KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

TITLE :
S2 Bending Moment
INTRODUCTION:
A bending moment exists in a basic component when a moment is connected to the
component so that the component twists. Moments and torques are measured as a power
increased by a separation so they have as unit Newton-meters (Nm), or foot-pounds power
(ftlbf). The idea of bending moment is imperative in building and material science.
At the point when a bending moment exists in an auxiliary component it instigates
ductile hassles and compressive burdens in the component. Tractable hassles and compressive
anxieties increment relatively with bending moment, but on the other hand are subject to the
second snippet of region of the cross-area of the auxiliary component. Failure in twisting will
happen when the bending moment is adequate to affect ductile burdens more prominent than
the yield anxiety of the material. It is conceivable that failure of an auxiliary component in
shear may happen before failure in bending; however the mechanics of failure in shear and in
twisting are distinctive.
The bending moment at a section through a structural element may be defined as "the
sum of the moments about that section of all external forces acting to one side of that
section". The forces and moments on either side of the section must be equal in order to
counteract each other and maintain a state of equilibrium so the same bending moment will
result from summing the moments, regardless of which side of the section is selected.
Moments are calculated by multiplying the external vector forces (loads or reactions)
by the vector distance at which they are applied. When analyzing an entire element, it is
sensible to calculate moments at both ends of the element, at the beginning, centre and end of
any uniformly distributed loads, and directly underneath any point loads. Of course any "pinjoints" within a structure allow free rotation, and so zero moment occurs at these points as
there is no way of transmitting turning forces from one side to the other.
If clockwise bending moments are taken as negative, then a negative bending moment
within an element will cause "sagging", and a positive moment will cause "hogging". It is

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

therefore clear that a point of zero bending moment within a beam is a point of contra flexure
that is the point of transition from hogging to sagging or vice versa.
Critical values within the beam are most commonly annotated using a bending
moment diagram, where negative moments are plotted to scale above a horizontal line and
positive below. Bending moment varies linearly over unloaded sections, and parabolically
over uniformly loaded sections. Somehow, the beam and bending moment can be summarize
as followed:
A length of material supported horizontally at two points in such a way that it will
carry vertical loads is called a beam. The loading perpendicular to its longitudinal axis
cause the bending and in most cases transverse shearing. The bending moment at any
point along the beam is equal to the area under the shear force diagram up to the
point.
Given a horizontal beam with vertical loading the internal forces will be
a)
for vertical equilibrium a shearing force in the section plane
b)
for equilibrium of moments a moment of resistance due to compression in the
top half of the beam section and tension in the bottom half.
OBJECTIVE:
To determine the bending moment at particular sections and compared with the theoretical
calculations.
APPARATUS:
a)

Spring balance

b)

Masses

c)

Load hanger

PROCEDURE:

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Referring to Figure S1-2, this experiment is divided into two parts; experiment 1 and
experiment 2.

Figure S2-1
A) Experiment 1
1. The beam supports have been fixed at 900 mm span was checked.
2. The first load hanger was positioned 100 mm from A, the second hanger in the groove
just to the right of the section (300 mm from A) and the third hanger 300 mm from B.
3. The two parts of the beam aligned using the adjustment on the spring balance and
record the initial 'no load' reading.
4. 10 N weights placed on the first hanger, re-align the beam and record the balance
reading. Move the weight to the second and third hangers in turn repeating the
procedure.
5. The whole procedure repeated using a 20 N weight.

B) Experiment 2

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

1. The load hangers put a 5 N weight on the second hanger without altering, the beam
aligned and the balance reading recorded.
2. Then 10 N weights added to the first and third hangers, aligned, and the balance was
re-read. The reading recorded.
3. The third hanger moved to 400 mm from B and after aligning the beam the new 'no
load' reading recorded.
4. The same total loading was tried two arrangements of by placing 5N on the first
hanger and 12N on the third hanger for one balance reading followed by moving the
10N from the third to second hanger for the next reading.

