DEPARTRMENT OF MECHANICAL ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL

ENGINEERING
LABORATORY 2: BENDING MOMENT IN A BEAM

AUTHORS
KAGISO DONGWANA 18000523
ABEDNICO L.K THULARI 18000473
BOITUMELO GOSIAME 18000495
DIMPHO S MOSEKIEMANG 18000890
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
THEORY.....................................................................................................................................................4
OBJECTIVES.............................................................................................................................................6
APPARATUS AND MATERIALS.............................................................................................................7
PROCEDURE.............................................................................................................................................8
RESULT AND ANALYSIS..............................................................................................................................10
SAMPLE CALCULATIONS............................................................................................................................11
DISCUSSION...............................................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................14

2
INTRODUCTION
Members that are slender and have support loadings that are applied perpendicular to their longitudinal
axis are called beams. Beams are important structural and mechanical elements in engineering. Beams are
in general, long straight bars having a constant cross-sectional area, often classified as to how they are
supported. For example, a simply supported beam is pinned at one end and roller-supported at the other, a
cantilevered beam is fixed at one end and free at the other, and an overhanging beam has one or both of
its ends freely extended over the supports.[CITATION RCH13 \l 1033 ]

A bending moment exists in a structural Beam when a moment is applied to the beam so that the it bends.
Moments are measured as a force multiplied by a distance so they have a unit of Newton-meters (N·m).
The concept of bending moments is very important in engineering, particularly in civil, mechanical or any
other field dealing with forces in materials. In steel beam design, bending moment tells the structural
engineer what the best shape can be to carry the bending moment which the beam will be subjected to.
Shear strength of steel beams are high and typically can be overlooked if there is no special loading
condition that warrants a look such as a column sitting at the middle of a beam or near the support. At the
support, the shear stresses are at its highest and any load near this point would be a bit hazardous & raise
concern as to whether the beam can handle the capacity or not.

There are other types of internal loading that a beam experience, such as normal force, shear force and
torsional moment;

Normal Force,
This force acts along the member’s longitudinal axis and passes through the centroid or geometric center
of the cross-sectional area. It acts perpendicular to the area and is developed whenever the external loads
tend to push or pull on the two segments of the body.[ CITATION RCH12 \l 1033 ]

Shear Force, (V)

If the external force is applied perpendicular to the axis of a member, it causes an internal stress
contribution acting tangent to the member’s cross section. The resultant of this stress distribution is called
the ‘shear force’. The shear force is developed when the external loads tend to cause the two segments of
the body to slide over one another.[ CITATION RCH13 \l 1033 ]

Torsional moment or Torque, (T)

An external torque tends to twist a circular member about its longitudinal axis. It causes an internal
distribution of stress that varies linearly when measured in a radial direction. The resultant of this stress
distribution is called the torque or torsional moment.[ CITATION RCH12 \l 1033 ]

3
THEORY
A beam is a structural member that carries loads. These loads are most often perpendicular to its
longitudinal axis, but they can be of any geometry. The concept of bending moments is very important in
engineering, particularly in civil and mechanical engineering. As the simple type of beam under
concentrated conditions was used in this experiment which is statically determinate, meaning that the
reactions, shears and moments can be found by the laws of statics alone.

Figure 1

Bending moments are rotational forces within the beam that cause bending. A beam resting on supports at
A and B supporting a load P .If the beam is cut by a vertical section XX, then for the beam to remain in
equilibrium, each part must be in equilibrium. Neglecting the self-weight on the beam any extra forces
acting on part A to preserve equilibrium must be transmitted from part B across section XX and vice
versa. The action of part A on part B must be equal and opposite to that of B on A.
As the load is sorely vertical and in the plane of the beam, there cannot be horizontal reactions, so
equilibrium yields two conditions;

 Vertical equilibrium
 Equilibrium of moments

Figure 2

One other important principle that has to be outlined is the principle of sign conversion which is briefly
summarized in figure 3.0

4
Figure 3

For equilibrium moments, take an axis as shown in the section XX to eliminate Q x. Then using the sign
convention given for part A of the beam,
M x =R A=a
And for part B of the beam

M x =R B b−P (b−L)

