Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Putra Malaysia

EMM3808 Mechanical Engineering Laboratory II

Semester 1, 2018/2019

Lab : 10 (THERMAL EXPANSION OF SOLID AND LIQUID)

Group : A5
Lecturer : DR. MOHD ZUHRI MOHAMED YUSOFF
Lab Demonstrator : : SYAMIMI MOHD YUSOFF
Matric No. Name Contribution
(max 20% each person)

193473 MUHAMAD ARIF HAKIMI BIN MUHAMAD YUSRI

20%
192396 LUQMAN HAKIM BIN DZULKARNAIN
20%
192598 MUHAMMAD HAZIQ BIN MOHD ZAKI
20%
193769 MUHAMMAD NUR AFIQ BIN TUNAN
20%
193771 MUHAMMAD AWALLULHADI BIN MOHD SUHAIMI
20%
191883 ABDUL KADIR BIN JAILANI
20%
 [LAB EXPERIMENT: THERMAL EXPANSION OF SOLID AND LIQUID] DECEMBER 13, 2018

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Thermal expansion occurs because of metallic structural members deformed when the
temperature changes either increase or decrease. It is can be expansion or contraction.
When calculating thermal expansion, it is necessary to consider whether the body is
free to expand or is constrained. If the body is free to expand, the expansion or strain
resulting from an increase in temperature can be simply calculated by using the
applicable coefficient of Thermal Expansion. Thermal expansion occurs due to the
temperature changes. The changes in temperature cause deformation to the structural
members. The relative expansion (strain) divided by the change in temperature is called
the material's coefficient of thermal expansion and generally varies with temperature.
The experiment was conducted to determine the length expansion of solids using the
dilatometer.

Table 1 shows the coefficients of linear expansion of metals

Type of Metal 𝜶1 /10-3 K-1
Aluminum 2.2
Brass 1.8
Copper 1.6
Steel 1.1
Table 1

2.0 THEORY BACKGROUND

Material will expand or contract depending on the material's thermal expansion
coefficient. Changes in temperature cause thermal deformation to the structural
members if the material is free to move to expand or contract freely without generating
stresses. The values of these deformations can be described using the following
formula,

𝛿 T = 𝛼(Tf − Ti ) L = 𝛼 ∆𝑇 L
where,
𝛿 T is the deformation of the structural member due to a change in temperature
α is the temperature coefficient of expansion, a material property measured in units
per Kelvin (K)
L is original length of the structural member, measured in feet or meters
Tf is the final temperature measured in units of Kelvin or Celsius ℃ for the
international system and Fahrenheit ℉ for the English system
Ti is the initial temperature, again measured in units of K or ℃ for the international
system and ℉ for the English system

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 [LAB EXPERIMENT: THERMAL EXPANSION OF SOLID AND LIQUID] DECEMBER 13, 2018

3.0 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

METER READING

DILATOMETER

DIGITAL PANEL

PIPE

HEATING ROD

BEAKER SOLID TUBE

Figure 1 shows the experimental setup in thermal expansion experiment.

Dilatometer is widely use in scientific experiment to measure change in pyhsical of

specimen. For this experiment, the dilatometer is used to measure the expansion of
different solid tube cause by change of heat. Dilatometer consist of some different
component. First , the digital panel. The digital panel show the drop and rise of the
temperature of the water in the beaker. The accuracy of digital panel is 00.1 °C. Next,
the haeting rod. It is funtion to increase the tempeture of the water. The water is then
transferred into the solid tube through the pipe. As the solid tube expand, the meter
reading will deflect to show there are change in length . Then the thermal expansion
reading can be taken using meter reading as the tempeature increase.

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 [LAB EXPERIMENT: THERMAL EXPANSION OF SOLID AND LIQUID] DECEMBER 13, 2018

4.0 PROCEDURES

1. The display unit is switched on to warm up the unit

2. The reaction piers are clamped to the support frame using the place and bolt supplied
with the apparatus and at predetermine distant between the supports.

3. The beam specimen is placed between the two cylindrical pieces of each support. The
two screws are tightened at the top of each support with finger.The load hanger is fixed
at the position where the beam is to be loaded.The load cell from the support pier is
connected to the display unit each load cell occupying one terminal on the display.

4. Beginning with channel 1, the initial reading for each channel is recorded.

5. The suitable load is placed on the hanger and the reading of each load cell is noted.
This represents the reaction at each pier.

