Body-Centered Cubic | The crystal structure that contains an atom in the center and one atom in each corner of a cube.
Metals with a body-centered cubic crystal structure tend to be hard. |
Bond | An attraction that forms when electrons are shared or transferred among atoms.
Atomic bonds become the "glue" that holds the atoms together. |
Brinell Test | A hardness test that measures the diameter of a circle formed by the penEetration of a 10mm
steel ball under a fixed load pressure. |
Charpy Test | An impact test that measures the amount of energy a material can absorb. The material is broken
by a falling pendulum, and the following upswing of the pendulum is measured. |
Cold Working | The shaping of metal at temperatures much lower than the metal's molten state. Steel is
often cold worked at room temperature. |
Compression Strength | A material's ability to resist forces that attempt to compress or squeeze the material together. |
Compression Stress | A force that attempts to flatten or "squeeze" a material. |
Crystal Structure | The formation of crystals, which consist of a repeating pattern of atoms. A crystalline structure
develops as a liquid metal cools and changes into a solid. |
Cutting Tool | A device with sharp edges used to cut metal. Cutting tools are either single point or multi-point. |
Drawn | The attempt to pull a metal through a die in order to stretch it. |
Ductile | Able to be drawn, stretched, or formed without breaking. |
Ductility | A metal's ability to be drawn, stretched, or formed without breaking. |
Elastic Region | The region of the stress-strain graph in which deformation is temporary. If a material is
forced beyond the elastic region, it experiences plastic deformation. |
Face-Centered Cubic | The crystal structure that contains one atom in the center of the six sides of a cube and one
atom in each corner of the cube. Metals with a face-centered cubic crystal structure tend to
be ductile. |
Grain | An individual crystal in a metal or alloy. |
Hardness | A material's ability to resist penetration, indentation, or scratching. Hard materials tend to be
very wear resistant. |
Hexagonal Close-Packed | The crystal structure that contains a collection of atoms that are closely packed into the
shape of a hexagon. Metals with a hexagonal close-packed crystal structure tend to be brittle. |
Impact Toughness | The amount of energy that a material can absorb from a sudden, sharp blow before it breaks
or fractures. |
Indenter | A device used in a hardness test that is pressed into the test material. |
Load | The weight or burden that is supported by a material. |
Mechanical Properties | The properties that describe a material's ability to compress, stretch, bend, scratch, dent, or break. |
Modulus Of Elasticity | A variable that describes the relationship of stress to strain within the elastic region.
The modulus of elasticity describes a material's stiffness. |
Necking | The reduction in diameter that occurs as a sample material is subjected to tensile stresses. |
Plastic Deformation | Deformation that is permanent. Plastic deformation occurs after excessive elastic deformation. |
Plastic Region | An area of the stress-strain graph in which permanent changes to a metal begin to occur. |
Properties | The characteristics of a material that distinguish it from other materials. |
Rockwell Test | A hardness test that measures the degree of penetration into a metal caused by a diamond
or other hard material that is applied under a fixed load. |
Safety Factor | A number that describes the safe, allowable working stress of a material. |
Shear Strength | A material's ability to resist forces that attempt to cause the internal structure of the material to
slide against itself. |
Shear Stress | A force that attempts to cause the internal structure of a material to slide against itself. |
Slip Band | The appearance of fragmented crystals and spaces indicating that a metal is about to break. |
Stamping Die | An assembled device with an upper and lower plate that opens and closes and contains
special tools for cutting or shaping sheet metal. |
Steel | A metal consisting of iron and carbon, usually with small amounts of manganese, phosphorus,
sulfur, and silicon. |
Strain | The ratio of change in a dimension that takes place with a material under stress. |
Strength | A metal's ability to resist outside forces that are trying to break or deform the metal. |
Stress | A force that attempts to deform an object. |
Stress-Strain Graph | A graph that describes the relationship between stress and strain and marks the elastic
and plastic regions for a given material. |
Tensile Strength | A material's ability to resist forces that attempt to pull it apart or stretch it. |
Tensile Stress | A force that attempts to pull apart or stretch a material. |
Torsion Stress | A type of shear stress that attempts to twist a material against itself. |
Toughness | The amount of energy a material can absorb before it breaks. |
Yield Strength | The point on the stress-strain curve where there is a sudden increase in strain,
but no increase in stress. It is at this point that a metal is about to permanently deform |