This chapter discusses composite testing procedures, including tension, compression, shear, flexure, and fracture toughness testing as well as adhesive shear, peel, and honeycomb flatwise tension testing. It also discusses specimen preparation, environmental conditioning, and data analysis.

The mechanical behavior of a material is its response to an applied load or force. Important mechanical properties are strength, hardness, stiffness, and ductility. This chapter discusses three principal ways in which these properties are tested: tension, compression, and shear. Important tensile properties that can be determined by the tensile test include yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, ductility, resilience, and toughness. The chapter describes the effects of stress concentrations on ductile metals under cyclic loads. Other topics covered include combined stresses, yield criteria, and residual stresses of metals.