Department Of Aerospace Engineering,

Indian Institute Of Technology Madras

AS2100:Basic Aerospace Engineering Lab

Report 9

Anik Bhowmick
AE20B102
December 9, 2021
Contents
1 Aim
:::::
2

2 Theory
::::::::
2
2.1 Derivation of the deflection formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
3

3 Apparatus and procedure

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
5
3.1 Procedure
::::::::::
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

4 Result and analysis

:::::::::::::::::::::::
6
4.1 Calculation of Young’s Modulus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
8
4.2 Calculation of Flexural Strength and Failure load . . . . . . . . . . . . .
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
8

5 Conclusion
:::::::::::::
8
5.1 Source of error and Remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
8

6 Appendix
:::::::::::
9

7 Bibliography
:::::::::::::::
9

List of Figures
1 Neutral axis and neutral surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2 Simply supported beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3 Plane sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4 Simply supported beam loaded condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5 Bending stress distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
6 Flexural strength vs deflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7 UTM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8 Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1
1 Aim
::::::::

Under the instruction of professor K. V. Nagendra Gopal, I hereby make a report to

find Young’s Modulus of a given material using 3 point bending stress and also find the
flexural strength.

2 Theory
::::::::::::

Unlike the previous experiment we use the fact of bending of simply supported beam
under a central point load to find Young’s Modulus. So some relevant terminologies are
given in short below.

Beam : Beams are usually horizontal structural elements that carry loads perpendicular
to their longitudinal direction. Depending upon the nature of cross-section beams are of
different types like-I section, T section, Circular section and so on. Depending on the
support nature beams can be simply supported and cantilever.

Neutral axis : The longitudinal surface of a beam under bending which experiences
neither tension nor compression is known as neutral surface. There is only one neutral
surface in a beam. The line of intersection of transverse section of beam with the neutral
surface is known as neutral axis. In other words, the line of intersection of the longitu-
dinal plane of symmetry and the neutral surface is known as neutral axis. Neutral axis
experiences no extension or contraction.

Figure 1: Neutral axis and neutral surface

Simply supported beam: A simply supported beam is one that rests on two sup-
ports and is free to move horizontally.

Figure 2: Simply supported beam

2
 In such arrangement one or more point loads as well as distributed loads can be
applied for bending. While considering the beam deflection we will take the following
assumptions:

ˆ Plane cross-sections remain plane and rotate such that they are perpendicular to
the deformed centroidal axis after bending. (This is referred to as Euler-Bernoulli
hypothesis.)

Figure 3: Plane sections

ˆ The bending stress σx is the dominant normal stress compared to which σy and σz
are negligible. Similarly, shear stress components other than τxy are negligible.

ˆ The transverse deflection v does not vary through the depth of the beam.

ˆ Both σx and τxy do not vary across the width of the beam.

2.1 Derivation of the deflection formula

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Figure 4: Simply supported beam loaded condition

We will use Macauley’s method for the derivation.

L
Here, q = −W < x − >−1 (1)
2
d2 M
using dx2
= q and boundary conditions at x = 0 and x = L M = 0

L Wx
M = −W < x − >+ (2)
2 2
2
dy
now, EI 2 = M (3)
dx
(4)

3
solving f or y with boundary conditions at x = 0 and x = L y = 0

W L W x3 3W L2 x
y=− < x − >3 + − (5)
6 2 12 48
L W L3
At y = ; y = δ = − (6)
2 48EI
Bending stress : Bending stress is the normal stress that an object encounters when
it is subjected to a large load at a particular point that causes the object to bend and
become fatigued. The bending moment is the cause of bending stress. Mathematical
expression is given below:

Figure 5: Bending stress distribution

My
σ= (7)
I
ˆ M is bending moment.

ˆ y is the distance from neutral surface.

ˆ I is second moment of area about the axis defined by neutral surface and vertical
plane.

For a three point bending case with point load at the middle, M = W2L . For a beam with
3
dimension b × d × L. I = bd12
, y = 2b . Now substituting M and I and y in equation-7:

3 WL
σ= (8)
2 bd2
Flexural Strength : The flexural strength is stress at failure in bending. It is equal or
slightly larger than the failure stress in tension.
Setting the value of W such that the material breaks we can find the σ which is flexural
strength.

4
 Figure 6: Flexural strength vs deflection

3 Apparatus and procedure

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The same UTM apparatus is used in the 3 points bending test.

5
 Figure 7: UTM

3.1 Procedure
:::::::::::::::

ˆ Select and note dimensions of the beam specimen. Set the knife-edges 1000mm
apart.

ˆ With a ruler and a dry wipe marker draw two lines across the beam 1000mm apart
and one line half-way between the two lines.

ˆ Put the beam onto the knife-edges against the black stops. Line up the beam marks
onto the knife edges.

ˆ Add a 10g weight hanger on to the dial gauge and slide the dial gauge down on to
the beam at the middle position until it reads 10mm. Remove the weight hanger
and zero the outer scale using the bezel. With plastic beams this may take several
attempts.

