UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS

ENCE 2311, SECTION 602

MECHANICS OF MATERIALS LAB
SPRING 2013

LAB REPORT NO. 2

Wire Tensile Test

Lab Conducted: 01/29/2013

Report submitted: 02/05/2013

Submitted by:

_______________________________________
Johan Dreher

OBJECTIVES: To calculate the means, standard deviations, and 5%exclusion limits and
to plot the histogram and normal distribution curves for breaking stresses of two groups
of metal wires tested in tension.
EQUIPMENT USED:

Steel wire sample 20 gauge

Micrometer
Tinus Olsen 1000 Wire Tester

THEORY:
It is necessary to present a few basic statistics concepts in order to interpret the results
in an optimum manner.
Sample: Is a small set of elements which are selected from a larger aggregate. A sample
is selected so that it is representative of the whole aggregate. We analyzed the
characteristics of the sample in which we are interested.
Population: Is the whole aggregate of elements from which the sample is obtained.
Given that the sample is representative of the population, we examine the sample and
draw conclusion about the population.
Relative frequency: Is the number of times that an element of the sample is repeated
divided by the total number of elements in the sample.
Normal distribution:
The normal distribution is a continuous probability distribution that describes a
population whose elements have a characteristic variable that is not the same for
everyone, for example the weight of people. One can graph the percentage of the
population that falls within a certain range versus all the values taken by the
characteristic of interest. The result will be a bell curve whose maximum value is the
mean.
The normal distribution is completely defined by two parameters, the mean (m) and the
standard deviation (s).
The mean is the average value taken by the characteristic of the sample. The equation
that defines the mean is the following:

x= value of one element in the sample

i= the sample number
n= the total number of elements in the sample

The standard deviation is a measure of how different are the values taken by the
variable of interest. It is defined by the equation:

The equation that defines the normal distribution curve as a function of the mean and
standard deviation is:

Standard Normal Distribution Curve

The Standard Normal Distribution Curve is the normal distribution curve with a special
characteristic. It has a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one. The total area
under the curve is equal to one. Consequently, the probability that a particular range of
ordinates will occur is represented by the area under the curve of the range of interest.
The ordinates of the normal distribution are called X, and they can be transferred to a
standard normal distribution ordinate (Z) using the following formula:

Breaking stress:
The breaking stress is the stress at which a specimen fails or breaks when it is submitted
to tension forces. In our case, we measured the breaking stress of a steel wire.
PROCEDURE:

Each student must receive two pieces of steel wire 20 gauges.

Using a micrometer, determine the diameter of the wires.
Each student has to bring their wires to the Wire Tester one by one. The
professor will fix the wire in the machine and start loading it with an increasing
speed of 32 in/min.
Once the wire breaks, the machine will provide the value of the breaking force
correspondent to the wire. Each student must write the results for diameter and
force in the board table, so that everyone has all the results.
Proceed to make the calculations using Excel. Calculate the mean and standard
deviation of the force values. Plot a probability histogram that shows the
number of observations by ranges of s. Plot a normal distribution curve on the
top of the histogram

DATA:
Sample
Sample Diameter
(in)
1
0.0356
2
0.0357
3
0.033
4
0.033
5
0.0339
6
0.0345
7
0.035
8
0.0327
9
0.033
10
0.033
11
0.034
12
0.034
13
0.0345
14
0.0337
15
0.034
16
0.0334
17
0.0333
18
0.035
19
0.0328
20
0.0339
21
0.0335
22
0.0325
23
0.033
24
0.035
25
0.0335
26
0.035
27
0.034
28
0.034
29
0.034
30
0.035
31
0.033
32
0.034
33
0.0333
34
0.0338
35
0.034
36
0.035
37
0.035
38
0.034

P (lb)
71.1
71.1
70.6
71.5
71.3
70.7
71.1
71.3
71.8
71.5
71
71.2
71.1
71.2
70.9
72.3
72.2
71.4
71.2
71.6
71.5
71.1
71.1
70.4
70.8
71.1
71.7
71.3
71.2
71.5
71.2
70.8
71
71.9
70.5
70.4
71.2
71.3

