Tensile Test – Preliminary lab questions
Read Gere and Goodno, Mechanics of Materials, Chapter 1
For the tensile lab you will be testing 2 different material alloys and for one of the alloys 2 different
tempers. The actual alloys tested will be:
1) Aluminum 6061-T651
2) Steel C1018 CF – annealed
3) Steel C1018 CF – annealed and quenched
For the answers to this prelab, consider the 2 materials below. You may refer to Table H-2 and H-3 in the
book for candidate material values. If a range of values is given in the table, use the average value.
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Aluminum 6061 alloy and
High Strength Steel
All answers for this assignment must be given in Imperial units. Include units in all answers and
reference for assumed values if necessary.
1) Complete the table below:
Modulus Yield Stress
Ultimate Stress
Aluminum 2014-T6
High Strength Steel
2) For an aluminum 2014-T6 sample of diameter of 0.236”
a. What is the predicted load at yield?
b. What is the predicted load at failure (necking)?
3) What is the percent change in the load at yield if the sample above is changed to 7075-T6?
4) What is the expected displacement of an extensometer of length 1” placed over the sample test
region at the predicted load value for yield? (Choose one material out of two from question 1 for the
extensometer. Clearly indicate which material you chose)
5) If the extension was recorded as movement of the crosshead rather than extension of the gauge
portion of the sample, would the data collected be accurate? Explain in qualitative terms.