STRUCTURE AND MATERIAL LABORATORY

ECS426

EXPERIMENT: DEFLECTION OF BEAM

LECTURER:

DR ROHANA HASSAN

PREPARED BY:

NAME STUDENT ID
MUHAMMAD HANIF IZZUDDIN
2015430118
BIN ADNAN

AINA BINTI ABDUL AZIZ 2015666944

MOHAMAD DARWISH BIN 2015430436

SHAHRIR

SHAMIR BIN ROSLAN 2015

FARAH NADIA BINTI NORSHAM 2015218302

GROUP:

EC2201A GROUP 3

DATE OF SUBMISSION:
EXPERIMENT: DEFLECTION OF DETERMINATE BEAM
INTRODUCTION
Beams are the most common structural element which carries load and transmit them to
adjacent columns of support. Beams work by developing shear forces and bending moment
along their length. A simply supported beam is a beam with roller and pin support. Bridge
girders and gangways are good examples of simply supported beams. When loads is applied to
beam, the deflection of beam will occur. Excessive deflection would cause cracking of brittle
materials within or attached to the beam.

OBJECTIVES
1. To determine the maximum deflection at mid span and maximum slope induced at the
support for a beam subjected to an increasing point load and a uniform distributed load
2. To examine the relationship between deflection and cube of beam span
3. To study the relationship between deflection and load applied to simply supported
beam.

THEORY:
The maximum deflection of a simply supported beam subjected to point load at mid span is
given by:

𝑊𝐿3
Maximum deflection, ∆ =
48 𝐸 𝐼
Where
W = Load (N)
L = Span or length of beam
E = Young’s modulus of beam ( Nm-2 )
I =Second moment of area of the beam ( m2 )
For rectangular section I = bd3 , where b and d are the width and depth respectively
METHODOLOGY
APPARATUS
1. Structural Test Frame
2. Aluminium, brass, steel test beam
3. Digital dial or LVDT
4. Vernier gauge
5. Load hanger
6. A set of weight

FIGURE 1.1 : Deflection of beams and cantilever experiment set-up

PROCEDURE
1. The width (b) and depth (d) of the aluminium, brass and steel test beams had
been measured by used Vernier gauge.
2. The value next to the result table had been recorded for each material to
calculate the second moment of area, I.
3. Clamps and knife edges from the backboard had been removed. One of the
cantilevers had been set up.
4. The digital dial test indicator was slide to the position on the beam and was
locked by used thumbnut at the rear. Knife-edge hanger had been slide to the
position required.
5. The digital dial test had been set up to zero by used the ‘origin’ button.
6. Masses had been applied to the knife-edge hanger. The frame was tapped lightly
each time masses were added. The digital dial test indicator reading had been
recorded for each increment of mass.
7. The procedure was repeated by used different type of material.

FIGURE 2.1 : Masses was added to the knife-edge hanger.

 FIGURE 2.2: Masses are added to the knife-edge hanger.

FIGURE 2.3: Masses added to the knife-edge hanger for a certain mass(g).
OBSERVATION AND CALCULATION

Material Aluminum Steel Brass

Length (m) 0.576 0.630 0.630

Width (m) 0.1905 0.1913 0.1333

Height (m) 0.0359 0.0322 0.0308

DEFLECTION OF DETERMINATE BEAM TESTS

Experimental deflection Average Theoretical

Applied load (N)
Reading 1 Reading 2 deflection deflection
div mm div mm (mm) (mm)
STEEL

1 32 0.32 33 0.33 0.325

2 70 0.70 71 0.71 0.705
3 106 1.06 108 1.08 1.070
4 141 1.41 146 1.46 1.435
5 179 1.79 180 1.80 1.795
Experimental deflection Average Theoretical
Applied load (N)
Reading 1 Reading 2 deflection deflection
div mm div mm (mm) (mm)
BRASS

