TAIBAH UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

CE 206 – Mechanics of
Materials

Semester: 2

Experiment Number: 3

Title of Experiment: Bending Moment

______________________________________________________
Students Students name
ID (group 1)
3703388 ‫حاتم حامد‬
4002276 ‫تركي السحيمي‬
4028023 ‫إبراهيم محمد‬
3412721 ‫عبد الرحمن الهجله‬
3902608 ‫محمد أبو عامر‬

Due Date: 27/03/2021

Instructor: Dr. Abdulrahman K. Yussef

1
1. Objectives

To obtain a general understanding of how bending moment varies at the point of loading.
To measure the varying bending moment at the location of a cut.
To obtain the mechanical properties: the bending moment, and the loading conditions.

2. Apparatus
Experiment that illustrates and proves the basic theory of bending moment in a
beam. Mounts on the Structures test frame and connects to the Structures
automatic data acquisition unit and software.

2
3. Procedure

3
We will use the statement:
" The Bending Moment at the ‘cut’ is equal to the algebraic sum of the moments caused by
the forces acting to the left or right of the cut."
Check the Digital Force Display meter reads zero with no load.
Carefully load the beam with the hangers in the positions shown in Figure 4, using the loads
indicated in Table2.
Record the Digital Force Display reading as in Table 3.
Convert the force reading into a bending moment (in Nm).
Remember, Bending Moment at the cut (N) = Displayed force X 0.125 .
Calculate the support reactions (RA and RB) and calculate the theoretical bending moment
at the cut.
Repeat the procedure with the beam loaded as in Figure 5 and Figure 6.
Comment on how the results of the experiments compare with those calculated using the
theory.

Figure 6, Force diagram Figure 5, Force diagram Figure 4, Force diagram

Figure W1 W2 Experimental RA RB Theoretical

(N) (N) shear (N) (N) shear
(N) (N)
4 3.92
5 1.96 3.92
6 4.91 3.92
Table 2, Results for Experiment 2

4
4. Sample Calculations

Experiment 1;

Theoretical bending moment:

Mc = W[a(l-a)/l]
a= 0.3m L=0.44m

Results:
Mass Load Force Experimental bending theoritecal bending
(g) (N) (N) moment moment
(Nm) (Nm)
0 0 0 0 0
100 0.98 0.6 0.094 0.075
200 1.96 1.2 0.187 0.150
300 2.94 1.8 0.281 0.225

5
 400 3.92 2.3 0.374 0.288
500 4.9 2.8 0.468 0.350
𝑙−𝑎
𝐵𝑀𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 × 𝑎 × ( )
𝑙

Chart Title
0.5
0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
100g 200g 300g 400g 500g

Experimental bending moment theoritecal bending moment

Experiment 2;
Force diagram:

Figure W1 W2 Experimental RA RB Theoretical

(N) (N) bending moment (N) (N) bending moment
(Nm) (Nm)
4 3.92 NA -1.3 5.16 -1.2 -1.2
5 1.96 3.92 8.2 2.5 3.29 3.2
6 4.91 3.92 2.3 2.5 6.23 2.3

6
5. Discussions

The simplest way of examining how bending moment varies at the cut position of the beam
for various loading conditions. The test results were accurate and close to each value, as
you can see in the graph where the Experimental BM (Nm) and theoretical BM(Nm) curves
were nearly overlapping. We see in the results of an experiment studying the effect of
different forces on the bending moment in the beam, two important factors are taken into
account in the result Experiment 1- Bending moment 2- Applied Load. We also noticed the
output change when there was a slight difference in one of these factors, as we noticed
when we got to 4.9 applied load the bending moment was experimental higher than the
other.

Conclusions

In conclusion, aim of this task was to study the effect of different forces on the bending
moment in the beam and the result show that there is a linear relationship between bending
moment and applied load. Experimental and theoretical bending moment shows perfect
linear relationship with applied load with very little difference in the values of bending
moment.

References (in APA Style)

Bending Moment in a Beam, 2021 (video file), Available from:
< https://youtu.be/TVWNQvPIfJo> [March27, 2021].