Question 1:

A square sheet of polypropylene 10 cm on each side and 1 mm thick is stretched equi-

biaxially so that each side increases in length by 0.5%. Assuming the deformation is
entirely elastic, what force is required to do this? What is the through-thickness
following this operation? (assume v =0.33)

672 N, 0.995 mm

Question 2:

Annealed copper has a proof stress of  0.2%  100MPa . Nine strips of annealed copper
were deformed plastically by being passed between a pair of rotating rollers so that the
strips were made thinner and longer. The resulting increases in length were, 1, 10, 20,
30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 100%, respectively. The diamond-pyramid hardness of each piece
was measured after rolling. The results were:

Nominal 0.01 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 1.0
strain
Hardness 423 606 756 870 957 1029 1080 1116 1170
MN/m2

(a) What is the mechanism responsible for the increase in hardness with increasing
deformation?
(b) Assuming the hardness value is 3 times the true stress; construct the curve of
nominal stress against nominal strain.
(c) Find the tensile strength of Cu. 228.7 MPa
(d) Estimate the strain at which tensile failure commences. 0.5
(e) Estimate the percentage reduction in cross sectional area at this strain (i.e. the one
in d). 33%
(f) Calculate the work required to initiate tensile failure in a cubic meter of annealed
Cu. 102 MJ/m3
(g) If the dislocation density in the sample with a nominal strain of 0.1 is 1014 /m2,
estimate the dislocation density in the sample with a nominal strain of 0.5.
5.6e14 1/m2

Question 3:

(a) A polycrystalline aluminum alloy contains a dispersion of hard particles of

diameter 10-8 m and average centre to centre spacing of 6 x 10-8 m as measured on
the slip planes. Estimate the contribution of the dispersoid particles to the tensile
yield strength,  y , of the alloy. 446 MPa

(b) The alloy is used for the compressor blades of a small turbine. Adiabatic heating
raises the temperature of the blades to 150oC and causes the particles to coarsen
slowly. After 1000 hrs the dispersoids have grown to a diameter of 5 x 10-8 m and
 their spacing has increased to 30 x 10-8 m. Estimate the drop in yield strength.
298 MPa

[The shear modulus of Al is 26 GPa, the Burgers vector is 0.286 nm]

Question 4:

A material is subjected to a stress state such that  1  3 2  2 3 . You find the material
starts to flow plastically when  2  140 MPa.

(a) What is the yield stress of the material in uniaxial tension? Use both the Tresca
and von Mises criteria to determine this. Tresca 280 MPa, Von Mises 252 MPa

(b) If a hydrostatic pressure of 60 MPa is applied, the stress state is given by:
 1   m  3 2   m  2 3   m , where  m =60 MPa.
What is the yield stress of the material under this stress state? No change

Question 5:

Two wooden beams are butt-jointed using an epoxy

adhesive. The adhesive was stirred before
application, entraining air bubbles, which, under
pressure in forming the joint, deform to flat, penny-
shaped discs of diameter 2a = 2mm. If the beam has
the dimensions shown and epoxy has a fracture
toughness of 0.5 MPa.m½ calculate the maximum
load F that the beam can support. Assume that Y is
 / 2.
3Fl
Hint: for three point bending:  max 
2bt 2
1.89 kN

Question 6:

A pressurized pipe (made of low alloy steel) carrying stream in a power plant is subject to
both a constant stress  m (due to the stream pressure in the pipe) and a fluctuating stress
 (due to mechanical vibrations and pressure fluctuations). Under these conditions the
pipe will eventually fail by fatigue.

Fatigue tests show that this material obeys Basquin’s law:

 N f   C , where C = 350MPa and a =0.09. Determine the fatigue life under the
a

following conditions:

(a)   100MPa, m  0 1.1e6 cycles

(b)   100MPa,  m  50MPa 2.5e5 cycles
(c) cycles alternate equally between conditions (a) and (b). 2.03e5 cycles

Assume the material has a yield-strength of 250 MPa and a tensile strength of 400 MPa.

Question 7:

An aircraft airframe has encountered an estimated 4  108 cycles at a stress range of 150
MPa. It is desired to extend the airframe life by another 4  108 cycles by reducing the
performance of the aircraft. Find the decrease in stress range necessary to achieve the
additional life. You may assume Miner’s rule to hold. In addition, the constants of
Basquin’s law are given as C=649MPa and a=0.073.

