List of Mechanical Properties That Every Mechanical Engg Should Know

Mechanical Properties of Materials

The mechanical properties of materials define the behavior of materials under the action of external forces called loads.

There are a measure of strength and lasting characteristics of the material in service and are of good importance in the design of tools, machines, and structures.

The mechanical properties of metals are determined by the range of usefulness of the metal and establish the service that is expected.

Mechanical properties are also useful for helping to specify and identify metals. And the most common properties considered are strength, hardness, ductility, brittleness, toughness, stiffness, and impact resistance.

List of Mechanical Properties of Materials

The following are the mechanical properties of materials.

1. Strength
2. Elasticity
3. Stress
4. Strain
5. Plasticity
6. Hardness
7. Toughness
8. Brittleness
9. Stiffness
10. Ductility
11. Malleability
12. Cohesion
13. Impact strength
14. Fatigue
15. Creep

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#1 Strength

• Strength is the mechanical property that enables a metal to resist deformation load.
• The strength of a material is its capacity to withstand destruction under the action of external loads.
• The stronger the materials the greater the load it can withstand.

#2 Elasticity

• According to the dictionary, elasticity is the ability of an object or material to resume its normal shape after being stretched or compressed.
• When a material has a load applied to it, the load causes the material to deform.
• The elasticity of a material is its power to come back to its original position after deformation when the stress or load is released.
• Heat-treated springs, rubber, etc are good examples of elastic materials.

#3 Stress

• Whenever we apply an external force on an object, its particles act in the opposite direction, applying a restoring force. The restoring force per unit area is referred to as stress.

The magnitude of the stress = F/A

#4 Strain

• When stress is applied to an object, it causes a specific deformation. In other words, the particles have moved from their initial position.
• The displacement of particles caused by stress is known as strain.
• It is mathematically represented as the ratio of the changed dimension to the initial dimension.

Hooke’s Law

• It describes the relationship between stress and strain. Hooke’s law states that stress and strain are directly proportional.

stress-strain

stress = k × strain

• K represents the proportionality constant, often known as the modulus of elasticity.

Stress-Strain Curve

• It is a graph that illustrates how a material’s stress and strain relate to one another when a certain deforming force is applied.
• The graph demonstrates different behavior for various materials.

Young’s Modulus

It is a characteristic of the material that defines how stress and strain are related to one another.

#5 Plasticity

• The plasticity of a material is its ability to undergo some permanent deformation without rupture(brittle).
• Plastic deformation will take place only after the elastic range has been exceeded.
• Pieces of evidence of plastic action in structural materials are called yield, plastic flow, and creep.
• Materials such as clay, lead, etc are plastic at room temperature, and steel plastic when at bright red heat.

#6 Hardness

• The resistance of a material to force penetration or bending is hardness.
• Hardness is the ability of a material to resist scratching, abrasion, cutting, or penetration.
• Hardness indicates the degree of hardness of a material that can be imparted particularly steel by the process of hardening.
• It determines the depth and distribution of hardness introduced by the quenching process.

#7 Toughness

• It is the property of a material that enables it to withstand shock or impact.
• Toughness is the opposite condition of brittleness.
• The toughness may be considering the combination of strength and plasticity.
• Manganese steel, wrought iron, mild steel, etc are examples of toughness materials.

#8 Brittleness

• The brittleness of a property of a material enables it to withstand permanent deformation.
• Cast iron, glass are examples of brittle materials.
• They will break rather than bend under shock or impact.
• Generally, brittle metals have high compressive strength but low tensile strength.

#9 Stiffness

• It is a mechanical property.
• The stiffness is the resistance of a material to elastic deformation or deflection.
• In stiffness, a material that suffers light deformation under load has a high degree of stiffness.
• The stiffness of a structure is important in many engineering applications, so the modulus of elasticity is often one of the primary properties when selecting a material.

#10 Ductility

• The ductility is a property of a material that enables it to be drawn out into a thin wire.
• Mild steel, copper, and aluminum are good examples of a ductile material.

#11 Malleability

• Malleability is a property of a material that permits it to be hammered or rolled into sheets of other sizes and shapes.
• Aluminum, copper, tin, lead e#1tc are examples of malleable metals.

#12 Cohesion

• It is a mechanical property.
• Cohesion is a property of a solid body by which it resists being broken into a fragment.

#13 Impact Strength

• The impact strength is the ability of a metal to resist suddenly applied loads.

#14 Fatigue

• The fatigue is the long effect of repeated straining action which causes the strain or break of the material.
• It is the term ‘fatigue’ used to describe the fatigue of material under repeatedly applied forces.

#15 Creep

• The creep is a slow and progressive deformation of a material with time at a constant force.
• The simplest type of creep deformation is viscous flow.
• Some metals generally exhibit creep at high temperatures, whereas plastic, rubber, and similar amorphous materials are very temperature-sensitive to creep.
• The force for a specified rate of strain at constant temperature is called creep strength.

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Conclusion

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