Plastic Flexure of Mild Steel Beams of Rectangular Cross-section

Abstract

The paper describes tests on a 0–28 per cent carbon steel in tension and compression, and in flexure of beams of rectangular cross-section, to a maximum strain about three times that at the initial yield. The object of these tests-was to investigate the shape of the stress-strain curve immediately after the initial yielding, and to determine whether in a case such as flexure the upper yield stress could be relied upon as a criterion of design. The results from this material indicate that the stress-strain curve falls rapidly but not immediately from the upper to the lower yield value, and that a beam is capable of withstanding a slightly greater bending moment than would be predicted by calculations based on the direct stress tests including the upper yield stress.