RESULTS:
By subtracting the 'no load' value from each spring balance reading the net force causing the
bending moment at C is found. Multiply this by the 150 mm lever arm to derive the beading
moment. For every case the theoretical bending moment at C is to be calculated.
In the first section of Experiment 2 the load hangers remain in the Experiment 1 positions.
Hence the net force for a single load on any hanger can be derived as a proportion of the
Experiment 1 values. As the system is a linear elastic structure the individual readings can be

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

summed for multiple loading. Compare the net force when all three loads are applied with the
sum of the values derived from Part 1.
The bending moment diagrams for the Experiment 2 loadings drew.

A) Experiment 1
Bending moment at C for loading shown;
W1

W2

W3

100mm
300mm
600mm
RA

RB
Figure S2-1

A)

Experiment 1
W1

Load
(N)
0
10
20

Balance

Force

Reading

(N)

(N)
15
18
22

Loading Position
W2
Balance
Force

Balance

Force

reading

Reading

(N)

(N)

(N)
0
3
7

15
28
40
5

W3

(N)
0
13
25

15
22
28

0
7
13

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Load
(N)
10
20

Bending Moment (N mm)

Experimental Theoretical Experimental Theoretical Experimental
450
1050

B)

667
1334

1950
3750

2001
3999

1050
1950

Experiment 2

a)
W1

W2

W3

Force

RA

RB

Bending Moment (Nmm)

(N)

(N)

(N)

(N)

(N)

(N)

6.0

3.33

1.67

900

999

10

10

14.0

15.56

9.44

2100

2668

W1

W2

W3

Force

RA

RB

(N)

(N)

(N)

(N)

(N)

(N)

12

12.0

9.78

7.22

1800

1934

10

13.0

12

1950

2600

Experimental Theoretical

b)
Bending Moment (Nmm)
Experimental Theoretical

DISCUSSION:
1. Show the calculations for every load cases.
EXPERIMENT 1:
Loading of 10 N
10N
A

Theoretical
1002
1998

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

100m

8.89N

1.19N

Point C : 300mm from A

Theoretical value:
For W1 = 10N
RA + RB = 10N
MB = 0
RA(900) +10(800)=0
RA= 8.89N
RB = 10 8.89 = 1.11N

MC + 10(200) 8.89(300) = 0
MC = 8.89(300) 10(200)
= 667.0Nmm

10N
A

300mm

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

6.67N

3.33N

Point C : 300mm from A

Theoretical value:
For W2 = 10N
RA + RB = 10N
MB = 0
RA(900) +10(600)=0
RA= 6.67N
RB = 10 6.67 = 3.33N

MC + 10(0) 6.67(300) = 0
MC
= 6.67(300) 10(0)
= 2001.0Nmm

10N

600mm
8

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

3.33N

6.67N
Point C: 300mm from A
Theoretical value:
For W3 = 10N
RA + RB = 10N
MB = 0
RA(900) +10(300)=0
RA= 3.33N
RB = 10 3.33 = 6.67N

MC + 10(300) 6.67(600) = 0
MC
= 6.67(600) 10(300)
= 1002.0Nmm

Loading of 20 N
20N

100mm

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

17.78N

2.22N

Theoretical value:
Point C: 300mm from A
For W1 = 20N
RA + RB = 20N
MB = 0
RA(900) +20(800)=0
RA= 17.78N
RB = 20 17.78 = 2.22N

MC + 20(200) 17.78(300) = 0
MC
= 17.78(300) 20(200)
= 1334.0Nmm

20N

10

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

300mm
13.33N

6.67N

Point C: 300mm from A

Theoretical value:
For W2 = 20N
RA + RB = 20N
MB = 0
RA(900) +20(600)=0
RA= 13.33N
RB = 20 13.33 = 6.67N

MC + 20(0) 13.33(300) = 0
MC
= 13.33(300) 20(0)
= 3999.0Nmm

20N

600mm
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KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

6.67N

13.33N

Theoretical value:
Point C :300 mm from A
For W3 = 20N
RA + RB = 20N
MB = 0
RA(900) +20(300)=0
RA= 6.67N
RB = 10 6.67 = 13.33N

