STATIC COMPRESSION
TEST
THE STATIC COMPRESSION TEST
The compression test is the opposite of the tension test with respect to direction
of applied stress.
LIMITATIONS OF COMPRESSION TEST
1- The difficulty of applying a truly concentric or axial load.
2- Friction between the heads of the testing machine or bearing plates and the
end surfaces of the specimen results in formation of lateral expansion of the
specimen which gives the specimen its barrel shape.
3- The relatively unstable character of
this type of loading contrasted with
tensile loading.
4- The relatively large cross section area of the compression test specimen
required to obtain a proper degree of stability of the tested piece, that needs
machines with high capacity.
THE STATIC COMPRESSION TEST
1. Test Specimens.
The general requirements of compression test specimens
➢ With respect to shape of cross section
Square, rectangular and circular cross sections can be used
For uniform stressing of the compression specimen, circular section is to be preferred
over other shapes.
➢ With respect to relative dimensions
▪ A height to diameter ratio of 10 is suggested as a practical upper limit and 2
is suggested as a lower limit.
• A ratio of length to diameter of 2 or more is commonly employed, although
the height to diameter ratio used varies for different materials.
• The selection of the actual size depends on:
1- Type of material
2- Type of measurements
3- Testing machines available
THE STATIC COMPRESSION TEST
With respect to geometry
The ends to which load is applied must be smooth, parallel, flat and perpendicular to the
axis of the specimen.
2. APPARATUS
Because these specimens are rather large, testing machines of relatively high
capacity are needed.
3. Requirements in specimen positioning
1- The loaded faces of the specimen should normal to its geometric axis.
2- The loaded faces of the machine must bear uniformly against the specimen.
3- The resultant load must coincide with the geometric axis of specimen.
➢ SPHERICAL SEATING BLOCK
Usually one end of the specimen
should bear on a spherical seated
block. The purpose is to overcome
the effect of a small lack of
parallelism between the heads of the
machine and the end faces of the
specimen.
It is desirable that the spherical
seated bearing block be at the upper
end of the test specimen. it is
important for the center of the
spherical surface of this block to lie in
the flat face that bears on the Fig 6-4 Arrangements of the specimen and a
specimen and for the specimen itself spherical seated block
to be carefully centered with respect
to the canter of the spherical surface.
THE STATIC COMPRESSION TEST
3. PROCEDURES
In commercial tests, the only property determined is the compressive strength.
4. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES IN COMPRESSION
various mechanical properties may be defined from the initial portion in the
same manner as for tension, such as the modulus of elasticity, E, the
proportional limit stress, pL, and the yield strength, y.
1 Stiffness for Non-linear material behaviour
For Non-linear material behaviour, the stiffness of the material
can be estimated by the initial tangent modulus which is the
slope of the tangent to the stress-strain curve at the origin.
The stiffness of these types of materials can be also compared
at any stress level by the tangent modulus. This tangent
modulus is the slope of the tangent to the stress-strain curve at
the point corresponding to this stress level.
This comparison can be also made by the secant modulus
which is the slope of the line OB on the curve.
The modulus of elasticity can be expressed by the chord
modulus which is the slope of line connecting two specified
points on the curve as points C, D.
THE STATIC COMPRESSION TEST
5. FAILURE OF MATERIALS IN COMPRESSION
1. Ductile Metals.
• If the material is mild steel, it will contract and flatten without failure .
• Metals of relatively low ductility and case hardened pieces developed
surface cracks parallel to the loading axis as failure becomes pronounced.
2. Semi-ductile material
If the material is semi-ductile such as brass, it will continue to contract under
load and it will fail by shearing on a definite angle (50).
3. Brittle Materials
The brittle materials will then fail by shearing on definite angle (55-60)
THE STATIC COMPRESSION TEST
6. EFFECT OF VARIABLES
1. Size and Shape
Almost all compression specimens are right
regular prisms or cylinders.
As the L/D increased the measured strength
decreased due to buckling effect.
As the D or size of specimen increase the
measured strength decreased due to increasing
of internal defects and impurities.
2. Test Speed
• The results of tests on concrete
indicate that the relation between
strength and rate of loading is
approximately logarithmic,
• the more rapid the rate the higher the
indicted strength.
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