5
It can easily be proved that these have the same by substituting for R B and P as follows;

M X =−b ( P−R B ) + PL=−b R A + R A ( a+ b )=R A a

BENDING FORCE:
Eɛ I
F=
Ly
F= Bending Force
E = Young’s Modulus of the cantilever material = 70 kN/mm 2
I =Second moment of area,
b d3 4
Second moment of area= =24.7 mm
12
b = Width of cantilever ≈9.56mm
d = Height of cantilever member = 3.14 mm
L = Distance from cantilever of strain gauge on cantilever to point of application of load on the cantilever,
¿ 56.5 mm
y = Distance to neutral axis of cantilever
d
Distance ¿ neutral axis of cantilever= =1.57 mm
2
Bending moment at the cut section
Bending moment =F ( 150 mm )
150mm is the distance from the centerline of the beam to the horizontal centerline of the cantilever

OBJECTIVES
 To comprehend the action of moment of resistance in a beam
 To measure the bending moment at the normal section of a loaded beam and to check its
agreement with theory.
 To convert strain readings to force readings

6
APPARATUS AND MATERIALS
 Cantilever
 HDA 200
 Beams
 Weight hangers
 Weights
 Spirit balance

7
PROCEDURE

Part 1: Establishing the bending moment at cut section C.

As per instructions given us by the teaching assistants, the functionality of the apparatus was first
checked, each part one by one. After making sure that all parts were functioning well, the experiment
began. The apparatus was thus set up as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Set-up 1

A; Is a simple support for short beam A

B; Simple support for short beam B
C; Cut section
W1; Weight Hanger
W2; Weight Hanger
W3; Weight Hanger
First hanger (𝑊2) was placed such that it was resting in the transverse groove of beam B. This was done
by using the graduations on the adhesive graduation label on the front of the beams. The two beams were
levelled by adjusting the thumbnut on the end of the studding protruding from the under slung cantilever.
The zero load strain reading was obtained by tarring the HDA 200 and then recorded into Table 1.

8
Starting from the left most hanger (𝑊1), a 10 N weight was added onto the hanger. L The beam was
levelled and the strain reading from the HDA200 was recorded into Table 1.Then the 10 N weight was
removed from the (𝑊1) hanger and placed onto (𝑊2) hanger. The HDA200 was tarred & the reading was
recorded Table 1. Then after, the load from the (𝑊2) hanger was removed and placed onto (W3) hanger.
The HDA200 reading was tarred, the beam levelled and the new strain recorded into Table 1. Finally, the
whole process above was repeated using a 20 N load, and all strain readings from the HDA200 was
recorded in Table 1.
Part 2: Superposition
The load hanger positions were kept the same as in Part 1 (see Figure 3). The beams were levelled and
the zero-load strain recorded from the HDA200 was put in Table 2. A 5 N load was placed onto (𝑊2).
Then the beams were levelled using the spirit lever. The new strain reading was tabulated as well into
Table 2. Keeping the 5 N load in place, a 10 N load was placed onto (𝑊1) and (𝑊3) hangers. The beams
were levelled the new strain readings recorded in Table 2.

Part 3: Conversion of strain reading to force readings

All loads were removed from the hangers and then set up shown below in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Set-up 2
First the beams were levelled and the value seen from the HDA200 was recorded into Table 3. Two load
arrangements were made of the same total loading. This was done by placing 5 N on the leftmost hanger
(𝑊1) and 12 N on the rightmost hanger (𝑊3), followed by 5 N on the leftmost hanger, 10 N on the
middle hanger and 2 N on the rightmost hanger. For each arrangement, the beams were levelled and the
new spring balance readings recorded in Table 3.