MC + 20(300) 13.33(600) = 0
MC
= 13.33(600) 20(300)
= 1998.0Nmm

EXPERIMENT 2(a)

0N

5N

100m
300mm
600mm
12

0N

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

3.33N

1.67N

Theoretical value:
Point C: 300 mm from A
For W1 = 0, W2 = 5N, W3 = 0
RA + RB = 5N
MB = 0
RA(900) + 5(600) = 0
RA = 3.33N
RB = 5 3.33 = 1.67N

MC + 5(0) 3.33(300) = 0
MC
= 3.33(300) 5(0)
= 999.0Nmm

10N

5N

10N

100mm
300mm
600mm
15.56N

9.44N

Theoretical value:
Point C: 300 mm from A
13

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

For W1 = 10N, W2 = 5N, W3 = 10N

RA + RB = 25N
MB = 0
RA(900) + 10(800) + 5(600) + 10(300) = 0
RA = 15.56N
RB = 25 15.56 = 9.44N

MC 15.56(300) + 10(200) + 5(0) = 0

MC
= 15.56(300) 10(200)
= 2668.0Nmm

EXPERIMENT 2(b)
5N

0N

12 N

100mm
300mm
600mm
9.78N

7.22N

Theoretical value:
Point C: 300 mm from A
14

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

For W1 = 5N, W2 = 0N, W3 = 12N

RA + RB = 17N
MB = 0
RA(900) + 5(800) + 12(400) = 0
RA = 9.78N
RB = 17 9.78 = 7.22N

MC 9.78(300) + 5(200) + 5(0) = 0

MC
= 9.78(300) 5(200)
= 1934.0Nmm

5N

10N

2N

100mm
300mm
600mm
12N

5N

Theoretical value:
Point C: 300 mm from A
For W1 = 5N, W2 = 10N, W3 = 2N
RA + RB = 17N
MB = 0
RA(900) + 5(800) + 10(600) + 2(400) = 0
RA = 12N
RB = 25 12 = 5N
15

MC 12(300) + 5(200) + 10(0) = 0

MC
= 12(300) 5(200)
= 2600.0Nmm

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

2.
For Experiment 1:
Load of 10N

Graph of bending moment VS Beam for 10N Load

From the graph, for loading of 10N which is the point load react at some point on each
beam (1, 2 and 3), the comparison of the experimental and the theoretical value of
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KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

bending moment versus beam on the graph shows that the theoretical value is bigger than
the experimental at beam 1, 2, and 3 which is:
Experimental :
W1= 450Nmm
Theoretical : W1=
W2 = 1950Nmm
W2=
W3 = 1050Nmm

W3=

667Nmm
2001Nmm
1002Nmm

The value got from the experimental value differs to the theoretical value that had been
computed. This difference is contributed to several factors that will be discussed later on.

Load of 20N

Graph of bending moment VS Beam for 20N Load

From the graph above, for loading of 20N which is the point load react at some point on
each beam (1, 2 and 3), the line graph indicates that theoretical value bending moment
versus beam is bigger compared to the experimental value at beam 1, 2, and 3 which is:
Experimental :

W1= 1050Nmm
W2 = 3750Nmm
W3 = 1950Nmm

Theoretical : W1=
W2=
W3=
17

1334Nmm
3999Nmm
1998Nmm

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

This also indicates that the difference in result or reading is due to outside factor that is
relevant.

Experiment 2 (a):
For Beam 1, W1 = 0, W2 = 5N, W3 = 0
For Beam 2, W1 = 10N, W2 = 5N, W3 = 10N

Graph of Bending Moment Vs Beam

From the graph above where, the beam 1 has one point load (5N) 300mm from point
A and beam 2 where three point loads react on it (10N, 5N and 10N) 100mm, 300mm
and 600mm from point A has differ value of bending moment.
Bending moment for load of W2=5N is as follow:
Experimental = 900Nmm
Theoretical = 999Nmm
Bending moment for load of W1=10N, W2=5N, W3=10N is as follow:
Experimental = 2100Nmm
Theoretical = 2668Nmm
Based on the lines in the graph, it has been found that an anomaly occurred where the
experimental value is higher compared to the theoretical value.

