The effect of specimen geometry on tensile properties of titanium alloy metal sheet

Determination of tensile properties of materials is required to reliably predict performance of engineering materials in service and for design purposes. Tensile properties are also used as a measure of product quality. Various testing standards recommend specific specimen sizes for reporting of tensile properties. This recommendation is normally a challenge in materials development where the required specimen size is not achievable due to component size limitation. In addition, the materials developer still wants to compare their tensile results with the reference materials produced from standard sizes or produced from different geometries. It is well documented that tensile properties are affected by the specimen geometry (gauge length and cross sectional area). It is therefore the purpose of this study to investigate the effect of specimen geometry on tensile properties. In addition, this study seeks to determine suitable specimen geometry required to yield comparable tensile properties obtained from other specimen geometries. Various dog bone specimen geometries were produced from a titanium alloy metal sheet and tensile properties determined. Yield strength, Ultimate tensile strength and, % elongation were compared. Yield strength and ultimate tensile strength were not affected by different specimen geometries. However, % elongation differed for different geometries. (paper)