Polymer Process Engineering

CBB 4423

Experiment 4: Universal Testing Machine

Group Members:
Ahmad Fikry b. Mohd Anwar
Fareeda Chemat

11866
11806

Programme: Chemical Engineering

Lecturer: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zakaria bin Man

May 2012

1.0 Objective
The objective of this experiment is to help student to be familiar with universal testing
machine.
2.0 Theory
2.1 Universal Testing Machine
A universal testing machine, also known as a universal tester, materials testing
machine or materials test frame, is used to test the tensile stress and compressive
strength of materials. It is named after the fact that it can perform many standard tensile and
compression tests on materials, components, and structures.

Figure 1: Universal Testing Machine.

Load frame - usually consisting of two strong supports for the machine. Some small
machines have a single support.

Load cell - A force transducer or other means of measuring the load is required.
Periodic calibration is usually called for.

Cross head - A movable cross head (crosshead) is controlled to move up or down.

Usually this is at a constant speed: sometimes called a constant rate of extension (CRE)
machine. Some machines can program the crosshead speed or conduct cyclical testing,
testing at constant force, testing at constant deformation, etc. Electromechanical, servohydraulic, linear drive and resonance drive are used.

Means of measuring extension or deformation- Many tests require a measure of the

response of the test specimen to the movement of the cross head. Extensometers are
sometimes used.

Output device - A means of providing the test result is needed. Some older machines
have dial or digital displays and chart recorders. Many newer machines have a computer
interface for analysis and printing.

Conditioning - Many tests require controlled conditioning (temperature, humidity,

pressure, etc.). The machine can be in a controlled room or a special environmental
chamber can be placed around the test specimen for the test.

Test fixtures, specimen holding jaws, and related sample making equipment are
called for in many test methods.

Figure 2: Schematic diagram of a tensile test

2.2 Stress Strain Curve
The relationship between the stress and strain that a particular material displays is
known as that material's stress-strain curve. It is unique for each material and is found by
recording the amount of deformation (strain) at distinct intervals of tensile or compressive
loading (stress). These curves reveal many of the properties of a material (including data to
establish the Modulus of Elasticity, E).

Stress-strain curves of various materials vary widely, and different tensile tests
conducted on the same material yield different results, depending upon the temperature of the
specimen and the speed of the loading. It is possible, however, to distinguish some common
characteristics among the stress-strain curves of various groups of materials and, on this
basis, to divide materials into two broad categories; namely, the ductile materials and the
brittle materials.

Figure 3: Stress strain curve showing typical behavior for nonferrous alloys. Stress ( ) is
shown as a function of strain ( ).
1: True elastic limit
2: Proportionality limit
3: Elastic limit
4: Offset yield strength
2.3 Tensile Strength
Tensile strength is the stress at which a material fails (breaks) under tension. It defers
from yield strength because the latter is the stress where the elastic limit of the material is
reached or in other words the deformation when additional force is applied is no longer
proportional to the force and the length of the material will no longer return back to its
original length when the force is removed.
For a material subjected to pure axial tension, the breaking strength is equal to the
force applied to cause the failure divided by the smallest cross-sectional area of the material.
This is normally expresses as:
= F/A
Where;
= the breaking strength (stress)

F = the force applied that caused the failure

A = the least cross- sectional area of the material
Materials subjected to bending also incur tension stress on one side and compression
on the other side.
The units of stress are the same as those of pressure.We will use pascals, Pa, as the
units for the stress. In the polymer literature, stress often is expressed in terms of psi (pounds
per square inch).

2.4 Strain
The strain is a measure of the change in length of the sample. The strain commonly is
expressed in one or two ways.
elongation:
Where;

extension ratio:
The strain is a unitless number.

L= the final length

L0 = the original length

2.5 Youngs Modulus

Youngs modulus is the ratio of stress to strain. It also is called the modulus of
elasticity or the tensile modulus.
Youngs modulus is the slope of a stress strain curve. Stress strain curve often are
not straight line plots, indicating that the modulus is changing with the amount strain. In
this case the initial slope usually is used as the modulus, as is illustrated in the diagram at the
right.
Rigid materials, such as metals, have a high Young's modulus. In general, fibers have
high Young's modulus values, elastomers have low values, and plastics lie somewhere in
between.

Young's modulus, E, can be calculated by dividing the tensile stress by the tensile
strain in the elastic (initial, linear) portion of the stress-strain curve:

Where;
E is the Young's modulus (modulus of elasticity)
F is the force exerted on an object under tension
A0 is the original cross-sectional area through which the force is applied
L is the amount by which the length of the object changes
L0 is the original length of the object.
3.0 Procedure
1. Switch ON power system.
2. Press safe line yellow button until light off.
3. Machine will starting up and at machine controller keyboard press A button to
establish open access.
4. Select B for remote control program.
5. Start up the computer system and select NEXYGEN software, after that select Lr Lrx
Console.
6. Display monitor at machine controller keyboard must display Under control of
remote computer. From now the gripper frame can control from computer (console).
7. From Nexygen program, go to EDIT, select Insert New Test and select sample type
(plastics, rubber, metals or etc.).
8. Select either Compression Setup or Tensile Setup.
9. Fill in the dimension or specification of the sample.
10. Insert the specimen ( PE, PP, composite) to gripper frame.
11. Select zero 0 for zeroing the Load and Stroke. Start the test by select the Start
Test.
12. The machine now under running condition and will stop automatically after fracture
detected.
13. Switch off POWER and DO the CLEANING PROCESS.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young's_modulus
http://faculty.uscupstate.edu/llever/Polymer%20Resources/Mechanical.htm#elongation
http://faculty.uscupstate.edu/llever/Polymer%20Resources/StressStrain.htm#Strain
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080724124155AALshMS