MECHANIC LAB: BENDING MOMENT IN A BEAM

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of these experiments is to verify how the bending moment varies at the point of loading and compare the measured bending moment at the cut with the theoretical bending moment for a beam under various loads.

BACKGROUND:

Definition of a beam A beam is a structural member used for bearing loads. It is typically used for resisting vertical loads, shear forces and bending moments. There are many types of beam such as simply supported beam, cantilever beam, overhanging beam, continuous beam and fixed beam. A simply supported beam is pinned at one end and roller-supported at the other end, a cantilever beam is fixed at one end and free at the other, an overhanging beam has one or both end portions extending beyond its supports, a continuous beam has more than two supports distributed throughout its length, and a fixed beam is fixed at both of the ends.

Theory of bending moment Bending moment at the cut (in Nm) is equal to the algebraic sum of the moments about the section of all forces are acting on either side of the section. ( ) ( ) ( )

Equation (1) Equation (2)

Lx W1 L1

L2

RA Bending moment at section x-x is : B.M x-x = W1 (Lx-L1 ) RA Lx OR B.M x-x = RB L2

RB

When the load is to the right of x-x : B.M x-x = RA Lx

The Structures Frame

The Structures Test Frame (STR1) is a sturdy aluminum frame designed to stand on a workbench. The Digital Force Display (STR1A) displays force in two ranges (0 - 20 N and 0 - 500 N).

EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS 1) The Structures Test Frame (STR1) 2) The Digital Force Display (STR1a) 3) Special beam with a cut section 4) Mass hangers 5) Masses (10g each)

EXPERIMENT 1: BENDING MOMENT VARIATION AT THE POINT OF LOADING

PROCEDURE 1. The structures frame was set up. 2. The distance between RA to the cut is adjusted for 300mm and RA to RB is 440mm. 3. The Digital Force Display meter is checked before conducted the experiment so that it reads zero with no load. 4. The hanger with 50g loads is placed at the cut. 5. The reading on the Digital Force Display meter is recorded. 6. The process is repeated using various loads which is 150g and 250g. 7. The theoretical bending moment at the cut is calculated. 8. The graph of the mass versus bending moment is plotted.

RESULT The results from experiment 1, the verification of the bending moment at various point of loading are shown below in Table 1. This table shows the reactions at the supports based on the applied loads. Bending moment at the cut was calculated using Equation (1) and the theoretical bending moment at cut was calculated using Equation (2). The average error for this experiment is 0.002.

Table 1: result of experiment 1

Mass (kg) 0.05 0.15 0.25 DISCUSSION Calculation

Load (N) 0.4905 1.4715 2.4525

Force (N) 0.4 1.1 1.9

Experimental bending moment (Nm) 0.05 0.138 0.238

Theoretical bending moment (Nm) 0.0468 0.140 0.234

-Refer to calculation sheets-

Graph

Bending Moment(Nm) 0.25

Chart Title

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15

Mass(kg)

theoretical bending moment experiment bending moment

Figure 1: Mass-bending moment graph

From the graph, there is slightly difference between the values of experimental bending moment and theoretical bending moment with average error is 0.002. The differences happen because of some errors while conducting the experiment.

CONCLUSIONS

We can conclude that the mass is directly proportional to the bending moment, meaning that if the mass or the load is increasing, the bending moment also increases. In this experiment, we were able to determine that the equation we used is accurately predicting the behavior of the beam. The errors could have occurred during conducted the experiment such as human error, device sensitivity and device accuracy. However, our results match up to the theoretical values which leads us to believe that errors could not played a big factor in this experiment.

EXPERIMENT 2: BENDING MOMENT VARIATION AWAY FROM THE POINT OF LOADING

PROCEDURE FIGURE 4 1. The structures frame was set up. 2. The Digital Force Display meter is checked before conducted the experiment so that it reads zero with no load. 3. The distance between W1 to the RA is adjusted for 140mm and RA to RB is 400mm. 4. The hanger with 450g masses is placed at W1 (to the left of the RA) 5. The reading on the Digital Force Display meter is recorded. 6. The support reactions (RA and RB) and the theoretical bending moment at the cut are calculated.

FIGURE 5 1. The structures frame was set up. 2. The Digital Force Display meter is checked before conducted the experiment so that it reads zero with no load. 3. The distance between RA and the W1 is adjusted for 220mm and RA to W2 is 260mm. 4. The hangers with 450g and 500g masses are placed at the same time at W1 and W2 respectively. 5. The reading on the Digital Force Display meter is recorded. 6. The support reactions (RA and RB) and the theoretical bending moment at the cut are calculated.

FIGURE 6 1. The structures frame was set up. 2. The Digital Force Display meter is checked before conducted the experiment so that it reads zero with no load. 3. The distance between RA and the W1 is adjusted for 240mm and RA to W2 is 400mm. 4. The hangers with 450g and 500g loads are placed at the same time at W1 and W2 respectively. 5. The reading on the Digital Force Display meter is recorded. 6. The support reactions (RA and RB) and the theoretical bending moment at the cut are calculated.

RESULT

The results from experiment 2, the verification of the bending moment various away from the point of loading are shown below in Table 2. This table shows the reactions at the supports based on the applied loads for various loading conditions. The average error for this experiment is 0.028.

Table 2: result of experiment 2

Figure W1 (N) 4 5 6 -1.2 1.6 3.2

W2 (N)

Force (N) -1.2 4.1 3.5

2.9 1.0

Experimental bending moment (Nm) -0.15 0.513 0.438

RA (N) -0.78 1.296 1.986

RB (N) -0.42 2.944 2.514

Theoretical bending moment (Nm) -0.115 0.451 0.382

DISCUSSION The results of the experiments are slightly difference from the values that calculated using the theory with average error is 0.028. From this average error, we can calculate that the percentage error is 11%. The errors that occurred during the experiments are human error, device sensitivity and device accuracy.

Calculation -Refer to calculation sheets-

CONCLUSIONS As a conclusion, the results of the experimental bending moment are higher compared to the theoretical bending moment.

REFERENCES 1) R.C. Hibbeler. (2011). Mechanics of Materials (8th Edition in SI units). Pearson Education, Inc; Prentice Hall 2) www.mechteacher.com/beam

APPENDIX Calculation sheets