39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75

Diameter
(in)
0.034
0.035
0.034
0.035
0.033
0.034
0.035
0.035
0.035
0.035
0.033
0.031
0.035
0.031
0.033
0.034
0.034
0.032
0.034
0.034
0.034
0.033
0.034
0.035
0.033
0.034
0.032
0.034
0.034
0.035
0.034
0.033
0.033
0.031
0.033
0.035
0.032

P (lb)
71.1
70.8
69.9
70.4
71.3
71.4
71.7
71.7
72.3
71.4
71.4
71.3
71.3
71.6
71.7
69.2
71.5
70.7
72
72.1
71.2
71.7
72
71.3
70.4
71.8
70.2
71
72.1
71.8
71.4
71.5
68.8
71.4
72.2
71.8
71.3

RESULTS:
Sample
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38

A (in^2)
0.00099538
0.00100098
0.0008553
0.0008553
0.00090259
0.00093482
0.00096211
0.00083982
0.0008553
0.0008553
0.00090792
0.00090792
0.00093482
0.00089197
0.00090792
0.00087616
0.00087092
0.00096211
0.00084496
0.00090259
0.00088141
0.00082958
0.0008553
0.00096211
0.00088141
0.00096211
0.00090792
0.00090792
0.00090792
0.00096211
0.0008553
0.00090792
0.00087092
0.00089727
0.00090792
0.00096211
0.00096211
0.00090792

x= (psi)
71429.8476
71030.2408
82544.2717
83596.5358
78995.118
75629.5197
73899.8626
84899.3066
83947.2905
83596.5358
78200.6987
78420.9823
76057.4095
79823.4162
78090.5569
82519.2899
82900.8244
74211.6763
84264.0686
79327.4958
81119.7393
85706.3495
83128.8628
73172.2971
80325.5601
73899.8626
78971.6915
78531.1242
78420.9823
74315.6142
83245.7811
77980.415
81522.9713
80131.931
77649.9895
73172.2971
74003.8005
78531.1242

(x-m)^2
s
m
67533287.39 5113.14842 79647.7115
74260800.81
8390060.87
15593213.08
425878.2957
16145865.41
33037767.49
27579250.95
18486379.24
15593213.08
2093846.096
1504864.432
12890268.61
30872.15428
2424730.596
8245962.731
10582743.31
29550478.46
21310753.07
102538.1198
2166865.894
36707094.09
12118414.64
41930991.63
459478.6581
33037767.49
457003.0597
1246767.267
1504864.432
28431261.15
12946104.63
2779877.54
3516599.423
234468.5367
3990893.045
41930991.63
31853731.63
1246767.267

Z
-1.6072023
-1.68535508
0.56649249
0.77228821
-0.12763047
-0.78585472
-1.12413106
1.0270766
0.84088679
0.77228821
-0.2829984
-0.2399166
-0.70217051
0.03436332
-0.3045393
0.56160671
0.636225
-1.06314833
0.90284043
-0.06262594
0.28789069
1.18491338
0.68082345
-1.2664241
0.1325697
-1.12413106
-0.13221209
-0.21837569
-0.2399166
-1.04282075
0.70368964
-0.3260802
0.36675247
0.09470085
-0.39070291
-1.2664241
-1.10380348
-0.21837569

Sample
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75

A (in^2)
0.00090792
0.00096211
0.00090792
0.00096211
0.0008553
0.00090792
0.00096211
0.00096211
0.00096211
0.00096211
0.0008553
0.00075477
0.00096211
0.00075477
0.0008553
0.00090792
0.00090792
0.00080425
0.00090792
0.00090792
0.00090792
0.0008553
0.00090792
0.00096211
0.0008553
0.00090792
0.00080425
0.00090792
0.00090792
0.00096211
0.00090792
0.0008553
0.0008553
0.00075477
0.0008553
0.00096211
0.00080425

x= (psi)
78310.8405
73588.0488
76989.1386
73172.2971
83362.6993
78641.266
74523.4901
74523.4901
75147.1176
74211.6763
83479.6175
94466.1598
74107.7384
94863.6331
83830.3722
76218.1458
78751.4078
87908.2381
79302.117
79412.2588
78420.9823
83830.3722
79302.117
74107.7384
82310.4352
79081.8333
87286.5391
78200.6987
79412.2588
74627.428
78641.266
83596.5358
80439.7435
94598.6509
84414.9634
74627.428
88654.2769
5973578.36