9
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
PART 1

Table 1: FOR PART 1 BENDING MOMENT AT C FOR LOADINGS

W1 (STRAIN BENDING W2(STRAIN BENDING W3(STRAIN BENDING

LOAD READING) FORCE READING) FORCE READING) FORCE
N µɛ N µɛ N µɛ N
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 186 3.51 512 9.66 285 5.38
20 350 6.60 989 18.66 528 9.96
BENDING MOMENT (Nmm) AND THEORETICAL VALUE()
10 526.5 [666.7] 1449 [2000] 807[2000]
20 990[1333.4] 2799[4000] 1494[4000]

Table 2: Mc for loading(superposition)

BENDING
BENDING MOMENT
LOADING STRAIN READING FORCE (theoretical value)
N µɛ N Nmm
0 0 0 0
W2=5 279 5.26 789 [1000]
W1 =W3=10,
W2=5 700 13.2 1980[2666.7]

TABLE 3: MC FOR VARIOUS LOADINGS

BENDING
MOMENT
BENDING (theoretical
LOADING STRAIN READING FORCE value)
N µɛ N Nmm
0 0.00 0.00 0.00
W1 =5, W3 = 12 406 7.66 1149[1533.3]
W 1 = 5, W2 = 10, W 3 = 2 659 12.4 1864.68[2533.3]

10
SAMPLE CALCULATIONS
FOR W1= 10N LOAD
BENDING FORCE:

Eɛ I
F=
Ly

Where;
E= 70 000N/mm2
ԑ= 186
d
y=
2
3.10 mm
= 1.55mm
2
Second Moment of Area, I
bh ³
I=
12

(9.5 mmx ( 3.10 mm )3)

= 23.6mm4
12
L= 56.5mm
3 2 −6 4 ¿
Bending force= ( ( 70 ×10 ) Nm m )×(186 ×10 )ε ¿ ×23.6 m m ¿ (56.5 mm ×1.55 mm) =3.51 N

BENDING MOMENT:

BENDING MOMENT=F (150 mm )

3.51 ×150=526.5
FOR W1=10N IN TABLE 1
Theoretical values

10N
100mm 800mm

11

RA RB
∑Fy= 0 = RA+RB-10N
∑M= 0 = -RA(900m)+(10Nx800mm)
= RA= 8.89N
RB-10N+8.89N=0
RB= 1.11N
Mx 600mm

Qx
1.11N
∑M= 0= (1.11Nx600mm)- MX
MX=666.7Nmm

12
DISCUSSION
In Table 1, the bending moment of the 10N load was 526.5 Nmm and when the load was doubled
to make 20N, the bending moment was 990[Nmm. This clearly means that when load is doubled
bending moment is doubled too.From the tables it can be seen that the value of theoretical bending
moment increase with the increase in the value of applied load and decrease with the decrease in the
value of applied load. The ratio with which there is an increase and decrease in the value of theoretical
bending moment is equal to the ratio with which there is an increase and decrease in the value of
applied load.

The main purpose of Table 1 was to compare the theoretical and experimental bending moment.
According to the table, there is a slight difference between both values which shows the correctness of
apparatus. Little different between the values could be due to human error which we cannot minimize
due to the human capability’s limitations. Another source of error could be that the material used to
make cantilever was not able to support large loads as it was seen that it tends to bend.Also the
deviation may have been due to the following reasons, this could have been from the HDA200 interface
its self. Before a new experiment resumes the interfaces must be replaced with new once because using
a previously worked out HDA200 interface eventually gives out wrong readings due heating effect
experienced by the instrument.

CONCLUSION
The aim of the task was to comprehend the action of moment of resistance in a beam and it was
noted that when the load was applied to the beam, both tensile and compressive stresses resulted
in turning effect about the neutral axis. These are called moment MT and MC respectively. In
order for the beam to be in equilibrium, it must be able to resist these moments with MR (internal
moment of resistance). We were also to measure the bending moment at a normal section of a
loaded beam and to check its agreement with theory. From table 1, it was noted that when our
bending force was 3.51 N, our bending moment was equal to 526.5 Nmm and also when our
bending force was increased to 9.66 N, our bending moment also increased to 1449 Nmm. This
agrees with theory such that when we increase the net force, the bending moment also increases.
This shows that there is a linear relationship between them.

13
REFERENCES
Hibber, R., 2012. MECHANICS FOR ENGINEERS. Thirteenth edition ed. SINGAPORE: PEARSON .

Hibber, R., 2013. MECHANICS OF MATERIALS. 9th ed. SINGAPORE: PEARSON.

William D. Callister, J., 2008. failure. In: fundamental of material science and engineering. s.l.:s.n., pp.
328-329.

14