Experiment 4: Stress Analysis of Beams

Using Strain Gauges

Report done by
Aumar Al-Meshhadany
40102507

For
ENGR 244(DI-X)

Course given by
Dr. Ehab Ahmed

Concordia University
3/22/2021

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Table of Contents
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................ 3
LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................................. 8
1. OBJECTIVE ......................................................................................................................................... 9
2. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 10
3. PROCEDURE ..................................................................................................................................... 12
4. RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................... 13
5. DISCUSSION......................................................................................................................................... 15
6. PROBLEM TO SOLVE...................................................................................................................... 16
7. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 18
ANNEX ......................................................................................................................................................... 19

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Beam and the forces keeping it in place

Figure 2: Applied forces on the beam

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Figure 3: The applied forces created a bending

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Figure 4: Free body & shear/moment diagram

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 Strain - Stress
2.000E+08
E = -188,833,278,453.43x - 68,072.56
1.500E+08

1.000E+08

5.000E+07
Channel 5
Strain

0.000E+00 Channel 1
-0.001 -0.0005 0 0.0005 0.001 Linear (Channel 5)
-5.000E+07
Linear (Channel 1)

-1.000E+08

-1.500E+08
y = -183,448,625,545.95x - 722,549.84
-2.000E+08
Stress (Pa)

Figure 5: Strain according to the values of stress

Longitudinal Strain Channel 5 and

Transversial Strain Channel 6
0.001

0.0008 y = 0.00000016x - 0.00000386

0.0006
Channel 5
0.0004
Strain

Channel 6
0.0002
Linear (Channel 5)
0 Linear (Channel 6)
0 2000 4000 6000
-0.0002

-0.0004 y = -0.000000046x + 0.000002333

Load (N)

Figure 6: Longitudinal strain of Channel vs transversial strain of channl 6

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 Strain vs distance
0.228
y = 0.455x + 0.2275
0.2279
0.2278
Distance (m)

0.2277
0.2276
Strain vs distance
0.2275
0.2274
0.2273 Linear (Strain vs
distance )
0.2272
0.2271
-0.001 -0.0005 0 0.0005 0.001
Strain

Figure 7: Strain vs horizontal distance

Strain vs distance
0.0159 y = 0.03174x + 0.01587
0.01589
Distance (m)

0.01588

0.01587 Strain vs distance

0.01586
Linear (Strain vs
0.01585 distance )

0.01584
-0.001 -0.0005 0 0.0005 0.001
Strain

Figure 8: Strain vs vertical distance from the bottom

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Value of y for Each Channel

ch# y(m)
1 0.01587
2 0.0101
3 0
4 -0.0101
5 -0.01587
6 -0.01587

Table 2: Value of Experimental Bending Stress of Each Load

Load Channel
(N) Channel 1 (Pa) Channel 2 (Pa) 3 (Pa) Channel 4 (Pa) Channel 5 (Pa) Channel 6 (Pa)
1000 29934318 19050826 0 -19050826 -29934318 -29934318
2000 59868636 38101652 0 -38101652 -59868636 -59868636
3000 89802953 57152478 0 -57152478 -89802953 -89802953
4000 119737271 76203304 0 -76203304 -119737271 -119737271
5000 149671589 95254130 0 -95254130 -149671589 -149671589
0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Table 3: Theoretical Stress at Each Gauge

Load (N) Channel 1 (Pa) Channel 2 (Pa) Channel 3 (Pa)

1000 -31600000 -20000000 200000
2000 -64000000 -39800000 0
3000 -94600000 -57000000 400000
4000 -126600000 -78400000 -200000
5000 -159000000 -97800000 600000
0 -200000 -400000 0
Load (N) Channel 4 (Pa) Channel 5 (Pa) Channel 6 (Pa)
1000 21200000 31400000 -10000000
2000 44400000 64600000 -16400000
3000 63800000 96400000 -26600000
4000 84200000 128800000 -36600000
5000 107400000 163600000 -46000000
0 400000 0 400000

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 1. OBJECTIVE

In this experiment, we will determine the elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and shear

modulus by using the strain measurement. We will also determine the distribution of stress and

strain in a beam by the same use of strain gauges.

 2. INTRODUCTION

A strain gauge, also referred as strain gage, is basically a sensor whose resistance varies

with applied force [1]. In other words, we will be able to measure the strain on a stationary object

by using an electrical resistance. The term strain consists of tensile and compressive strain. We

can make the difference between a tensile and a compressible strain by a positive or a negative

sign.

In this experiment, we will analyze the bending of a beam so it’s important to understand

how a bending is created. Let’s assume a beam is hold from its extremity (see figure 1). If the

beam is hold in place, it means the forces at the extremity equal the normal weight of beam in the

opposite direction. Then, let’s assume some forces are applied over the beam (see figure 2).

Those applied forces created a binding (see figure 3), but why is that? Well, to make it simple,

the forces applied on the beam are too big for the forces on the extremity to hold it anymore.

Therefore, it creates a bending on the beam. Once there is a bending, it means the beam is under

stress.

The bending stress is calculated such as:

𝑀𝑦
𝜎𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 =
𝐼

where,

M = the internal bending moment about the section’s neutral axis.

y = the perpendicular distance from the neutral axis to a point on the section
I = the moment of inertia of the section area about the neutral axis.