Decrease of 13 MPa

Question 8:

An alloy tie bar in a chemical plant has been designed to withstand a stress,  , of 25
MPa at 620oC. Creep tests carried out on specimens of the alloy under these conditions
indicated a steady-state creep rate of 3.1 1012 s-1. In service it was found that, for 30
percent of the running time, the stress and temperature increased to 30 MPa and 650oC.
Calculate the average creep rate under service conditions. It may be assumed that the
alloy creeps according to the equation:

  A 5 exp Q / RT 

where A and Q are constants, Q = 160 kJ/mole.

6.8e-12 /sec.

Question 9:

The creep mechanism map of Ni is shown below. If the operating conditions of a certain
product are similar to those of the shaded area on the diagram, identify the most effective
method(s) of increasing the creep life of this product.

In the present example diffusional creep is the dominant diffusion mechanism. Since
diffusion creep varies as 1/d2, we can improve the creep resistance by increasing the grain
size. We can also introduce grain boundary precipitates (e.g. carbides) the will pin the
grain boundaries and prevent the grain boundary sliding which accompanies diffusional
creep.

0.1
Ideal Strength

1 GPa
0.01
Plastic

 100 MPa

 0.001

Creep L.T.
Elastic
10 MPa Creep H.T.
0.0001

1 MPa
0.00001 Diffusional Flow
10-7/s
10-8/s
10-9/s
0.1 MPa Coble N.H.
0.000001
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

T / Tm

Question 10:

(a) Explain very briefly why foams make excellent materials for energy absorption.

(b) Porous Alumina has an elastic modulus of 60 GPa, while solid alumina has a density
of 400 GPa. Assuming that porous alumina could be treated as an isotropic open-cell
foam, estimate the relative density of porous alumina. 0.387

Question 11:

A sheet of Al is clamped in the z-direction such that no deformation occurs in this

direction ( Z  0). The sheet is then stretched elastically in the x and y directions such
that  x   y .

(a) If the strain in the x direction is 0.5% and assuming that the material is isotropic with
E = 70 GPa and v = 0.3, calculate  x ,  y and  z . 673 MPa, 673 MPa, 403 MPa

(b) Calculate the % change in volume of the sheet for the stress state described in (a).
1%
Question 12:

The true-stress- true strain response of a metal alloy deformed into the plastic range is
described by:
 T  150 T0.4 , where, the stress is in MPa.
Use the above expression to determine:

(a) The true and nominal (Engineering) strain in the alloy at the point of necking. 0.4
and 0.491
(b) The ultimate tensile stress. 69.7 MPa
(c) The true yield stress of a sample of the metal that is cold-worked to a true strain
of 0.2 prior to being tested. 78.8 MPa
(d) The elastic strain energy per unit volume stored in the material at the point of
necking (E = 200 GPa). 15.5 kJ/m3

Question 13:

(a) A steel plate with a through-thickness center crack of length 15 mm, fails when it
is subjected to a far-field stress of 350 MPa. What is the fracture toughness Kc of
this material? 53.7MPa.m½
(b) Steel has a tensile modulus E of 211 GPa. What is the toughness, Gc, of this
material? 13700 J/m2
(c) If the material has a tensile yield strength,  y , of 500 MPa, what is largest defect
size for which the component would satisfy the yield-before-break condition.
3.7mm
[Hint: You may assume Y =1]

Question 14:

A pure metal with a body centered cubic (BCC) crystal structure is commercially
available in grain sizes of 10 m and 100 m .

(a) If the yield-stress of the sample with 100 m grain-size is 200 MPa, estimate the
yield-stress of the sample with 10 m grain size, assuming that the intrinsic strength
of the above metal is 50 MPa. 524 MPa

(b) Discuss the effect (if any) of grain refinement on the following material properties:

I. Young’s modulus. none

II. Ductile to brittle transition temperature. decreases
III. Creep rate. increases
 Whenever possible, use equations and diagrams in your discussion. Clearly state any
assumptions that you are making.

