Bending Stress In A Beam

The Aim Of The Experiment:

The aim of the experiment is to determine the strain, bending moment and neutral axis by applying a
load on an aluminum T beam.

Experimental Procedure:

We started the experiment by resetting the valve and leaving the aluminum beam unloaded. Even
though we did not give any load, we eliminated the force value that appears in the force display by
hand. we write down the strain values that appears with '0 N' force value. then we made these
readings for 100,200,300,400 and 500 newton values. We read 9 strain gauge values for these five
force values.

Experiment 1 : Bending Stress in a Beam

Gauge Number Load (N)

0N 100 N 200 N 300 N 400 N 500 N
1 158 52 -86 -207 -320 -453
2 75 3 -86 -171 -250 -340
3 132 59 -31 -118 -197 -288
4 10 -2 -17 -32 -46 -62
5 -36 -47 -61 -76 -88 -102
6 -23 0 26 53 76 103
7 -110 -88 -60 -34 -9 19
8 -68 -20 39 97 147 201
9 -215 -168 -109 -52 2 62
Table 1: Results for experiment 1 (uncorrected)

Gauge Number Bending Moment (Nm)

0 17.5 35 52.5 70 87.5
1 0 -106 -244 -365 -478 -611
2 0 -72 -161 -246 -325 -415
3 0 -73 -163 -250 -329 -420
4 0 -12 -27 -42 -56 -72
5 0 -11 -25 -40 -52 -66
6 0 23 49 76 99 126
7 0 22 50 76 101 129
8 0 48 107 165 215 274
9 0 47 106 163 217 277
Table 2 : Results for experiment 1 (corrected)
 Bending Moment - Strain Graph
100
Bending Moment (Nm)

80

60

40

20

0
-700 -600 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400
Strain

Gauge 1 Gauge 2 Gauge 3 Gauge 4 Gauge 5

Gauge 6 Gauge 7 Gauge 8 Gauge 9

Graphic 1

As the graph shows, the strain values of each gauge increases as the bending moment increases.
From here it can be seen that there is a direct ratio between the bending moment and strain. It is
seen that the successive strain gauge curves in the section are very close to each other in graph 1.
The reason is that the similar curves have the same position on the y axis of the strain gauges.

Gauge Vertical Bending Moment (Nm)

Number Position 0 17.5 35 52.5 70 87.5
(mm)
1 0 0 -106 -244 -365 -478 -611
2,3 8 0 -72.5 -162 -248 -327 -417.5
4,5 23 0 -11.5 -26 -41 -54 -69
6,7 31.7 0 22.5 49.5 76 100 127.5
8,9 38.1 0 47.5 26.5 164 216 275.5
Table 3 : Averaged Strain Readings for Experiment 1
 Measured Neutral Axis
45
40
Vertical Position (mm)

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
-700 -600 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 -5 0 100 200 300 400
Strain

Data 1 Data 2 Data 3 Data 4 Data 5 Data 6

Graphic 2

The mean strain values of the strain gauges in the same position were calculated and used as the x-
axis for each of the positions of each gage present in the dataset. Y axis represents the vertical
position value. The strain value on the neutral axis is zero. The reason for that is there is no bending
on neutral axis.

Gauge Number Stress (MPa) (Calculated)

1 -42.16
2,3 -28.8
4,5 -4.76
6,7 8.79
8,9 19
Table 4: Calculated Stress Values

The corresponding stress values were calculated for the above table. It was observed that the
maximum stress value was in the strain gauge 1, which is the farthest from the neutral axis.

Gauge Number Stress (MPa) (Theoretical)

1 -39.98
2,3 -27.9
4,5 -5.28
6,7 7.84
8,9 17.5
Table 5: Theoretical Stress Values

In this table, the theoretical stress values are calculated. Maximum stress is also occured as
gauge 1 as in the previous table. The reason for that is gauge 1 has the maximum distance to
the neutral axis.
The theoretical result and the calculated results are very close to each other. At the same time, as
the neutral axis gets closer, the stress value of both tables is decreasing. This indicates the
correctness of the two results.

Interpretations On Results

In this experiment, the strain values of the strain gauges in the opposite direction on the beam were
found to be close to each other. Having the same position on the Y-axis has caused similar strain
values to be measured.

Gauge 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 have negative strain values as shown in Graph 1, while gauge 6, 7, 8 and 9 have
positive strain values. This result is based on the reference taken relative to the neural axis. The
opposite statement is also true. In Graph 2, the intersection of the straight lines is 26.14 mm which is
also experimental neutral axis. This value is very close to the theoretical value of 26.5 mm. This
indicates the accuracy of the measurements.

Second moment of inertia was calculated and the theoretical stress values under maximum load
were found and these values were compared with the calculated experimental stress values. Here
too, theoretical and calculated data are very close.