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By looking at the formula, we can observe that the maximum bending stress will occur at the

neutral axis. Therefore,

𝑀𝑐
𝜎𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 =
𝐼

where,

c is the perpendicular distance from the neutral axis to the farthest point on the section. Now, if

the beam has the form of a ‘’U’’, it means the top of the beam from the neutral axis is in

compression while the bottom of the beam from the neutral axis is in tension.

With all of this information, we can evaluate Poisson’s ratio by dividing the absolute

value of transverse strain 𝜀𝑇 by the longitudinal strain𝜀𝐿 :

|𝜀𝑇 |
𝑣=
|𝜖𝐿 |

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 3. PROCEDURE

The experiment starts by the calculation and the recording of the cross section of the steel

bar. Once this is done, we locate the beam symmetrically on the supports. Then, turn the gauge

selector switch to channel 1 and adjust the potentiometer. Perform the same operation for the

other 5 channels. Do not touch anything while the test is happening. Finally, load the beam

slowly in increments of 1000 N (Newton) to 5000 N. To make sure the readings are good, record

the value at zero load since because it should be close to zero.

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 4. RESULTS

• Calculation of the Moment of Inertia:

𝑏 ∗ ℎ3 0.01915 ∗ 0.031743
𝐼= = = 5.102797 𝑥 10−8 𝑚4
12 12

• Free body diagram and shear/moment diagrams:

See figure 4.

• Calculation of the bending stress at each loading stage:

*Calculation only for the first load: 1000 N

𝑀 ∗ 𝑦 96.25 ∗ 0.01587
𝜎𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 = = = 29934317.824 𝑃𝑎
𝐼 5.102797 𝑥 10−8
1000 0.455 − 0.07
𝑀 = 𝑝∗𝑒 = ∗ = 96.25 𝑁 ∙ 𝑚
2 2
See table 2 for the rest of the values.

• Stress-strain curves for gauges points 1 and 5:

o See figure 5.
o Elastic Modulus:

𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑙 + 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑙 5

𝐸= = 1035.89 𝐺𝑃𝑎
2

• Plotting of longitudinal strain versus the applied load and plotting of the transverse strain
indicated by gauge 6:

See figure 5.

• Poisson’s ratio:

𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑙 0.000000046
𝑣= = = 0.2875
𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 0.00000016

• Theoretical stress at each gauge:

See table 6.

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• The experimental shear Modulus (G):

𝐸 200 ∗ 109
𝐺= = = 77.67 𝐺𝑃𝑎
2(1 + 𝑣) 2(1 + 0.2875)

• Plotting of the strain vs distance from horizontal mid-plane of the beam and the
experimental location of the neutral axis:
o See figure 7.
o Location: at height 0.01587 m and at distance 0.22749

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 5. DISCUSSION

We can observe that the experimental values are pretty close to the theoretical values.

Indeed, since we’re using big values of forces comparing to the values of ‘’y’’ and values of

‘’strain’’, the values of stress can drastically change just with a difference of1.0 𝑥 10−8 . The

stresses with negative values are in compression and the stresses with positive values are in

tension, as explained in the introduction.

We can observe from figure 8 that the assumption that a plane section before bending

remains plane after bending.

The theoretical value of the shear Modulus is of 77 GPa. The experimental value

obtained is of 77.67 GPa. The values are extremely close to each value. The theoretical value of

Poisson’s ratio is 0.3. The experimental value of Poisson’s ratio obtained is 0.2875. For both

cases, the values are extremely close. The differences can be explained with the same idea than

in the first paragraph. When doing calculations of big values with very small values, each small

difference between two very small values can have a big difference in the final result. Therefore,

the most impactful error can be from the values of strain recorded. Perhaps if the values were

taken at each 500 N or even less, then maybe the difference between the theoretical values and

experimental values could have been extremely small or even no difference.

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 6. PROBLEM TO SOLVE

a)

𝑀𝑐 2000 ∗ 0.03
𝜎𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑚 = = = 111.1 𝑀𝑃𝑎
𝐼 5.4 ∗ 10−7
Where

𝑏 ∗ ℎ3 0.03 ∗ 0.063
𝐼= =
12 12
d = perpendicular distance from the neutral axis

𝜎𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑚 111.1 𝑀𝑃𝑎

𝜀= = = 1.610305958 ∗ 10−3
𝐸𝐴𝑙 69 𝐺𝑃𝑎 [2]

𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝜀=
𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ
𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ = 0.03 + 𝜀 ∗ 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ = 0.03004830918

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b)

𝜎𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑚 111.1 𝑀𝑃𝑎

𝜀= = = 5.5555555 ∗ 10−4
𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙 200 𝐺𝑃𝑎

𝜎𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑 = 110.98 𝑀𝑃𝑎

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 7. REFERENCES

ENGR 244 – Mechanic of Materials – ONLINE LABORATORY - Experiment 4: Stress

Analysis of Beams Using Strain Gauges – DATA SHEET – Lab Section: DI, FI & LI

ENGR 244 – Mechanic of Materials – ONLINE LABORATORY – Experiment 4: Stress

Analysis of Beams Using Strain Gauges – Experiment Description.

[1] Strain Gauge, OMEGA a sepectris company. Accessed on: March 22, 2021. [Online].
Available: https://www.omega.co.uk/prodinfo/StrainGauges.html

[2] Young’s Modulus – Tensile and Yield Strength for Common Materials, The Engineering
ToolBox. Accessed on: March 22, 2021. [Online]. Available:
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/young-modulus-d_417.html

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ANNEX

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