Analysis of tension and bending response to characterize elastic-plastic material behavior

The integrity of components can be affected by certain material degradation mechanisms that cause a loss of ductility. In cases where the component loading is primarily in bending, a loss of ductility can significantly reduce the load capacity. Material degradation may be determined by component testing involving the bending mode. In such cases, characterizing the material response in terms of yield stress, ultimate stress and failure strain is complicated by the nature of the load curve due to bending. The objective of this work is to examine in detail the relationship between tensile and bending response, with particular attention to the condition of decreasing ductility.