1 84 0.84 86 0.86 0.850

2 170 1.70 177 1.77 1.735
3 264 2.64 272 2.72 2.68
4 352 3.52 363 3.63 3.575
5 450 4.50 462 4.62 4.560
Experimental deflection Average Theoretical
Applied load (N)
Reading 1 Reading 2 deflection deflection
div mm div mm (mm) (mm)`
ALUMINIUM

1 68 0.68 68 0.68 0.680

2 156 1.56 153 1.53 1.545
3 251 2.51 238 2.38 2.445
4 323 3.23 315 3.15 3.190
5 370 3.70 377 3.77 3.735
DISCUSSIONS

The maximum deflection of a simply supported beam subjected to point load at mid span is
given by:

𝑊𝐿3
Maximum deflection, ∆ =
48 𝐸 𝐼

Where
W = Load (N)
L = Span or length of beam
E = Young’s modulus of beam ( Nm-2 )
I =Second moment of area of the beam ( m2 )
𝑏𝑑3
For rectangular section I = , where b and d are the width and depth respectively
12

Second moment of area

𝑏𝑑3 0.1913 × 0.03223

I steel = = = 5.3223 × 10−7
12 12
𝑏𝑑3 0.1333 × 0.03083
I brass = = =3.2456 × 10−7
12 12
𝑏𝑑3 0.1905 × 0.03593
I aluminium = = =7.3451× 10−7
12 12
STEEL
E steel = 200GPa
1𝑁 × 0.63𝑚
∆= = 1.2330 × 10−4 𝑚
(48 )× (200×109 ) × (5.3223×10−7 )

2𝑁 × 0.63𝑚
∆= = 2.4660× 10−4 𝑚
(48 )× (200×109 ) × (5.3223×10−7 )

3𝑁 × 0.63𝑚
∆= = 3.6991 × 10−4 𝑚
(48 )× (200×109 ) × (5.3223×10−7 )

4𝑁 × 0.63𝑚
∆= = 4.9321 × 10−4 𝑚
(48 )× (200×109 ) × (5.3223×10−7 )

5𝑁 × 0.63𝑚
∆= =6.1651 × 10−4 𝑚
(48 )× (200×109 ) × (5.3223×10−7 )

BRASS
E brass = 105GPa
1𝑁 × 0.63𝑚
∆= = 3.8514 × 10−4 m
(48 )× (105×109 ) × (3.2456×10−7 )

2𝑁 × 0.63𝑚
∆= = 7.7027 × 10−4 𝑚
(48 )× (105×109 ) × (3.2456×10−7 )

3𝑁 × 0.63𝑚
∆= = 1.1554 × 10−3 𝑚
(48 )× (105×109 ) × (3.2456×10−7 )

4𝑁 × 0.63𝑚
∆= = 1.5405 × 10−3 𝑚
(48 )× (105×109 ) × (3.2456×10−7 )

5𝑁 × 0.63𝑚
∆= = 1.9257 × 10−3 m
(48 )× (105×109 ) × (3.2456×10−7 )
ALUMINIUM .
E aluminium = 65GPa
1𝑁 × 0.576𝑚
∆ = (48 )× (65×109 ) = 2.5134 × 10−4 𝑚
× (7.3451×10−7 )

2𝑁 × 0.576𝑚
∆= = 5.0269 × 10−4 𝑚
(48 )× (65×109 ) × (7.3451×10−7 )

3𝑁 × 0.576𝑚
∆= = 7.5403 × 10−4 𝑚
(48 )× (65×109 ) × (7.3451×10−7 )

4𝑁 × 0.576𝑚
∆= = 1.0054 × 10−3 𝑚
(48 )× (65×109 ) × (7.3451×10−7 )

5𝑁 × 0.576𝑚
∆= = 1.2567 × 10−3 𝑚
(48 )× (65×109 ) × (7.3451×10−7 )

Theoretically, when 5-N load is applied, steel has the smallest deflection and brass has the
largest deflection of all three tested material. As from the experimental observation, we got the
same result deflection which is brass deflected the most when maximum load is applied. So it
is proved that brass will deflect the most as the applied load increased, whereas steel is the least
SSdeflect.