yield strength when designing products<\/strong>. Keeping the load within this area ensures the product is safe from failure. This means that the maximum load has to stay below the yield strength limit at all times.<\/p>\nA common way of doing so is by determining the maximum load first. Taking the specifics of the chosen material into account, calculations give the answer for the necessary cross-sectional area. Geometry plays an important role in how high loads a part can withstand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As an extra precautionary measure, a safety factor is added. The safety factor usually falls somewhere between 1.5 and 2. The simplest way of using it is just multiplying the maximum load value by the factor. Adding the safety factor ensures that unexpected loads and material imperfections will not result in broken parts.<\/p>\n
Designing for ultimate tensile strength<\/strong> means your part will permanently deform once subjected to the load it was designed for. The material’s crystal structure may change and it will probably lose an important property. This means that the product no longer has the same characteristics that may have been the very reason for its selection.<\/p>\nAn important point to note here is that some tools like knives and spanners are strain hardened so that they can be stronger and closer to their ultimate tensile strength value before they can potentially fracture.<\/p>\n
Tensile Testing<\/h2>\n