testing were similar to the literature values. n was found to be .284 [1], which is 23% greater than the literature value. H was found to be 139 ksi. This is in strong agreement with the literature value of 142 ksi [2].

4.2 Flaws & Sources of Error

The methodology used required verbal commands to record force data at specied diameters. Once the yield point was reached, the necking diameter changed rapidly, and recording intervals were reached as often as once per second. At this frequency, accurate manual recording of instantaneous load became difcult. Manual measurement of diameter may have also produced some inaccuracy, if the calipers were not placed exactly in the middle of the necking region. Other sources of error may have included miscalculation, misalignment of specimens in the testing apparatus, and inherent variability of material properties.

4.3 Future Experimentation

If an electronic calipers with continuous data output were connected to the testing software, much of the uncertainty associated with verbal commands could be eliminated, especially in the plastic region. Additional trials of A-36 steel could be conducted to ensure repeatability, and other materials could be similarly tested.

Appendix
Calculations
%Error[n] = 100 0.284 .23 = 23% .23 139 113.4 = 23% 113.4

%Error[H] = 100

%RA = 100

d i2 d 2 f d i2

= 64.8

Matlab code for calculation of n and H

variableload logstress = log(stress); logstrain = log(strain);
2nd through 6th data points were used for linear regression:

stressreg = logstress(2:6); strainreg = logstrain(2:6);

Linear regression of data used to nd n:

reg_n = polyfit(strainreg,stressreg,1); n = reg(1);

As = H ( )n , H may be found by taking a linear regression of
( )n :

reg_H = polyfit(strain.^n,stress,1); H = reg_H(1);

References
[1] Joyce, James A., Elastic-plastic Fracture Test Methods, p. 23 [2] Higashida, Y., Strain-Controlled Fatigue Behavior of ASTM A36 and A514 Grade F Steels and 5083-0 Aluminum Weld Materials