Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology

MEE20004 - STRUCTURAL MECHANICS

LAB. 3 - BEAM BENDING - 2020 Sem. 2

By writing my name below, I declare this is an individual assignment and no part of this submission
has been copied from any other student's work or from any other source except where due
acknowledgment is explicitly made in the text, nor has any part been written for me by another
person. Refer to Unit of Study Outline for Plagiarism guidelines.

STUDENT NAME & No. : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lab. Date & Time:. . . . . . . . . . . . Demonstrator : . . . . . . . . . . . . .
INTRODUCTION :
The aim of this laboratory is to compare experimental and theoretical deflections of a solid steel
beam subjected to three point bending. Load is applied using a GUNT bending device.

PROCEDURE :
1. Measure the dimensions of test beam cross-section and distance between two roller supports.
Calculate the central applied Load required to produce a max. bending normal stress of 180
MPa in the beam. (Note: use Equations relating to the applied force, resulted bending moment
and normal stress.)
Measured Width (mm) *Average Width (b) (mm)
40.01 39.87 39.87

Measured Height (mm) *Average Height (h) (mm)

11.78 11.93 11.98

NOTE : Measure & record b and h at three locations and use Average values in calculations.
Distance between the roller supports (L) = mm
Calculated Load (P) = kN

2. Ensure force and deflection are initially zeroed. Apply the Load calculated in step 1 and record
the resulting beam deflection under the indenter. (Note : Is “y” reading +’ve Or –‘ve ?)
Actual measured load (P) = 2.291 kN
Final measured /experimental deflection (y) = 1.001mm (show sign and units)

3. Determine Theoretical value for EI by multiplying the I determined in step 1 with E= 200 GPa.
EI THEORY = (show sign and units)

4. Calculate the theoretical deflection by using Eq. (1) shown overleaf.

Theoretical deflection (y) = (show sign and units)

y Force P
Indenter Test beam
x

x
Roller support L/2

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 For Central Load:
P
y= ( 4 x3 − 3 L2 x )
48 EI Eq. (1)

5. Unload beam and change the position of one roller support so that the beam is now non-
symmetrically loaded as shown below. Calculate the non-symmetrically applied Load
required to produce a maximum bending normal stress of 180 MPa in the beam.
Calculated non-symmetrical Load (P) = kN.

Apply the calculated non-symmetrical load and record final deflection.

x (mm) u (mm) v (mm) L (mm) Actual Final
measured experimental
load (kN) deflection
(mm)
200/2=100 200/2=100 300/2=150 100+150=250 2.915 0.684

Calculate the theoretical value of deflection by using Eq. (2).

Theoretical deflection = (show sign and units)

y Force P
Indenter Test beam
x

x
Roller u=100mm v=150mm
support L

For Non-symmetric Load:

Pv
y= [ x 3 − ( L2 - v 2 ) x ]
6 EIL , L=u+ v Eq.
(2)

LABORATORY REPORT:

Type and edit your report using Microsoft Word (hand-written is not acceptable except for the
sample calculation). ). Submit your individual Lab Report to Canvas by due Date – 1 week after
conducting Lab. Please scan your report and save whole report as one PDF file with a name of
Surname_Initial_Student ID_Lab3.pdf. Please refer to Unit Outline for lab submission penalties
etc. (Hint for submission: Canvas -> Assignment -> Lab3 Report -> Submit Assignment.)
The Report must include (in order) :

(i) This handout as cover sheet /results for your report (3 mark).
(ii) Discussion and Conclusion, compare the experimental and theoretical deflections for both
central and non-symmetrical loadings. Discuss errors and possible reasons. The expected
length of the Discussion is between half and one full page using 12 font size with 1.5 line
space (200-400 words). (2 marks).
(iii) Sample Calculations should be included in an Appendix, attached to the end. Only this
part can be hand-written neatly (2 marks).
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Procedure to operate the GUNT machine:
1. Turn on the computer and login by using your Swinburne student ID and password.
2. Click “Start” → “Programs” → “G.U.N.T” → “WP 3×0”.
3. Please select your language: English.
4. On the WP 300 Universal Material Tester interface, choose “Bending Test” (middle bottom
icon).
5. Turn the handle (on the machine) clockwise to move the test bar up till it almost touches the
indenter.
6. Apply a preload 0.1 kN. Then on the computer, click “Tare” to zero the force and deflection.
7. Click “File” → “New Series”, in the popup window, please type in the name of your file,
then click “OK”.

8. Click the Spanner icon , on the menu, type in the parameters of your bars.

9. Click for continuous record.

10. Turn the handle clockwise to apply a load up to the value calculated (P on Page 1).

11. Click to stop recording.

12. Turn the handle anticlockwise to unload and move the test bar down.
13. Click “View” → “Table”, then read and write down the final force and deflection values (the
second last row in the file).
14. Click “View” → “Force Bending Diagram”.
15. Change one of the mobile support to 200 mm, repeat Steps 5-13 to apply an non-symmetrical
load to the test bar. In this case, the distance between the two supports or the effective length
of the bar is 200/2+300/2=250 mm.
16. Remove the load and switch off the computer.

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