18

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Experiment 2 (b):
For Beam 1, W1=5N, W3=12N
For Beam 2, W1=5N, W2=10N, W3=2N

Graph of Bending Moment Vs Beam

From the graph above where, the beam 1 has one point load (5N and 12N) 300mm
and 600mm from point A and beam 2 where three point loads react on it (5N, 10N and
2N) 100mm, 300mm and 600mm from point A has differ value of bending moment.
Bending moment for load of W1=5N, W3=12N is as follow:
Experimental =1800Nmm
Theoretical = 1934Nmm
Bending moment for load of W1=5N, W2=10N, W3=2N is as follow:
Experimental = 1950Nmm
Theoretical = 2600Nmm
It can be seen clearly on the graph. The line graph gives the result of experimental
gives different readings.

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KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
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3.
The value from experimental result is lower than the value from theoretical. This is
due some factors during the experiment. The factors that may contribute to the results;

Friction - friction inside the balancing spring had reduced its efficiency in
taking proper reading during the experiments.

Wearing of apparatus - material of apparatus age with time and its mechanical
properties also decrease with time and load is applied, optimum performance
cannot be achieved in getting the reading thus giving lower value of result.

Human error this may have occurred when reading of results where parallax
error could occur and calibration was done in the experiment which can alter
the behaviour of apparatus.

In this experiment, it is expected that the experimental value would be lower than the
theoretical value. This is because in theory, outside factors are not being counted for
thus yielding bigger value.

4.

The twisting minute can be known at all pillars which is opposing both ductile
and compressive hassles. Bowing minute is a vital variable to be considered while
picking material for development in structural building. It is important to see how
twisting minute influences the conduct of bar when a heap is connected on it. The
conduct of any deformable bar subjected to a bowing minute will bring about the
material at the base bit of the bar to extend and the material inside of the top segment
to pack and make it lose its quality, which make the bar not sufficiently quality to
bolster loads. Hence, the bowing minute extremely helpful in anticipating the conduct
of material when it is subjected to loads particularly in plans of bar; where security is
the essential component mulled over. The architect can register the disappointment
heap of the shaft by applying the strategy above (calculations in discussion, page 718). The normal illustration use of twisting minute utilized as a part of structural
building is extension.
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KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
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CONCLUSION:
For experiment 1;
Bending moment for load of 10 N is as follow:

Experimental

Theoretical

W1=

W1=

667Nmm

W2 = 1950Nmm

W2=

2001Nmm

W3 = 1050Nmm

W3=

1002Nmm

450Nmm

Bending moment for load of 20 N is as follow:

Experimental

Theoretical

W1=

1050Nmm

W1=

1334Nmm

W2 = 3750Nmm

W2=

3999Nmm

W3 = 1950Nmm

W3=

1998Nmm

For experiment 2 (a);

Bending moment for load of W2=5N is as follow:
Experimental = 900Nmm
Theoretical = 999Nmm
Bending moment for load of W1=10N, W2=5N, W3=10N is as follow:
Experimental = 2100Nmm
Theoretical = 2668Nmm
For experiment 2 (b);
Bending moment for load of W1=5N, W3=12N is as follow:
Experimental =1800Nmm
Theoretical = 1934Nmm
Bending moment for load of W1=5N, W2=10N, W3=2N is as follow:
Experimental = 1950Nmm
Theoretical = 2600Nmm

The result from the experiment value is differs from the theoretical value and based on the
data obtained from the experiment,it can be concluded that the objective was met.

21

KNS 1461 Civil Engineering Laboratory 2

Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

REFERENCES:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bending_Moment
2. Civil Enginering, Unimas, Chapter 6 and 7 Lecture note (Beam Shear Forces and
Bending Moments) by Dr Ehsan Ahmed.
3. R. C. Hibbler, Mechanics of Materials, Prentice Hall, fifth edition, 2003

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