The value of Young's modulus is a material property useful in design for calculating compliance of structural materials that follow Hooke's law when subjected to uniaxial loading (that is, the strain is proportional to the applied force).

For materials that follow nonlinear elastic stress-strain behavior, the value of tangent or chord modulus is useful in estimating the change in strain for a specified range in stress.

Since for many materials, Young's modulus in tension is different from Young's modulus in compression, it shall be derived from test data obtained in the stress mode of interest.

The accuracy and precision of apparatus, test specimens, and procedural steps should be such as to conform to the material being tested and to a reference standard, if available.

Precise determination of Young's modulus requires due regard for the numerous variables that may affect such determinations. These include (1) characteristics of the specimen such as orientation of grains relative to the direction of the stress, grain size, residual stress, previous strain history, dimensions, and eccentricity; (2) testing conditions, such as alignment of the specimen, speed of testing, temperature, temperature variations, condition of test equipment, ratio of error in applied force to the range in force values, and ratio of error in extension measurement to the range in extension values used in the determination; and (3) interpretation of data (see Section 9).

When the modulus determination is made at strains in excess of 0.25 %, correction should be made for changes in cross-sectional area and gage length, by substituting the instantaneous cross section and instantaneous gage length for the original values.

Compression results may be affected by barreling (see Test Methods E9). Strain measurements should therefore be made in the specimen region where such effects are minimal.