Materials Flashcards
(13 cards)
What is meant by extension and compression of a string?
Tensile forces act away from the centre of the spring in both directions and will stretch it out causing the spring to extend.
Forces acting towards the centre of the spring in both directions is called compression.
What happens to the spring when tensile/compressive forces are exerted?
The spring undergoes ‘tensile deformation’ (for tensile forces) or ‘compressive deformation’ (for compressive forces).
State Hooke’s law.
In a materials showing Hooke’s law, the force applied is directly proportional to the extension in length, up to the limit of proportionality.
F= kΔx
(k = spring constant, Δx = extension)
What is meant by tensile stress?
The force per unit area.
What is tensile strain?
A measure of how the material stretches: the extension divided by the original length. This value is a ratio, so it has no units.
What is the difference between elastic and plastic deformation?
Elastic deformation: when the force is removed the object will return to its original length and shape.
Plastic deformation: after the force is removed, the object will not return to its original length and shape (limit of proportionality has been exceeded).
How is energy stored during elastic deformation?
The work done is transferred and stored as elastic potential energy.
Describe the energy changes that occur during plastic deformation.
The material is stretched and the energy from the work done is used to break the bonds between the molecules. This causes permanent deformation.
What is breaking stress?
The amount of stress a material can take without it breaking.
What is meant when a material is described as brittle?
It does not extend much when a force is applied (tensile strain stays low). The material tends to break rather than stretch under a large force.
What is the elastic limit?
The point after which plastic deformation occurs. After the elastic limit is reached, the material when the load is removed will not return to its original length.
What does the area under a force-extension graph represent?
The energy stored in the material
