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Experiment NO.

IX
Flexure Tests of Small Metal Beams

Mechanics of Materials Laboratory


AEM 251

NAME:
CWID:
Table of Contents
D. Lab Report...................................................................................................................................3
1.0 Calculations............................................................................................................................3
Load vs. Deflection plot...............................................................................................................3
2.0 Questions...............................................................................................................................5
3.0 Discussion of Results..............................................................................................................6
D. Lab Report

1.0 Calculations

Sample – Aluminum
Dimension – Width (b) = 0.5 in
Depth (h) = 0.5 in
Length (L) = 12 in
bh3 0.5 �0.53
= = = 5.208 �10 -3 in 4
Moment of Inertia (I) 12 12
Table 1. Dimension and Moment of inertia of each sample
Aluminu
Material m Aluminum Aluminum Steel
Width (in) 0.5 0.25 0.5 0.5
Depth (in) 0.5 0.5 0.25 0.5
Length (in) 12 12 12 12
Moment of Inertia (in4) 5.21E-03 2.60E-03 6.51E-04 5.21E-03

Load vs. Deflection plot


Sa mpl e A. Al umi num Li near (Sample A. Al umi num )
Sa mpl e B Al umi num Li near (Sample B Al umi num)
Sa mpl e C. Al umi num Li near (Sample C. Al umi num )
Sa mpl e D. Steel Li near (Sample D. Steel )
140

120 f(x) = 1582.38x


f(x)
R² ==13830.57x
R² = 1
100

80
Load P (lb)

60 f(x) = 763.1x
R² = 1
40
f(x) = 169.95x
20 R² = 1

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25

Deflection (in)

Figure 1 Load vs. Deflection

The deflection for point load is given as


PL3
D=
48EI
(1)
Rearranging the terms
48EI
P= ×Δ
L3 (2)
The slope of load vs. Deflection curve is
48EI
3
Slope = L
From the graph for sample D. Steel
48EI 48 �E �5.208 �10 -3 in 4
3830.6 = 3 =
Slope = L 123 in 3 (3)
6
Therefore Modulus of elasticity (E ) = 26.47 �10 Psi

Table 2. Modulus of Elasticity value (Experimental)


Material Moment of Inertia (in4) Slope Modulus of elasticity (Psi) 106
Aluminum 5.21E-03 1582.4 10.9
Aluminum 2.60E-03 763.1 10.5
Aluminum 6.51E-04 169.95 9.40
Steel 5.21E-03 3830.6 26.5

2.0 Questions

a) The expression used for computing the modulus of elasticity neglects shearing
deformation. Therefore, theoretically, the true modulus of elasticity should be slightly
larger than the computed value. Does the data obtained in this experiment agree with
this statement?
Ans . As shown in table 3. The test value is very close to the theoretical value. The
computed value for steel is smaller than the theoretical value and hence data obtained in
this experiment supports the given statement. Also the percentage variation is less than 10%

b) Why is it incorrect to determine the modulus of elasticity as the slope of the straight –
line portion of the load-deflection curve?
Ans. The slope of load vs. deflection curve is not equal to the modulus of elasticity. The
expression for deflection contains the moment of inertia (I) and length of beam (L). So the
modulus of elasticity is calculated as
Slope×L3
E=
48×I
c) Do the maximum stress and maximum deflection always occur at the same section in a
beam ? why?
Ans. The maximum deflection and maximum stress always occur at the same section in a beam.
With constant Moment of inertia and Length the load the deflection is maximum where load is
maximum and also the stress.

3.0 Discussion of Results

Table 3. Results summary


Accepted
Value (106) Test Value Percent
Material Property Authority Psi (106) Psi Variation
Average Mod.
Al Of Elasticity Mat web 10.10 10.26 1.58
Modulus of
Steel Elasticity Mat web 29.00 26.50 8.62

Table 4. Comparison of deflection for different beam


Ratio of Ratio of
Theoretical Actual
Theo. Experimental deflection with deflection
Beam Load (lb) Deflection (in) Deflection (in) Beam A with Beam A
A 30.00 0.02 0.02 1.00 1.00
B 30.00 0.04 0.04 2.00 2.07
C 30.00 0.16 0.18 8.00 9.31
D 30.00 0.01 0.01 0.35 0.41
The experiment was performed to measure the deflection of three aluminum beam of different
cross sections and one steel beam. The experimental value of measured load is plotted against
the measured experimental deflection to calculate the modulus of elasticity of each sample. The
standard formula for deflection for simply supported beam under point load is used to calculate
the modulus of elasticity of material

With the given cross section of beam the moment of inertia is calculated using the formula for
rectangular section. The modulus of elasticity is determined using the moment of inertia, length
of the beam and slope of load vs. deflection curve. The average modulus of elasticity of
Aluminum is 10.26 (106) Psi and steel is 26.50 (106) Psi.

The tested modulus of elasticity is compared with theoretical value obtained from standard
property table. The percentage deviation from the tested value for aluminum and steel is 1.58%
and 8.62%. The actual and theoretical deflection of beam B, C and D is compared beam A. It is
found that for B and C beam the deflection value is inversely proportional to width and inversely
proportional to cube of depth for constant modulus of elasticity, load and span length. The
comparison of deflection for Beam D and A shows that for the same dimension and span length
the deflection value varies inversely with modulus of elasticity that is for steel the deflection is
less as compared to aluminum because the modulus of elasticity of steel is greater than that of
steel.

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