MAE 157

Design Project: Design Lightweight Cantilever Beam

Group 12:
Rachel Bola
Edgar Delgado
Antonio Hernandez
David Kim
Karla Marron
Brian Muraoka
Brian Pham
Maysam Shamai
Muhammad Trad
Hao Zhang

Introduction
This report outlines the procedure that was developed and used to design a minimum weight
cantilever beam that would not fail under a given loading condition. This study was motivated by the
desire to minimize a beams mass in order to minimize material costs and also allow for application in
aerospace structures, which often aim to minimize weight to allow for increased range and better
efficiency. The particular loading condition which was used in this analysis was the application of a 1
kN load at the end of a 2m span beam. The beam was analyzed in order to make sure it did not fail
due to buckling or yielding under the applied load. The beam material was to be chosen out of the
three options: Stainless Steel 304, Aluminum Alloy, or Titanium Alloy. Similarly, the cross section of
the beam was to be chosen out of three possible options.
Cantilever Dimensions:
Cantilever made of aluminum alloy with cross section A, with top thicknesses of .95mm and
side thicknesses of .5mm.
Procedure
The internal reactions, shear and bending moments take were found at the fixed support of
the cantilever beam. The shear force was calculated to be 1kN, and the moment at the support
resolved to be 2kN*m. The maximum stress was then calculated using the following formula:
M y
Max = IMax
; M Max , is constant throughout the structures design, the design variables I xx and y
xx
vary with the thickness of the walls and webs (tf , tw, ti) and the chosen height (H) . The inertia terms
were calculated using thin walled approximations. The y term is determined from the base of the
cross section piece to the neutral axis, in which is, H2 .
In order to meet the design constraints, the maximum stress due to bending must be less than
the yield stress of the selected material, the critical stress due to buckling, and the ultimate shear
stress. A Matlab code was used to determine the dimensions for each cross section and the lightest
design was then selected.
Yield Test:
A material yield when it begins to plastically deform, when the determined material yield
stress is exceeded. To ensure that it did not yield, we optimized our equations to account for the
flexure formula to account for bending stresses.
Y > Max =

M Max
Ixx y

Buckling Test:
Buckling is when an object bows laterally and is a result of elastic instability. We had to make
sure we constrained our design based on these equations to ensure the values did not exceed these
critical load values. By inputting the initial force on the beam, we can determine the height and
thickness and optimize to resist buckling.

( Max
) + ( Max
) 1
cr
cr

D
Y > cr = 24
t H2 , D =
f

Et3
12(12)

cr = kt bD2 wherek = 5.35forshear

f

Shear Test:
Shear is the amount of lateral stresses the beam will endure before yielding. The shear flow
needs to be optimized such that, where the point of shear flow is maximum is taken into account for
to prevent yield.
Max =

qMax
t

q(s) = qs,0 Ixxy tyds

0

Von Mises Criterion:

The Von Mises criteria accounts for the shear forces that are being applied. The following equation
was used in order to get a relationship between the two types of stresses, sigma and tau.
1

2
2
2 2
Y = 12 [(1 2)2 + (2 3)2 + (3 + 1)2 + 6(xy
+ yz
+ zx
)]

The Von Mises criterion

Analysis
To select the best design, the smallest mass values were identified per geometry with each
respective material to be compared.
Table 1: Matlab Results

Material

(MP
a)
10.819

Buckle

(MP
Max
a)
196.72

0.4178

Mass
(kg)
4.320

349.09

18.981

0.9799

1.323

452.83

20.943

0.84914

1.856

0.00050
0
0.00050
0
0.00050
0
0.00050
0
0.00050
0
0.00050
0

200.00

10.000

0.70549

4.800

334.37

18.181

0.89908

1.471

452.83

18.267

0.99201

2.033

193.54

9.1935

0.86663

5.440

320.85

17.446

1.6200

436.363

19.090

0.82783
9
0.97697
0

Height (m)

t
(m)
f

t
(m)
w

t
(m)
i

Stainless Steel

Cas
e
A

0.100000

Aluminum Alloy

0.055000

Titanium Alloy

0.050000

Stainless Steel

0.100000

Aluminum Alloy

0.055000

Titanium Alloy

0.050000

Stainless Steel

0.100000

Aluminum Alloy

0.055000

Titanium Alloy

0.050000

0.00085
0
0.00095
0
0.00080
0
0.00075
0
0.00095
0
0.00075
0
0.00070
0
0.00095
0
0.00075
0

0.00050
0
0.00050
0
0.00050
0
0.00050
0
0.00050
0
0.00055
0
0.00050
0
0.00050
0
0.00050
0

2.2100

The results from the Matlab code indicate that the cross section A paired with aluminum alloy was the
best mass-minimizing design.

Extra Credit: Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

For the FEA, our group chose Abaqus. After running the Matlab code for the different cases to
find a minimum mass we determined that a beam having cross section a. and made with aluminum
was the lightest configuration that met our requirements. The model for this project was a shell
extrude with the dimensions for the section assignments generated by the Matlab code. After
generating a model in Abaqus a simulation for yield and buckling was run to double check our hand
calculations. Based on the assumptions made in developing useful theoretical models, our hand
calculations end up being conservative estimates which is good because this project was focused on
the point of failure. FEA was not necessary for this particular problem because of the simplicity of the
physical picture but this method becomes more useful as the complexity of the geometry, loading,
and material properties increase.

