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KMEM 1170: Mechanical Engineering Laboratory 1

Title: Shearing Force in Beams

Abstract:

The shearing force in beams experiment gives students a visualisation and proof of the basic theory of
shear force. This provides a sound foundation for further work. The experiments are quick, clear and
accurate, and ideal for students working on their own or in groups. The experiment was conducted by
the demonstrator. The demonstrator guided the groups with the procedure and the calculation method
or technic. The experiment was set-up as figure A below. There are two parts of beam and support.
Left hand support and right hand support is placed 300mm and 600mm to the cut section respectively.
Hanger 1 and hanger 2 is positioned to the middle part of left and right part of beam respectively.
While, hanger 3 is placed on the groove near the cut section beam. The two balance springs is used to
adjust the bar until two halves are balanced and take the spring balance reading. Then 10N weight is
placed on hanger 2 and realign it. The reading of spring balance is recorded. Next, the step is repeated
with weight on hanger 3. After that, without any readjustment on the spring, hanger 3 is moved to the
left part beam(place the groove) and the condition is observed. 10N weights is transferred to hanger 1
and the situation is also observed. The steps is repeated by using 20N and 5N weight.


Figure A






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Introduction
Shearing forces are unaligned forces pushing one part of a body in one direction, and another part of
the body in the opposite direction (William A. Nash, 1 July 1998). For this case, shear force is the
force in the beam acting perpendicular to its longitudinal x-axis. For design purposes, the beam ability
to resist shear force is more important than its ability to resist an axial force. Axial force is the force in
the beam acting parallel to the longitudinal axis. Moving loads on beams are common features of
design. Many road bridges are constructed from beam, and have to be designed to a string of wheel
loads, or a uniformly distributed load. A beam is a horizontal structural element that is capable of
withstanding load primarily by resisting bending The bending force induced into the material of the
beam as a result of the external loads, own weight, span and external reactions to these loads is called
a bending moment. If the ends of a beam are restrained longitudinally by its support or if a beam is a
component of a continuous frame, axial force may also develop. If the axial force is small, the typical
situation for most beams can be neglected when the member is designed. In the case, of reinforced
concrete beams, small values of axial compression actually produce a modest increase (on the order of
5 to 10 percents) in the flexural strength of the member. To design a beam, the engineer must
construct the shear and moment curves to determine the location and magnitude of the maximum
values of these forces. Except for short, heavily loaded beams whose dimensions are controlled by
shear requirements, the proportion of the cross section are determined by the magnitude of the
maximum moment in the span. After a section is sized at the point of maximum moment, the design is
completed by verifying that the shear stresses at the point of maximum shear usually adjacent to a
support are equal to or less than the allowable shear strength of the material. Finally, the deflection
produced by service loads must be checked to ensure that the member has adequate stiffness. Limits
on deflection are set by structural codes. To provide this information graphically, we construct shear
and moment curves. These curves, which preferably should be drawn to scale, consist of values of
shear and moment plotted as ordinates against distance along the axis of the beam. Although we can
construct shear and moment curves by cutting free bodies at intervals along the axis of a beam and
writing equation of equilibrium to establish the values of shear and moment at particular section, it is
much simpler to construct these curves from the basic relationships that exist between load, shear and
moment. The method of solving the problem is to use influence lines. An influence line shows the
variation of an external or internal force as a unit load travels across the length of the structure. For a
beam-type bridge structure, the internal force may be either a transverse shear force or bending
moment acting at some discrete location along the length of the bridge.
e.g of wood bridge.
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Influence lines for truss bridges are commonly used to show the magnitude of the axial force acting in
a truss member as a unit load travels across the panel points of the bottom chord. Furthermore,
influence lines for the reaction forces at external support locations are employed in all bridge types to
determine the amount of load transferred to the bridge bearings. The two common methods for
constructing an influence line are through consideration of equilibrium or by applying the concept of
virtual work (i.e., the Mller- Breslau Principle). There are also Shear Force Diagram (SFD) that is to
indicates how a force applied perpendicular to the axis of a beam is transmitted along the length of
that beam. Also, Bending Moment Diagram (BMD) is to show how the applied loads to a beam create
a moment variation along the length of the beam. These diagrams are used to determine the normal
and shear stresses as well as deflection and slopes. At any point along its length, a beam can transmit
a bending moment M(x) and a shear force V(x). if a loaded beam is changed, the descriptions of a
positive distributed load, shear force and positive bending moment are as figure below.


Where scattered loads acts downward on the beam, internal shear force causes a clockwise rotation of
the beam section on which it acts, and the internal moment causes compression in the top fibers of the
segment, or to bend the segment so that it holds water.


Shear force and bending moment



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Shear force at left of the section, S
c
= W ( L-a ) ..equation 1
L
Shear force at the right of the cut section, S
c
= -Wa equation 2
L

The shear force at the cut is equal to the algebraic sum of the force acting to the left or right of the
cut.


Objectives
To observe and recognise the action of a shear load in a beam.
To examine how shear force varies at the cut position of the beam for various loading
conditions and compare with the theoretical calculation.
To calculate the shear force at a normal part of loaded beam and to verify its agreement with
principle.



Results
Weight on Hanger / N Spring
force / N
Shear force / N
1 2 3 Experiment Theory
Ratio =
Theory
Experiment

0 0 0 3.5 0 0 0
0 10 0 5.0 1.5 3.33 0.45
0 0 10 9.5 6.0 6.67 0.90
0 20 0 9.5 6.0 6.67 0.90
5 5 5 7.0 3.5 9.17 0.38




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Discussion
From the experiments done by our group, we found that, there is inconsistent difference between the
values of Experimental Shear Force and the Theoretical Shear Force. Referring to this results, we
conclude that the differences between the value of the experiment and theory was probably cause by
the mistake done by our group member when taking the value for the force when it was hang on the
beam. Also, parallax error occur and the spring balance is not in good condition. Some parts of the
spring balance is rust. The table where we conduct the experiment is slightly unbalanced.
a) When the load was doubled, did the shearing force double?

Yes, the shearing force is doubled.

b) How well did the experimental results agree with the theoretical values? Use the average of
the ratios experiment/theory.

For 10N on hanger 3 and 20N on hanger 2, the values of theory of shear force are almost the
same with the experimental values. Also, for 10N on hanger 2 and 5N on each of the hanger,
the theoritical values of shear force are higher than the experimental values. But the ratio for
10N on hanger 3 is near average. For 10N on hanger 3 and 20N on hanger 2, the ratio are
almost accurate and for 5N on each hanger the ratio is below average at 0.38.


Conclusion
From this experiment, our group managed to examine how shear force varies with an increasing point
load. We also managed to examine how shear force varies at the cut position of the beam for various
loading conditions. From the experiment, we know that the value for the experimental and theoretical
values is totally difference.
References
William A. Nash (1 July 1998). Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems of Strength of Materials.
McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-07-046617-3. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
Hibbeler, R.C. (2004). Mechanics of Materials. New Jersey USA: Pearson Education. p. 32






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