2030 – 04 – What is the Elastic Region?

1m

A material and its stress and strain relationship is best characterized by a stress/strain graph. Every material has the same basic stress/strain principle which states that as stress increases, so does strain. When stress is too great, strain will cause the material to break.
Most metals show a gradual increase in stress and strain in the stress-strain graph. The rate at which stress and strain climb tells us the material’s modulus of elasticity. The steeper the slope, the larger the modulus, which indicates a stiffer and stronger material. If there isn’t enough stress to permanently change the metal, then the metal returns to its normal state. This rebound indicates that a metal is still in its elastic region. If stress and strain stay put, the crystal structure of the metal remains intact.