What is measured during tensile testing?

Tensile testing primarily measures the material's strength under pulling forces, which is a fundamental property in the field of material science and engineering. During this test, a sample material is subjected to a controlled tensile load until it deforms and ultimately breaks. The key outcomes of tensile testing include yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, elongation, and reduction of area.

These measurements provide critical insights into how materials will behave under tension, which is crucial for applications where materials are expected to withstand stretching, pulling, or tension. Understanding a material's tensile strength is essential for ensuring that components can withstand the loads they will encounter in real-world applications, thus ensuring durability and reliability in engineering designs.

The other options focus on different properties: hardness measures resistance to deformation or indentation; thermal resistance deals with a material's ability to withstand heat; and flow characteristics pertain to liquids, none of which are relevant to tensile testing. This clear distinction underscores the importance of tensile testing in evaluating materials under tensile loads specifically.