Conclusion
Designing a cantilever beam with the consideration of minimal mass has many things that
need to be considered. By optimizing thicknesses, geometries, and materials in consideration of
buckling and shear stress, we were able to we were able to come up with with an aluminum alloy
cantilever beam weighing only 1.32 kg. The dimensions of this beam were 55mm in height, 0.95 mm
thickness on at the top and bottom, and 0.50mm of thickness along the sides. Something that should
be noted is that, safety factor were not taken into account so for real world practices, a thicker cross
section or an alternative material should be used.

Appendix
Table 2: Material Properties

Material

E (Gpa)

Stainless Steel 304

Aluminum Alloy
Titanium Alloy

200
70
115

0.3
0.3
0.3

_y
(MPa)
200
350
900

(kg/
m^3)
8000
2700
4420

b=
10cm
5cm
H
10cm
0.5 mm
tf
, tw

, ti
3 mm

Figure 2: Geometry of Cross Sections

Matlab Codes:
DimensionalOPt.m
function
[Hmin,TFmin,TWmin,TImin,massMin,Ixx,tau,sig]=
dimensionalOpt(H_BOUNDS,T_BOUNDS,Elastic,Yield,Density,Section)

[tf,tw,ti]=meshgrid(T_BOUNDS,T_BOUNDS,T_BOUNDS)

Hmin=0TFmin=0TWmin=0TImin=0massMin=99999

b=0.1L=2P=1e3v=0.3
rho=Density
YS=Yield
E=Elastic
N=Section

%Converttocolumnvectors
tf=tf(:)
h=H_BOUNDS(:)

for
k=1:length(tf)

for
i=1:length(h)


%fprintf('H=%d,Tf=%d,Tw=%d,Ti=%d\n',H(i),TF(k),TW(k),
TI(k))
Ixx=getIxx(h(i),tw(k),ti(k),tf(k),N,b)
sig=getPureSig(P,h(i),Ixx)

if
sig<YS
tau=getPureTau(h(i),tf(k),tw(k),b,Ixx)

if
tau<YS
sigCR=getSIGcr(E,tf(k),h(i),v)
tauCR=getTAUcr(E,tf(k),b,v)
buck=((tau/tauCR)^2)+((sig/sigCR)^2)

if
buck<1
mass=getmass(h(i),b,tf(k),tw(k),ti(k),rho,
N)

if
(mass<massMin)
massMin=mass
Hmin=h(i)
TFmin=tf(k)
TWmin=tw(k)
TImin=ti(k)
fprintf(
'\nH=%fm,tf=%fm,tw=%fm,ti=
%fm,Ixx=%dm^7,mass=%fkg,tau=%fMPa,sig=%fMPa,buck=%f\n'
,Hmin,
TFmin,TWmin,TImin,Ixx*10^7,massMin,(tau*10^6),(sig*10^6),buck)

end

end

end

end

end
end
end

%calculateIxx%
function
Ixx=getIxx(H,tw,ti,tf,n,B)

Ixx=((n/12)*ti*(H^3))+((1/6)*tw*(H^3))+((1/2)*B*tf*(H^2))

end

%calculatePureBend%
function
sig=getPureSig(p,H,I)

sig=(p*H)/(I)

end

%calculatePureShear%
function
tau=getPureTau(H,tf,tw,B,I)

tau=((250*tf*B*H)+(125*tw*(H^2)))/(tw*I)


end

%calculateSigCritical%
function
sigCR=getSIGcr(e,tf,H,V)

sigCR=(2*(pi^2)*e*(tf^2))/((H^2)*(1(V^2)))

end

%calculateTauCritical%
function
tauCR=getTAUcr(e,tf,B,V)

tauCR=(5.35*(pi^2)*e*(tf^2))/(12*(B^2)*(1(V^2)))

end

%calculatebuckling%
function
buck=getbuck(SIG,TAU,SIGcr,TAUcr)

buck=(SIG/SIGcr)^2+(TAU/TAUcr)^2

end

%calculatemass%
function
mass=getmass(H,B,tf,tw,ti,RHO,n)

A=(2*tf*B)+(2*H*tw)+(n*H*ti)
mass=RHO*2*A

end

maintest.m
%n=[0.0005:0.0001:0.003]
%dimensionalOpt(Length,Load,Width,v,H_BOUNDS,T_BOUNDS,E,mat_sig,
mat_density,N=CrossSection(0=A,1=B,2=C)
fprintf(
'\nSTEEL\n'
)
dimensionalOpt([0.05:0.005:0.10],[0.0005:0.00005:0.003],200e9,200e6,8000,
2)
fprintf(
'\nALUMINIUM\n'
)
dimensionalOpt([0.05:0.005:0.10],[0.0005:0.00005:0.003],70e9,350e6,2700,
2)
fprintf(
'\nTITANIUM\n'
)
dimensionalOpt([0.05:0.005:0.10],[0.0005:0.00005:0.003],115e9,900e6,4420,
2)

%=mystats([12394])
%dimensionalOpt(2,1000,0.1,0.3,[0.5:0.1:1.0],[0.0005:0.0001:0.003],70,350,
2700,2)
%dimensionalOpt(2,1000,0.1,0.3,[0.5:0.1:1.0],[0.0005:0.0001:0.003],115,
900,4420,2)