Tensile testing, plastics stress—strain curves

J7 In a tensile test on a plastic, the material is subjected to a constant strain rate of 10 s. If this material may have its behaviour modelled by a Maxwell element with the elastic component f = 20 GN/m and the viscous element t) = 1000 GNs/m, then derive an expression for the stress in the material at any instant. Plot the stress-strain curve which would be predicted by this equation for strains up to 0.1% and calculate the initial tangent modulus and 0.1% secant modulus from this graph. 

Even plastics with fairly linear stress-strain curves to failure, for example short-fiber reinforced TSs (RPs), usually display moduli of rupture values that are higher than the tensile strength obtained in uniaxial tests wood behaves much the same. Qualitatively, this can be explained from statistically considering flaws and fractures and the fracture energy available in flexural samples under a constant rate of deflection as compared to tensile samples under the same load conditions. These differences become less as the... 

The test can provide compressive stress, compressive yield, and modulus. Many plastics do not show a true compressive modulus of elasticity. When loaded in compression, they display a deformation, but show almost no elastic portion on a stress-strain curve those types of materials should be compressed with light loads. The data are derived in the same manner as in the tensile test. Compression test specimen usually requires careful edge loading of the test specimens otherwise the edges tend to flour/spread out resulting in inacturate test result readings (2-19). 

For all materials (other than fabrics, for which the concept is not relevant) the basic parameter is a measure of stiffness or modulus derived from the stress-strain curve. As with tensile tests, because the stress -strain relation is generally not linear, care must be taken to compare only measures of stiffness defined in the same way. With rigid foams and plastics there are additionally measures of yield or strength. 

A yield criterion defines the limit of elasticity (or onset of plastic flow) under any combination of stresses. Figure 1 shows a stress-strain curve that might be derived from a simple uniaxial tensile test. 

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