6. The load on the load hanger is increased at suitable increments and for each
increment record the pier reaction.

5.0 RESULT

Temperature Changes in length of the measuring tube (mm)

°C K Aluminium Brass Copper Steel
10 273.15 - - -
20 293.15 - - - -
30 303.15 0.010 0 0 0
40 313.15 0.135 0.090 0.085 0.080
50 323.15 0.260 0.195 0.185 0.140
60 333.15 0.395 0.305 0.280 0.210
70 343.15 0.53 0.420 0.380 0.290
75.5 348.65 0.65 0.480 0.45 0.320

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 [LAB EXPERIMENT: THERMAL EXPANSION OF SOLID AND LIQUID] DECEMBER 13, 2018

5.1 GRAPH
1.Aluminium

Length against Temperature

0.7
y = 0.1291x - 0.122
0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
30 40 50 60 70 75.5

Length (mm) Linear (Length (mm))

Coefficient = Change in length / Slope

= 0.65 / 0.1291

= 5.0348 / °C

2.Brass

Length against Temperature

0.6
y = 0.1x - 0.1017
0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
30 40 50 60 70 75.5
-0.1

Length against Temperature Linear (Length against Temperature)

Coefficient = Change in length / Slope

= 0.48 / 0.1

= 4.8 / °C

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 [LAB EXPERIMENT: THERMAL EXPANSION OF SOLID AND LIQUID] DECEMBER 13, 2018

3.Copper

Length against Temperature

0.5
y = 0.0923x - 0.093
0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
30 40 50 60 70 75.5
-0.1

Length against Temperature Linear (Length against Temperature)

Coefficient = Change in length / Slope

= 0.45 / 0.0923

= 4.8754 / °C

4.Steel

Length against Temperature

0.4
y = 0.0657x - 0.0567
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
30 40 50 60 70 75.5

Length against Temperature Linear (Length against Temperature)

Coefficient = Change in length / Slope

= 0.32 / 0.0657

= 4.8706 / °C

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 [LAB EXPERIMENT: THERMAL EXPANSION OF SOLID AND LIQUID] DECEMBER 13, 2018

6.0 DISCUSSION

From the experiment data, the value of coefficient of linear expansion for Aluminium,
Brass, Copper and Steel are 23.66 × 10-6 K-1, 17.47 × 10-6 K-1, 16.38 × 10-6 K-1 and
11.65 × 10-6 K-1 respectively. These value are slightly different than the actual value
for linear expansion coefficient. Aluminium should have a value of 23.1 × 10-6 K-1 but
the result from the experiment is slightly higher than the actual data. The difference are
very small and can be said that our experiment value are correct with only a little
amount of error. Next, the actual value of coefficient of linear expansion for Brass is
19 × 10-6 K-1 but the result of the experiment is 17.47 × 10-6 K-1. The experimental
result is lower than the actual value by 1.53 × 10-6. Besides that, the actual coefficient
value for Copper is 17 × 10-6 K-1 while the experimental result is 16.38 × 10-6 K-1.
The difference are very small meaning the experiment have low error. Lastly, Steel has
an actual value for linear expansion coefficient of 11× 10-6 K-1 to 13 × 10-6 K-1. The
experimental result which is 11.65 × 10-6 K-1 is within this range and is thus correct.
From the experiment, the responding variable is the elongation of the materials. We
find that the elongation of metal increase, when the temperature increase. So, the
experiment is following the formula ‘𝛿T = 𝛼 ∆𝑇 L’ which the greater the changes in
temperature, the longer the metal will elongate. From this experiment, the elongation
of each materials is different even though the changes in temperature is same. So, the
value of coefficient of linear expansion also affect the elongation of the materials. From
some calculation, aluminium has the greatest value of coefficient of linear expansion,
followed by brass, copper, and steel. In conclusion, we can conclude that aluminium
will elongate longer than the other, and the greater the value of coefficient of linear
expansion, the longer the material will expand.

7.0 CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, from the results and discussion we found that aluminium has the
greatest change in length which is 0.65m while steel has the smallest change in length
which is 0.32m. Therefore, aluminium has the biggest number of coefficient which is
5.0348 / °C while steel has the smallest number of coefficient which is 4.8706 / °C. This
is because the length is directly proportional to the coefficient of linear expansion
which means the greater the length of the specimen, the greater the value of the
coefficient of linear expansion.

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 [LAB EXPERIMENT: THERMAL EXPANSION OF SOLID AND LIQUID] DECEMBER 13, 2018

REFERENCES

Book

1) Hibbeler, R.C. & Yap, K.B. (2014). Mechanics of Materials, SI Edition, 9 the Edition.
Pearson Education South Asia Pte. Ltd. Page 181-283.
2) R.C. Hibbeler (2011). Mechanics of Materials, SI Edition, 8th edition. Pearson
Education South Asia Pte. Ltd. page: 627-647

Journal

3) Test Method for Linear Thermal Expansion of Solid Materials With a Push-Rod
Dilatometer. (n.d.). doi:10.1520/e0228-11

Internet

4) OpenStaxCollege. (2012, January 23). College Physics. Retrieved from

https://opentextbc.ca/physicstestbook2/chapter/thermal-expansion-of-solids-and-
liquids/
5) Boundless. (n.d.). Boundless Physics. Retrieved from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-physics/chapter/thermal-expansion/
6) Topic - 19.4 Thermal Expansion of Solids and Liquids. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.notemonk.com/node/35779/19.4.Thermal.Expansion.of.Solids.and.Liqui
ds/