Influence of punch radius on elastic modulus of three-point bending tests

Abstract

Three-point bending is one of the most common methods of studying the mechanical performance of materials. The influence of punch radius in the measurements is not considered in the previous studies. This article focuses on the influence of the punch radius on the elastic modulus. The experiment is set up to measure the elastic modulus of 6061 aluminum alloy (6061 Al) and copper as the specimens, in which several different radii of punches are used. The maximum bending deflection of the middle point is 1.0 mm. Moreover, a finite element simulation is constructed to simulate the bending process of specimen, which is consistent with the experimental results. According to the results, the punch radius has affected the measurement of elastic modulus, and the elastic modulus, the contact length, and the peak load increase with the increase in the punch radius. Combining the experiment result (E1) and the standard result (E3) of Changchun research institute for testing machines, it is found that the appropriate punch radius is in the range from 2.5 to 3.0 mm for this experiment, when the specimen's dimension is 30.0 mm × 6.0 mm × 1.0 mm.