11/09/15

Case Study Flying Fox report

John La 12046280
60101 CHEMISTRY AND MATERIAL SCIENCE

Case Study
Ace Flying Fox LTD
John La 12046280

This report will analyse and discuss the mechanical properties of a certain highstrength, cold rolled steel section to determine whether it shall be suitable for a new
flying fox designed Ace Flying Fox Ltd. Graphs, calculations and results are included to
support claims made in this report.
Page
1

11/09/15

Case Study Flying Fox report

John La 12046280

Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................... 2
Method................................................................................................................... 2
Results................................................................................................................... 3
Discussion.............................................................................................................. 4
Conclusion............................................................................................................. 5
References............................................................................................................. 5
Appendix................................................................................................................ 6

Page
2

11/09/15

Case Study Flying Fox report

John La 12046280

Introduction
As requested by the Ace Flying Fox Ltd, I have been assigned to determine the tensile
material properties of their chosen cold-rolled steel for the construction of a flying fox.
Throughout the process of testing I will be observing the ultimate tensile strength but for
the modulus of elasticity and the 0.2% proof stress for that specific material, I have to
further use some engineering concepts and some calculations in order to obtain them.

Method
Before starting to test anything, I firstly determined the dimensions of the testing
specimen for example the width, thickness and length in order to determine the initial
cross-sectional area of the testing specimen. The dimensions of the specimen were
measured using a special Vernier calliper.
After obtaining all the accurate dimensions of the testing specimen, the actual tensile
test was conducted using the Instron 5900 Series Tensile Testing Machine and the
standard that was followed to examine the material was the Australian Standard for
Measuring the Tensile Strength [AS 1391-2007].
After testing the cold-rolled steel, the actual testing data was recorded on a graph as well
as in a table format using a computer for the sake of accuracy and to eliminate human
errors. According to the Australian Standard for Measuring the Tensile Strength [AS 13912007], the Ultimate Tensile Strength [UTS] was observed clearly in which it was basically
the highest point on the stress vs strain graph.
Similarly, the Modulus of Elasticity was calculated after obtaining the stress vs strain
curve, in which it is mathematically the ratio of stress vs strain or the gradient of the
elastic proportionality. The gradient [E] was calculated using the method of the ratio of
rise over run, here rise being the stress applied to the testing specimen and run being the
strain or the amount of permanent plastic deformation.
Also the 0.2% proof stress was calculated graphically using another plot of the stress vs
strain graph in which the gradient line of the elastic proportionality was shifted 0.002
strain to the right and the corresponding proof stress was determined.
Furthermore, the percentage elongation at the Ultimate Tensile Strength [UTS] point and
fracture point was calculated in a similar way that to the 0.2% proof stress in which the
gradient line of the elastic proportionality was shifted twice, once to the Ultimate Tensile
Strength [UTS] and another time to the fracture point and then these values were
determined and multiplied by 100 to obtain the percentage exact value.

Page
3

11/09/15

Case Study Flying Fox report

Page
4

John La 12046280

11/09/15

Case Study Flying Fox report

John La 12046280

Results
According to the Australian Standard for Measuring the Tensile Strength [AS 1391-2007],
the Ultimate Tensile Strength [UTS] was observed on the stress vs strain curve to be
exactly 755 MPa.
Moreover, according to the Australian Standard for Measuring the Tensile Strength [AS
1391-2007], the youngs modulus was mathematically calculated using the gradient line
of the elastic proportionality in which it was found out to be approximately 203 GPa.
In addition, the 0.2% proof stress was determined as well using the gradient line and it
was found to be about 608 MPa.
Ultimate Tensile Strength
Modulus of Elasticity
Stress ()
[MPa]
35.200
88.000
129.333
174.133
226.133
280.000
333.333
384.000
434.667
482.667
528.000
570.667
605.333
624.000
640.000
658.667
672.000
685.333
698.667
706.667
717.333
733.333
746.667
754.667
746.667
730.667
725.333
712.000
690.667

755
MPa
203
GPa
608
MPa
11%
7.50%
28300
N

Strain
0.2% Proof Stress
()
0.00015
0.00033 % elongation at fracture
% elongation at UTS
8
Maximum Load
0.00052
2
0.00073
0.2% Proof Stress
6
Stress ()
Strain
Stress vs Strain Data Table
0.00100
()
4 [MPa]
Stress vs Strain [0.2% Proof
0.0001 Stress] Data Table
0.00126
5
8 35.200
0.0003
0.00154
38
8 88.000
0.0005
0.00188
22
4 129.333
0.0007
0.00208
174.133
36
0.00226
0.0010
0.00254
226.133
04
0.00288
0.0012
0.0036
280.000
68
0.00896
0.0015
0.0162
333.333
48
0.0226
0.0018
0.0294
84
0.036384.000
0.0020
0.0432
8
0.05434.667
0.0022
0.0562
482.667
6
0.0618
Page
0.0025
0.0684
528.000
4 5
0.0752
0.0028
0.0836
570.667
8
0.0926
0.1024
605.333
0.0036
0.1094
0.0089
0.1142
624.000
6

11/09/15
Case Study Flying Fox report
Stress vs Strain Graph

John La 12046280

Stress () VS Strain ()

Stress () [MPa]

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

Strain ()

Stress vs Strain [0.2% Proof Stress] Graph

Stress () VS Strain () [0.2% Proof Stress]

700
600
500

Stress () [MPa]

400
300
200
100
0

0.01

0.01

Strain ()

Discussion
The results obtained from the tensile test are typical of cold-rolled or structural steel
because as mentioned above the modulus of elasticity was 203 GPa which is in the range
of youngs modulus of cold-rolled steel in which it ranges from 190-210 GPa.
Page
6

11/09/15
Case Study Flying Fox report
John La 12046280
In relation to the maximum stress, the company have previously mentioned that
according to their design, the maximum stress in their proposed new gantry will be 670
MPa. Therefore the observed maximum stress in the test specimen above was found to
be exactly 755 MPa, this means that the proposed maximum stress by the company is
less than that of the test, which means that cold-rolled steel is not very suitable for their
proposed design because if they reach their maximum stress the material will undergo
plastic deformation and there might be a chance of failure because their maximum stress
appears after the yield point.

Conclusion
To sum everything up, the proposed cold-rolled steel by the Ace Flying Fox Ltd Company
was successfully tested and the mechanical properties were fully obtained using several
engineering concepts.
The results obtained from mechanical testing showed that the chosen material is not very
suitable for use in their proposed design because as shown above, if it reaches the
maximum stress, it will deform plastically and it might cause failure.
Also, as shown above, this material has very high stiffness, which makes it favourable to
other metallic and durable materials in which it can carry more load or stress with a very
small significant amount of strain or deformation.

References

Minimum Bending Radius | Bending Bars | Steel Sections | The Chicago Curve.
[ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cmrp.com/blog/bending/bar-bending/minimumbending-radius-when-bending-bars-of-steel.html.
Tensile Testing machine used in the Laboratory Shimadzu AGS-X Universal Tester
HSC Online - Corrosion: Public enemy #1. 2015. HSC Online - Corrosion: Public
enemy #1. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/engineering_studies/focus/aero/3056/corrosion.html.

Page
7

11/09/15

Case Study Flying Fox report

Appendix

Page
8

John La 12046280

11/09/15

Case Study Flying Fox report

Page
9

John La 12046280

11/09/15

Case Study Flying Fox report

Page
10

John La 12046280