The purpose of this experiment was to explore the theory behind the principles on the bending of beams.

The stresses and strains at certain points along a beam as a force is varied can be very important to a design. Materials need to be analyzed under different situations in order to define a solid relationship between the material and the load applied. In this experiment, a specimen will be subjected to 3-point and 4-point bending by an MTS. Relationships for both will be obtained, and a discussion on the benefits of one or the other included.

Procedure: The first step in the experiment was to determine maximum force that the beam could withstand before yielding. The material is 6061 Aluminum, the yielding point and modulus of Elasticity are 40,000 and 10 x 10^6 psi respectively (). Using these values and the relationship { (max) = 3FL/2bh^2 }, the maximum force was found to be 74 lbs. Three different load levels will be applied to the beam. To find the appropriate levels, 50% of the maximum force will be applied as a limit on the different load levels. For 3point the levels are 10, 25, and 40 lbs. For 4-point bending the loads are 10, 25, and 50 lbs. Place the specimen on the bending jigs of the MTS. Next the target loads are applied and the strain that the beam is under is recorded. If the predicted strain differs from the measured strain by more than ten percent, adjust and repeat the experiment. Checking the percent difference was not actually performed in this experiment as time would not permit, but should normally be done.

Results: NOTE: All Strain is measured in micro-strain. 3 point bending:

Theor. Load (lb) 10.5 25.2 40.03 1 71.58 172.5 273.96 2 286.3 689.9 1095.8 3 429.5 1034.7 1643.7 4 572.6 1379.7 2191.6 Meas. Load (lb) 10.5 25.2 40.03 1 1 2 14 2 220 563 904 3 388 987 1569 4 543 1373 2169

Percent difference Load (lbs.) 10.5 25.2 40.03

98.6 98.8 94.9

23.2 18.4 17.5

9.7 4.6 4.5

5.2 0.5 1.0

Strain v Sample Length (Theor.)

2500 2000 Strain (10^6) 1500 10 lbs 1000 500 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 Sample Length 25 lbs 40 lbs

Strain v Sample Length (Meas.)

2500 2000 Strain 1500 10 lbs 1000 500 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 Sample Length 25 lbs 40 lbs

4 point bending:

Theor. Load (lb) 10.5 25.2 54.1

1 68.44 172.7 273

2 190.8 459.9 730

3 190.8 459.9 730

4 190.8 459.9 730

Meas. Load (lb) 10.5 25.2 54.1

1 16 63 116

2 54 173 424

3 52 171 416

4 51 168 409

Percent difference Load (lbs.) 10.5 25.2 54.1

76.6 63.5 57.5

71.7 62.4 41.9

72.7 62.8 43.0

73.3 63.5 44.0

Strain v Sample Length (Theor.)

800 700 600 Strain (10^6) 500 400 300 200 100 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 Sample Length 10 lbs 25 lbs 50 lbs

Strain v Sample Length (Meas.)

450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 Sample Length

Strain

10 lbs 25 lbs 50 lbs

Discussion: The experiment shows a definite relationship between stress and strain. From the graph of the theoretical values, a linear relationship with a slope of (1/2)*F*X to a maximum value of (F*L)/4 is shown. With the strain gages only spanning half of the beam, the graph is only of half the beam, but would be symmetric decreasing at a rate of (1/2)*(F*L F*X) from 4 8 inches. The strain was calculated at each point by using the relationship { (Mz*y)/(E*I) }, where y is the distance from the neutral axis of the beam to the surface and Mz is the moment at the point considered. From this experiment the measured values are quite different from the theoretical yet the result is still a linear relationship, following the natural theoretical model. The reason for this is unknown, and another experiment should be performed to find the source of error in the slope of the model. For the 4 point bending test the results show a similar difference in the theoretical and measured values, yet the graph of the measured values still coincide with the bending moment diagram. The graph shows a linear relationship from 0 L/6 inches with a slope of (1/2)*F*X at which point the moment becomes constant at a

maximum value of (F*L)/12 until 5L/6 inches at which point it decreases at a rate of (1/2)*(F*L F*X). It is shown that by using the 4 point bending, the maximum moment that a beam experiences is significantly reduced and is constant across the majority of the beam. In contrast, 3 point bending induces a much larger moment at a distance of L/2. With this advantage the 4 point model gives, the force applied can be 3 times larger. If the thickness of the plate is doubled, the force applied can be 4 times larger. From this, we can see that there are numerous ways to understand and solve problems in the design process. It is important to understand the relationship between loads and their position and what affect it has on the stress and strain the structure experiences. Though the measured values of this experiment were significantly off, the basic relationships found in the bending of beams was demonstrated.