DEFLECTION OF BEAMS AND CANTILEVERS

Burle Koushi Priyatham , Milan Chavada*

Chundru Madhu Swapnika* , Eguri Praneeth Kumar
Garima Agarwal* , Harsha Koganti and Kalla Rohit
Aerospace Structures Lab, Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIST, Thiruvananthapuram

The report concerns about the experiments performed on thin walled cylindrical pressure ves-
sel.The experiment was performed on the closed and open configuration pressure vessels which were
operated using hand wheel.The difference between the open and closed configuration was the pres-
ence of longitudinal stresses in the case of closed ends configuration. The pressure inside thin walled
cylinder was varied and strains were obtained using strain gauges which were placed at different an-
gles to the axis.The Mohr’s Circle for both the cases were plotted and youngs modulus and Poissons
ratio were obtained from the Hoops stress vs Strain and Hoops Strain graphs VS Longitudinal strain.

Nomenclature
l Length (m)
E Young’s modulus of beam (N m−2 )
σH Hoop Stress (N m−2 )
σL Longitudinal Stress (N m−2 )
Ho Hoop Strain (Open Ends Condition)
Hc Hoop Strain (Closed Ends Condition)
Lo Longitudinal Strain (Open Ends Condition)
Lc Hoop Strain (Closed Ends Condition)
d Cylinder Internal Diameter
t Cylinder Wall thickness
ν poisson’s Ratio

I. Introduction
A pressure vessel is a container designed to hold liquids and gases at pressure substantially different
from ambient pressures.A pressure vessel has a lot of applications in different sectors.In aerospace industry
they have a special importance in designing rocket motor casing, fuel storage tanks for cryogenic engine,
air chambers for large scale wind tunnels etc. They appear in industries as hot water storage tanks or com-
pressed air storage tanks.Some of its other uses include pressure reactors, oil refineries and storage vessels
for liquefied gases. Cylindrical and Spherical pressure vessels are most widely used pressure vessels.Hence,
the analysis of such pressure vessels is essential.

Strain gauges are used to measure how strain varies at different angles to the axis and can be used to
compute stresses developed within the pressure vessel

II. Theory
For making analysis simple following assumptions are made:
1. A pressure vessel is considered to be ”thin-walled” if its radius r is larger than 5 times its wall thick-
ness t (r > 5t).

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 2. End effects are negligible.
3. The resulting strains are small.
4. The radial stresses are much smaller compared to longitudinal and hoops stress.

5. The pressure in the vessel is understood to be the gauge pressure.

Due to gauge pressure P, a small element of the vessel is sufficiently removed and is subjected to normal
stresses in circumferential and longitudinal direction.

A. Circumferential or Hoop’s Stress

The Hoop’s stress can be determined from the free body diagram shown in the above figure 2.

ΣF = 0

2(σh (tdx)) − P (2rdx) = 0

Pr
σh =
t
Pd
σh =
2t

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B. Longitudinal or Axial Stress

The Axial stress can be determined from the free body diagram shown in the above figure 3.

ΣF = 0

2(σl (2πrt)) − P (πr 2 ) = 0

Pr
σl =
2t
Pd
σh =
4t

III. Procedure
OPEN END CONFIGURATION
1. The experiment was first performed on the open end type of configuration.
2. When we screw the hand wheel, it clamps the free-moving pistons in the cylinder.The frame then
takes the axial(longitudinal) stress and not cylinder wall, as if cylinder has no ends.

3. The air valve is tightened and set to zero.

4. The chamber was pressurised using hydraulic arm in the steps of 0.5 MPa till 3 MPa.
5. From strain gauge display strain values of 6 different gauges were noted.
6. From the strain values obtained hoops stress is calculated.

CLOSED END CONFIGURATION

1. When we unscrew the hand wheel, the pistons push against caps at the end of the cylinder and
become ’Closed Ends’ of the cylinder.The cylinder wall then takes the axial (longitudinal) stress.
2. The same procedure which was followed in the case of open end cylinder was repeated.

3. From the strain values obtained longitudinal stress is calculated.

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 IV. Results
1. The theoretical value of poisson ratio of material AA6063 was 0.33.While the actual value of the
poissons ratio obtained from the graph plotted between Hoop strain and Longitudinal strain gives
0.4063.

2. The theoritical value of Young’s modulus of material AA6063 is 69 Gpa.While the actual value of the
Young’s modulus obtained from the graph plotted Hoop stress vs Hoop strain gives 61.5 Gpa.
3. The Mohr,s circles and graphs for both open and closed configurations have been plotted in the
Graphs section.

Appendix

Table 1. Specification of Experimental Setup

Specification of Experimental Setup

Nett Weight 30 Kg
Electrical Supply 85-264 VAC , 50/60 Hz
Maximum Cylinder Pressure 3.5 MN/m2
Strain Gauges Electrical resistance self temperature compensation type
Total oil capacity 2 litres
Cylinder Dimensions 80 mm ID
359 mm length
3.12 mm thick
Cylinder Material AA6063

V. Observations and Graphs

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 Acknowledgments
We are highly thankful to Dr. Arun C.O (Assistant Professor,Department of Aerospace Engineering)
and Dr. Bijudas C.R (Assistant Professor,Department of Aerospace Engineering) for their guidance and
constant supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding the report. We would like
to express our gratitude towards the Technical assistants for their co-operation and encouragement which
helped us in completion of this project.

References
1 Hibbler., Mechanics of Materials, Pearson,2013.
2 Popov.E.P., Engineering Mechanics of Solids , Pearson,2015.
3 http://nptel.ac.in/courses/112107146/27

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