MECHANICAL

PROPERTIES
Stress–Strain Behavior
• Stress is defined as a force per unit area, which is usually expressed in
Newtons per square meter (Pascal, Pa) or pounds force per square
inch (psi):

• A load (or force) can be applied upon a material in tension,

compression, and shear or any combination of these forces (or
stresses).
• Tensile stresses are generated in response to loads (forces) that pull
an object apart
• Compressive stresses squeeze it together

• The shear stresses can also be found in uniaxial tension or

compression since the applied stress produces the maximum shear
stress on planes at 45º to the direction of loading
• The deformation of an object in response to an applied load is called
strain:

• It is also possible to denote strain by the stretch ratio, i.e., deformed

length/original length. The deformations associated with different
types of stresses are called tensile, compressive, and shear strain.
Stress–strain behavior of an idealized material.
• Curve that represents a continuous response of the material toward
the imposed force.
• The stress–strain curve of a solid sometimes can be demarcated by the
yield point ( or YP) into elastic and plastic regions. In the elastic region,
the strain increases in direct proportion to the applied stress (Hooke's
law):

• E-Young's modulus or the modulus of elasticity

• The stiffer a material is, the higher the value of E and the more difficult
it is to deform
• Similar analysis can be performed for deformation by shear, in which
the shear modulus (G) is defined as the initial slope of the curve of
shear stress versus shear strain.
• The unit for the modulus is the same as that of stress since strain is
dimensionless.
• The shear modulus of an isotropic material is related to its Young's
modulus by

• is the Poisson's ratio

• Poisson's ratio is close to 1/3 for common stiff materials, and is slightly
less than 1/2 for rubbery materials and for soft biological tissues.
• In the plastic region, strain changes are no longer proportional to the
applied stress. Further, when the applied stress is removed, the
material(atom) will not return to its original shape but will be
permanently deformed which is called a plastic deformation.
• The atoms will go back to their original positions, making it an elastic
deformation.
• The peak stress is known as the tensile or ultimate tensile strength
(TS); the stress where failure occurs is called the failure or fracture
strength (FS).
• In many materials such as stainless steels, definite yield points occur.
This point is characterized by temporarily increasing strain without a
further increase in stress.
• The engineering stress–strain curves, which differ from the true stress–
strain curves since the former curve is obtained by assuming a constant
cross sectional area over which the load is acting from the initial
loading until final rupture.
• This assumption is not correct, which accounts for the peak seen at the
ultimate tensile stress. For example, as a specimen is loaded under
tension, sometimes necking occurs, which reduces the area over which
the load is acting
Deformation characteristics of metals and plastics under stress. Note that metals rupture without further elongation
after necking occurs; by contrast, in plastics the necked region undergoes further deformation, called drawing.
Mechanical Failure
Static failure
Mechanical failure usually occurs by fracture. The fracture of a
material can be characterized by the amount of energy per unit volume
required to produce the failure. The quantity is called toughness and
can be expressed in terms of stress and strain:
Stress–strain curves of different types of materials. The areas underneath the curves are the measure of
toughness.
• A material that can withstand high stresses and can undergo
considerable plastic deformation(ductile-tough material) is tougher
than one that resists high stresses but has no capacity for deformation
(hard-brittle material) or one with a high capacity for deformation but
can only withstand relatively low stresses (ductile-soft or plastic
material).
• Brittle materials exhibit fracture strengths far below the theoretical
strength predicted based on known atomic bond strengths.
• Much variation in strength from specimen to specimen, so that the
practical strength is difficult to predict.
• Comparative weakness of ceramics in tension, are the major reasons
why ceramic and glassy materials are not used extensively for
implantation despite their excellent compatibility with tissues.
• The stress on a brittle material is not uniformly distributed over the
entire cross-sectional area if a crack or flaw is present,
• If the crack is a narrow elliptic hole in a specimen subjected to a tensile
stress, the maximum stress(max) acting at the ends of the hole is given
by
• is called the stress concentration factor
Dynamic fatigue failure
• When a material is subjected to a constant or a repeated load below
the fracture stress, it can fail after some time. This is called static or
dynamic (cyclic) fatigue respectively.
• The effect of cyclic stresses (Figure) is to initiate microcracks at centers
of stress concentration within the material or on the surface, resulting
in the growth and propagation of cracks, leading to failure.
Cyclic stresses. 𝜎min and 𝜎max are the maximum and minimum values of the cyclic
stresses. The range of stresses = 𝜎min – 𝜎max and average stress 𝜎ave = (𝜎max + 𝜎min)/2. The
top curve is fluctuating, and the bottom curve is for reversed cyclic loading.
• The rate of crack growth can be plotted in a log–log scale versus time, as shown in
Figure.

Log da/dN versus log for polymethylmethacrylate bone cement

• The most significant portion of the curve is the crack propagation stage, which can be
estimated as follows:
where a, N, and are the crack length, number of cycles, and range of stress intensity factor

A and m are the intercept and slope of the linear portion of the curve. This is called the Paris equation
• Another method of testing the fatigue properties is to monitor the
number of cycles to failure at various stress levels, as shown in Figure
This test requires a large number of specimens compared with the
crack propagation test.
• The endurance limit is the stress below which the material will not fail
in fatigue no matter how many cycles are applied.
• Normally 10^7 cycles is considered as a representative limit for normal
fatigue failure. Not all materials exhibit an endurance limit.
• Since implants are often flexed many times during a patient's life, the
fatigue properties of materials are very important in implant design.
Friction and wear failure
• Wear properties of an implant material are important, especially for
various joint replacements.
• When two solid materials contact, they touch only at the tips
• Real contact area is much smaller than the apparent surface area
• True area of contact increases with applied load (P) for ductile
materials.
• Ductile materials can be pressure welded due to the formation of
plastic junctions.
Schematic representation of two surfaces under pressure. Plastic junctions are
formed when ductile materials are pressed together between asperities.