(x-m)^2
s
m
1787224.041 5113.14842 79647.7115
36719512.16
7068010.07
41930991.63
13801134.37
1012932.548
26257645.08
26257645.08
20255345.27
29550478.46
14683503.85
219586409.2
30691301.95
231524269.9
17494650.77
11761921.18
803360.2734
68236299.68
119435.577
55437.97288
1504864.432
17494650.77
119435.577
30691301.95
7090097.584
320218.1204
58351687.13
2093846.096
55437.97288
25203246.32
1012932.548
15593213.08
627314.6982
223530588.3
22726690.57
25203246.32
81118220.2
1934677217

Z
-0.2614575
-1.18511379
-0.51994832
-1.2664241
0.72655583
-0.19683479
-1.00216559
-1.00216559
-0.88020013
-1.06314833
0.74942202
2.89810642
-1.0834759
2.97584196
0.8180206
-0.67073464
-0.17529389
1.61554602
-0.06758938
-0.04604848
-0.2399166
0.8180206
-0.06758938
-1.0834759
0.52076011
-0.11067118
1.49395773
-0.2829984
-0.04604848
-0.98183801
-0.19683479
0.77228821
0.15490104
2.92401827
0.93235156
-0.98183801
1.76145198

DATA FOR THE HISTOGRAM:

Ranges
-3
-2.75
-2.5
-2.25
-2
-1.75
-1.5
-1.25
-1
-0.75
-0.5
-0.25
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.25
1.5
1.75
2
2.25
2.5
2.75

-2.75
-2.5
-2.25
-2
-1.75
-1.5
-1.25
-1
-0.75
-0.5
-0.25
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.25
1.5
1.75
2
2.25
2.5
2.75
3

Frequency
0
0
0
0
0
2
3
11
4
3
6
16
4
2
8
8
2
1
1
1
0
0
0
3

Relative
Frequency
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.027
0.040
0.147
0.053
0.040
0.080
0.213
0.053
0.027
0.107
0.107
0.027
0.013
0.013
0.013
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.040

CALCULATIONS:
1. The mean can be calculated using the formula already mentioned in the theory:

2. The standard deviation was calculated as showed in the following lines:

3. The 5% exclusion limit can be calculated using the table of the standard normal
deviation curve given in the handout. We must calculate the Z-ordinate that
gives a 47.5% of probability from zero to the plus ordinate, because we are
looking for the range within 95% of values for a parameter will fall. I have copy
the portion of the table where the probability of 47.5% falls to show the result.
Z
0.0
.
.
.
1.9

0.00
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.0000 0.0040 0.0080 0.0120 0.0160 0.0199
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
0.4713 0.4719 0.4726 0.4732 0.4738 0.4744

0.06
0.07
0.08
0.09
0.0239 0.0279 0.0319 0.0359
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
0.4750 0.4756 0.4761 0.4767

According to the table, the Z-ordinate corresponding to the 47.5% is Z=1.96. Converting
the Z-ordinate to X-ordinate:

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, I calculated that the mean of our set of data points was 79647.7115 psi.
The mean is measured in psi because the X-ordinates represent the breaking stress of
the wires. According to my calculations, our data has standard deviation of 5113.14842.
The 5% exclusion limits were calculated using the table of the standard normal
distribution. The results show that the 95% of the breaking stress values will fall within
the range from 69625.9406 psi to 89669.4824 psi.
I was able to draw a standard normal distribution curve using Excel. Once I had the bell
curve, I plotted by hand the histogram using the relative frequency of our set of Zordinates. The histogram did not approximate very much to the normal curve. The
reason for that might be experimental errors. For example, I noticed that, many
students did not know how to use the micrometer and that could cause a significant
error in the calculations.