Final answer:
Low cycle results from stresses higher than yield strength are practical for part design as they provide insight into material behavior under plastic deformation and help predict material failure. This information is crucial for ensuring safety and selecting suitable materials for different load conditions.
Step-by-step explanation:
The measurement of low cycle results from stresses higher than yield strength is indeed a realistic and useful measurement when designing parts. The reason for this is that in the real world, parts may undergo plastic deformation due to stresses that exceed their yield strength; thus, their behavior beyond the elastic limit must be considered. For stresses beyond the elastic limit, a material exhibits plastic behavior and deforms irreversibly. The stress-strain relationship under such conditions provides valuable information about material failure and deformation characteristics under extreme loads.
Investigating the plastic region can help in understanding both the microscopic mechanisms responsible for plasticity, as well as the stochastic nature of material failure, especially for materials whose adhesion clusters can unbind and rebind in a stochastic manner under load. Factoring in the irreversibility of plastic deformation is critical for ensuring safety and reliability, especially for structural components. Moreover, the ultimate stress a material can withstand before breaking, known as the breaking stress, is a crucial factor in design decisions and helps in selecting appropriate materials for specific applications.