Question 15:

(a) Draw a typical creep curve (strain vs. time) for a crystalline solid and mark on it
the steady-state creep regime. Describe the effects of temperature and applied
stress on the steady-state creep rate.

(b) The rate of steady-state diffusion creep in a Si3N4 ceramic tested at 1200oC is
given by:
SS  A n
where A and n are constants. What is the theoretical value of n? If ss  10 10 / s
at   10 MPa, determine A. n= 1, A=10-17 /Pa.sec

(c) Creep failure is imminent when the total strain on the sample is approximately
0.01. Estimate the creep life if   1000 MPa. State your assumptions, and
explain whether or not your estimate is conservative. 106 sec, not conservative

(d) A sample of the above Si3N4 ceramic is loaded in tension at 1200oC to an initial
stress of 1000 MPa. How long does it take for the stress to relax to a value of 500
MPa if the total strain (plastic + elastic) is held constant? (E= 400 GPa). 2 days

Question 16:

This question is concerned with the plastic deformation of materials. Parts (a) and (b) are
independent of each other.

(a) If the true stress- true strain curve for a material is described by   A n , where
Ann
A and n are constant, show that the tensile strength is given by:  TS  n ,
e
where e is the exponential function.

(b) The following yield criterion is being proposed to describe yielding under
multiaxial loading in metals:

1   2   3  K

where  1 ,  2 and  3 are the principal stresses and K is a constant. Discuss whether
or not this is a valid yield criterion. Not valid.
Question 17:

(a) A thermosetting epoxy polymer is to be reinforced by continuous graphite fibers so

that the modulus of the composite parallel to the fibers is 150 GPa. What volume
fraction of fibers would be needed? (Eepoxy = 5 GPa, Efiber = 450GPa) 0.326

(b) The above composite is loaded in tension parallel to the fibers. Separate tests on the
fibers show that they behave as a linear elastic solid up to the fracture point (  f =1.5
GPa), while the epoxy matrix shows limited plasticity with a yield strength of 25
MPa. On loading, will the composite fail first by yielding of the matrix or cracking
of the fibers? Cracking of the fibers

Question 18:

The potential energy U of two atoms, a distance r apart, is:

A B
U  m  n , m = 2, n = 10
r r
Given that the atoms form a stable molecule at a separation of 0.3 nm with an average
energy of -4 eV, calculate A and B. Also find the force required to break the molecule.
A= 0.45 eV.nm2, B= 5.9e-6 eV.nm10, Fmax = 14.9 eV/nm

Question 19:

Show, using a simple model, that the strain energy release per unit area of crack
extension is equal to :
 2 a
E
Where  is the applied stress, a is the half crack length and E is Young’s modulus. In
developing your model you may use approximations that yield a result correct to within a
factor of 2.

Question 20:

Steel plates with edge cracks of length 10 mm are tested first at room temperature and at -
80oC. At room temperature the plate fails by rapid facture when the far field stress is 350
MPa, while at -80oC the stress to cause rapid fracture is 200 MPa. What are the
toughness and fracture toughness values at both temperatures? Explain the trends shown
by the data. [E=210 GPa]. 18,300 J/m2 and 5,980 J/m2.

Question 21:
In order to test the strength of a ceramic, cylindrical specimens of length 25 mm and
diameter 5 mm are put into axial tension. The tensile stress,  , which causes 50% of the
specimens to break is 120 MPa. Cylindrical ceramic components of length 50 mm and
diameter 11 mm are required to withstand an axial tensile stress, x, with a survival
probability of 99%. Given that m = 5, determine x. 32.6 MPa

Question 22:

When a fast-breeder reactor is shut down quickly, the temperature of the surface of a
number of components drops from 600oC to 400oC in less than a second. These
components are made of a stainless steel and have a thick section the bulk of which
remains at the higher temperature for several seconds. The low-cycle fatigue life of the
steel is described by:
N 1f / 2  pl  0.2
where Nf is the number of cycles to failure and  pl is the plastic strain range. Estimate
the number of fast shut-downs the reactor can sustain before serious cracking or failure
will occur. [Hint: The thermal expansion coefficient of stainless steel is 1.2  10 5 / K ;
the yield strain at 400oC is 0.4  10 3 ]. 104 cycles