Shear Force and Bending Moment

of a Beam
ENGINEERING MECHANICS

Instructor; Mr. Deosaran Boodooram

Course Code: MENG1002JD15
Date: Sat, 7 March, 2020

Keandre Rodriguez
ID: 90773
Contents
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................2
Objectives.............................................................................................................................................3
Apparatus.............................................................................................................................................4
Procedure.............................................................................................................................................5
Results..................................................................................................................................................6
Diagram............................................................................................................................................6
Calculations......................................................................................................................................7
Discussion.............................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................10
References..........................................................................................................................................11

The shear force (F) are

unalligned forces pushing one
part of a body in one
direction, and another part the
body in the opposite direction.
When the forces are
alligned into each other, they
are called compression forces.
Bending moment exits in
a structural element when a
moment is applied to the
element so that the element
bencs. Moments and torques
are measured as a force
multiplied by a distance so
they
have as unit Newton-metres
(Nm). The shear force (F) in a
beam at any section, X, is
the force transverse to the
beam tending cause it to shear
across the section. The force
which make the right-hand
side tends to slide downwards
relative to the left hand
portion is taken as positive
whereas the force is taken as
negative when the right-hand
portion tends to slide upwards
relative to left.
 Introduction

The shear force (F) are unaligned forces pushing one part of a body in one
direction, and another part the body in the opposite direction. When the forces
are aligned into each other, they are called compression forces. Bending
moment exits in a structural element when a moment is applied to the element
so that the element bancs. Moments and torques are measured as a force
multiplied by a distance so they have as unit Newton-metres (Nm). The shear
force (F) in a beam at any section, X, is the force transverse to the beam tending
cause it to shear across the section. The force which make the right-hand side
tends to slide downwards relative to the left hand portion is taken as positive
whereas the force is taken as negative when the right-hand portion tends to slide
upwards relative to left. This experiment will test both reaction and deflection
of a beam and cantilever.
 Objectives

The objectives for this lab are;

 To calculate the reactions at the supports
 To draw the Shear force diagram
 To draw the Bending moment diagram
 To extract useful information from the diagrams.
 Apparatus
 The Beam
 Ruler
 An attachment
 Two loads
 Digital measure
 Procedure
These are the steps taken to conduct this experiment;
1. Set the knife supports at determined positions along the frame and mount the
beam to be tested.
2. The material, width, thickness, and length between supports should be
measured and recorded for later use.
3. Place dial gauges along lengths of the test area (the area between the knife
supports) and set the gauges to read zero with no load applied (place any one
dial gauge on the center of the simply supported beam to measure the actual
maximum deflection)
4. Adding the hook and hanger to the any preferred point of the beam (where
the load P will be acting) at a distance X from right support or left support (in
our case x is measured from left support), record the new readings for the
gauges.
5. Add new loads onto the hanger, recording the new deflections for each gauge
after every loading and the support reactions are calculated by using eq 1.
6. The theoretical deflection is calculated by using the formula mentioned in the
worksheet provided.
 Results
Diagram
A. Beam experiment

a c b d Rule

W1 W2

Beam

Figure 1 showing the Beam experiment.

 a b c d W1 W2 R1 R2
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (N) (N) (mm) (mm)
290 1200 800 1600 25 10 2.32 1.19
500 1450 700 1600 10 5 1.16 0.33
500 1450 700 1600 10 25 0.78 2.74
650 1400 350 1600 15 25 1.51 2.39
Table 1 showing the results of the beam experiment.

Values recorded for R1 and R2 use a scale of 1mm = 10N

Calculations
a c b d Rule
200mm 750mm 150mm

10N 1 25N 2

Beam

7.6N 1 27.4N2

Figure 2 showing the shear force diagram

Anticlockwise=Clockwise

R2 x 750 + 10x200 = 900x25

R2 = 27.3N
R1x750 + 25x150 = 950x10
R1 = 7.6
Figure 3 showing the bending moment of the beam
 Discussion
This experiment was conducted to understand the shear force and bending
moment of a beam. The results are discussed below;
Four different weights were used for each of the readings, and references from
the beam to the top were recorded and placed in the result table. The third
reading from the lab was used to calculate the reactions and the bending
moments diagram was then drawn.
Shearing forces are unaligned forces pushing one part of a body in one specific
direction, and another part of the body in the opposite direction. When the
forces are aligned into each other, they are called compression forces. "If a
plane is passed through a body, a force acting along this plane is called a shear
force or shearing force."[ CITATION Nas98 \l 11273 ]
A bending moment is the reaction induced in a structural element when an
external force or moment is applied to the element causing the element to bend.
The most common or simplest structural element subjected to bending moments
is the beam.
Some sources of error in this experiment were; Parallax error when referencing
from the top. The load hanger is shaking, when the reading is taken and the load
hanger shakes, the measurement would be incorrect. And if beam is sensitive
when the experiment is done, the recordings would be inaccurate.
 Conclusion

In conclusion, we can conclude, this experiment proves that the theory of

bending moments can be proved by an experiment conducted in the laboratory.
Things that affect the value of the bending moment can also be identified. Also
it can be concluded that when the load we placed at the beam is increasing, the
Shear Force will also increase. As well it was proved that Shear force at the cut
section is equal to the forces acting both right and left side of the cut section on
the beam. It was also seen how shear force varies at the cut position of the beam
for various loading conditions
References
Nash, W. A. (1998, July 1). Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems of Strength of Materials. In W.
A. Nash. Retrieved from Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems of Strength of Materials.