ˆ Add a 500g mass to the dial gauge and record the dial indicator reading.

ˆ Repeat step 6 up to 5000g in 500g increments.

ˆ Tabulate the results and plot load vs displacement. The slope gives the Young’s
modulus.

4 Result and analysis

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

From the experiment we have length of the beam = 1m. Area of cross section b × d=5 ×
0.5cm2 .

6
 Sl. no Force(N) Deflection(m)
1 4.905 0.0003
2 9.81 0.0005
3 14.715 0.0008
4 19.62 0.0011
5 24.525 0.0014
6 29.43 0.0016
7 34.335 0.0019
8 39.24 0.0022
9 44.145 0.0024
10 49.050 0.0027

Table 1: Table of data

Figure 8: Plot

The Equation of the best fit line is F = 1.81621318 × 104 δ − 8.40763854 × 10−2 .

7
4.1 Calculation of Young’s Modulus
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

From the Equation we have:

W L3
δ=
48EI
or, W = kδ
kL3
E= , k = slope = 1.81621318 × 104
48I
1 1
I = bd3 = (5 × 10−2 )(0.5 × 10−2 )3 = 5.20833 × 10−10
12 12
E = 726.5GPa

4.2 Calculation of Flexural Strength and Failure load

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

For failure criteria yield strength of material can be used for Flexural strength. So
Flexural Strength

σf = σyield = 35 MPa

From Equation-8 we can write:

2 σf bd2
W = = 29.17 N (Failure load)
3 L

5 Conclusion
::::::::::::::::::::

From the above experiment we have obtained a good idea about bending of beams by
point loads. Also we learnt an important parameter of bending flexural strength. A
material with higher flexural strength can with stand large amount of force before it
breaks. Also there are few advantages of the bending test over tensile tests like:

ˆ We can deal with force of much smaller magnitude to determine Young’s modulus.
Whereas in tensile test sufficiently large amount of force is necessary for detectable
strain.

ˆ Strength of material can’t be determined by performing the tensile test alone. We

need other tests like bending, twisting and so on. So combined tests like bending
and tensile test can give us good estimate of strength about the material.

5.1 Source of error and Remedy

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

ˆ Incorrect dimensional measurement causes error in measurement of second moment

of area, which intern leads to error in measurement of Young’s Modulus.

ˆ More accurate curve fitting is necessary for the detection of non linearity in the
curve. If the curve becomes non linear from straight line then it indicates that
the Flexural strength is reached or exceeded. So more accurate measurement and
correct plotting is necessary. Otherwise it may lead to error in measurement of
Young’s Modulus also.

8
 ˆ Error also comes from incomplete measurement. Like if the load and corresponding
deflections are obtained while applying only increasing load, the result won’t be
reliable. Instead we need both deflections while applying increasing load from zero
to max value and decreasing load from max to zero value.

6 Appendix
::::::::::::::::

The code used for the calculation and plotting is given below.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib . pyplot as plt
L=1
b = 5 * 10 ** ( - 2 )
d = 0 . 5 * 10 ** ( - 2 )
I = ( 1 / 12 ) * b * d ** ( 3 )
A = np . loadtxt ( " dat . txt " , usecols =0 , dtype = float )
A1 = A
B = np . loadtxt ( " dat . txt " , usecols =1 , dtype = float )
B1 = B
A = A * 9 . 81
B = ( B * 10 ** ( - 2 ) )
C = np . ones (( len ( B ) ,2 ) )
for i in range (0 , len ( B ) ) :
C[i][0]=B[i]
print ( C )
S = np . dot ( np . linalg . inv ( np . dot ( C . transpose () ,C ) ) , np . dot ( C . transpose () ,A )
)
print ( S )
print ( " E = " ,( S [ 0 ] * L ) / ( 4 * b * d ** 3 ) )
print ( " Sl . no & Force ( N ) & Deflection ( cm ) " )
for i in range (0 , len ( A ) ) :
print ( " \ hline " )
print ( i +1 , " & " ,A [ i ] ," & " ,B [ i ] )
y = np . dot (C , S )
plt . scatter (B ,A , color = ' g ' , marker = ' o ' , label = " Scatter plot " )
plt . plot (B ,y , color = " m " , label = " Best fit " , linewidth = 1 . 5 )
plt . xlabel ( " Deflection $ \ delta $ in m " , color = ' r ' , fontsize = 15 )
plt . ylabel ( " Load in N " , color = ' r ' , fontsize = 15 )
plt . title ( " Load Vs Deflection plot " , color = ' orange ' , fontsize = 20 )
plt . xticks ( color = ' g ' )
plt . yticks ( color = ' g ' )
plt . grid ( linestyle = " --" )
plt . legend ()
plt . show ()

7 Bibliography
::::::::::::::::::::::

ˆ https://sctevtodisha.nic.in/wp-content/plugins/LectureNote/uploads/files_
1606458451_1346425614.pdf

ˆ https://drive.google.com/drive/u/3/my-drive

ˆ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexural_strength