EXPERIMENT NO.

8
“To verify the laws of shearing force and bending moments on a beam ”
Wasib Muzammil
2017-ME-151
November 28,2018

1 Objective
To verify the laws of shearing force and bending moments on a beam.

2 Apparatus
i. Bending moment and Shearing force apparatus

ii. Hangers and Weights

3 Introduction
In this experiment, we will discuss the terms like shearing force, bending moment and the construction
and working of shearing force and bending moment apparatus etc. We will also verify the laws of shearing
force and bending moments on a beam using equilibrium conditions.

4 Theory
4.1 Beams
In many engineering structures members are required to resist forces that are applied laterally or trans-
versely to their axes. These types of members are termed as beam.
There are various ways to define the beam such as:

“A beam is a laterally loaded member, whose cross sectional dimensions are small as compared to its
length.”
OR
“A beam is nothing but simply a bar which is subjected to forces or couples that lie in a plane
containing the longitudinal axis of the bar. The forces are understood to act perpendicular to the
longitudinal axis of the bar [1]”

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 Figure 1: Beams [2]

4.2 Issues regarding beam

Designers would be interested to know the answers to following issues while dealing with beams in practical
engineering problems:

i. At what point it fail ?

ii. How much deflection occurs under the application of loads ?

4.3 Types of beams

Beams can be classified on the basis of their

1. Geometry

(a) Straight beam

(b) Curved beam
(c) Tapered beam

2. Equilibrium conditions

(a) Statically determinate beam

(b) Statically indeterminate beam

3. Loads

(a) Simply supported beam

(b) Cantilever beam
(c) Propped beam
(d) Overhanging beam
(e) Fixed beam
(f) Continuous beam

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 4. Cross sectional area
(a) Square beam
(b) I beam
(c) T beam
(d) C beam

4.4 Types of loads acting on beams

A beam is normally horizontal where as external loads acting on the beams are generally in vertical
directions. In order to study the behavior of beams under loads, it becomes pertinent that one must be
familiar with the various types of loads acting on the beams as well as their physical manifestations.

4.4.1 Point Load/Concentrated Load

“It is the kind of load which is considered to act at a point.”
By this we mean that the length of beam over which the force acts is so small in comparison to its total
length that one can model the force as though applied to a point in two dimensional view of beam.

Figure 2: Point Load [3]

4.4.2 Uniformly Distributed load

“Uniformly distributed load is the load which will be distributed over the length of the beam in such
a way that rate of loading will be uniform throughout the distribution length of the beam.”

Figure 3: Uniformly Distributed Load [4]

4.4.3 Triangular Load

“Triangular load is the load which will be distributed over the length of the beam in such a way that
rate of loading will not be uniform but also vary from point to point throughout the distribution length
of the beam [5] ”

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 Figure 4: Triangular Load [6]

4.5 Shear Force

“Shear forces occurs when two parallel forces act out of alignment with each other.”
For example, in a large boiler made from large sections of sheet metal plate riveted together, there is an
equal and opposite force exerted on the rivets, owing to the expansion and contraction of the plates.

4.5.1 Shearing Force along the loaded beam

“The shearing force (SF) at any section of a beam represents the tendency for the portion of the beam
on one side of the section to slide or shear laterally relative to the other portion.”
Mathematically, it can be defined as
“The shearing force at any point along the loaded beam is the algebraic sum of all the vertical forces
acting to one side of the point [7]”

4.5.2 Sign Convention

i. To the right of the given section, upward forces are positive and downward forces are negative.
ii. To the left of the given section, upward forces are negative and downward forces are positive.

4.6 Bending moment

“Bending moment are rotational forces within the beam that causes bending”
Mathematically,
“The bending moment at any point along a loaded beam is the algebraic sum of the moments of all
the vertical forces acting to the one side of the point about the point.”

4.6.1 Sign Conventions

i. Bending moment are considered positive when the moment on the left portion is clockwise and on
the right portion is anticlockwise.
ii. Bending moment are considered negative when the moment on the left portion is anticlockwise and
on the right portion is clockwise.
Sometimes, the words “sagging” and “hogging” are generally used for the positive and negative bending
moments respectively.

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 Figure 5: Positive Bending Moment [8]

Figure 6: Negative Bending moment [9]

4.7 Bending Moment and Shearing force Apparatus

It is an apparatus having a horizontal beam and three pulleys with a frame. The beam is attached to a
frame by means of a pin. The apparatus is manually operated. The frame of the apparatus is actually
a metal plat at which a pin support is present for the support of the beam. The pulleys are fixed in the
frame of the apparatus and are attached to each other by wires.

4.7.1 Derivation
From Figure 7, it can be seen that
W1 and W are in downward direction
W2 in upward direction
Applying the equilibrium conditions, we have
X
Fx = 0

W =W

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 Figure 7: Schematic Diagram for equilibrium conditions

Similarly, X
Fy = 0
W2 = W1 + W (1)
And, X
Mp = 0
W (4) + W1 (10) − W (8) = 0
Thus,
4W + 10W1
W = (2)
8

5 Observations and Calculations

From equation (1), we have
W2 = W1 + W
And from equation (2), we have
4W + 10W1
W =
8
but it is given that Weight of beam = W = 4.2 lb

5.1 For W1 =0.1 lb

Let us apply a load of 0.1 lb i.e. W1 = 0.1 lb. Then from equation (1),

W2 = 4.2 + 0.1 = 4.3 lb

And from equation (2),

4(4.2) + 10(0.1)
W =
8
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This implies,
W = 2.225 lb
Thus under these set of loads on the beam, the apparatus will be in equilibrium.
Similarly, performing the same calculations for different values of W1 we tabulated the results as:

4W + 10W1
Sr. No. W1 W2 = W + W 1 W= Wexp
8
(lb) (lb) (lb) (lb)
1. 0.1 4.2 2.225 2.3
2. 0.2 4.4 2.35 2.355
3. 0.3 4.5 2.475 2.45
4. 0.4 4.6 2.6 2.6
5. 0.5 4.7 2.725 2.7

Table 1: Observed and Calculated Values of loads for equilibrium

6 Comments
This minor difference between the experimental and theoretical values may be due to following reasons:

i. Friction

ii. Atmospheric conditions such as temperature etc.

iii. Wears and tears of apparatus

iv. Creep effect

v. Non uniform loading

References
[1] “Beam” def. 1 Whitney, William Dwight and Benjamin E. Smith. The century dictionary and cyclopedia
vol.1. New York: Century Co.,1901.487. Print

[2] https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRDhdrDM9goUIVPyC X7w-

SEodqCZrZsqFDux1fXXCTcfmXuvA-

[3] https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DXxM-ogM0fc/WNZVAY57I-I/AAAAAAAAClg/0Q6syZI zCMBQ-

Drvr3nYZcRFtetMWpvvQCLcB/s320/2Untitled.jpg

[4] https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-29OWqOvJg/WNZVGh2w38I/AAAAAAClk/YX9JOIaORogmB9gAhQ
KRG5m3.jpg

[5] http://www.hkdivedi.com/2017/03/different-types-of-load-acting-on-beam.html

[6] https://www.quora.com/Where-are-fixed-beams-used

[7] http://leancrew.com/all-this/images2015/20150818-Simply%20supported%20beam.png

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[8] https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-47dc5edd9e63b6e6cd17b05433e83079

[9] https://d2vlcm61l7u1fs.cloudfront.net/media%2F765%2F765292b1-edf0-4a95-867d-
896bf39bbb9b%2FphpLsQZDW.png

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