Yarmouk University

Hijjawi Faculty of Engineering Technology

Mechanical Engineering Department
Strength of Material Lab (ME 228)
Experiment No. Shear force and Bending Moment Test

Objective:
1- To measure the bending moment at a normal section of a loaded beam and compared with
theoretical value.
2- To comprehend the action of moment of resistance and the action of shear in a beam.

Introduction:

length of material supported at two points in such a way that it will carry loads is called a
beam. The loading applied perpendicular to its longitudinal axis causes bending and in most
cases transverse shearing. A

In the simplest example the loads and supporting reactions act in a vertical plane containing
the longitudinal axis, and the beam has a rectangular cross section.

The loads and support reactions are the external forces acting on the beam and they must be
in equilibrium. But in order to study the strength of the beam it is necessary to know how
these external forces affect it. As the theory section shows, the mathematical method is to
assume the beam is cut into two parts by a transverse section and then to examine the
equilibrium of each part. To maintain equilibrium, it is evident that certain forces must be
introduced at the cut, and when the cut is not there these same forces exist internally in the
material of the beam.
Apparatus:

The experimental beam is in two parts, the shorter beam being part A and the longer beam
part B. At the 'cut' section normal to the beam axis where they join (C), a pair of deep groove
ball bearings pinned in (B) fits either side of a vertical face of a bearing block fixed in (A),
thus forming a frictionless" hinge. A moment of resistance about the hinge is provided by an
under slung spring balance, which acts as a lever arm of 150mm therefore the resistance to
shearing is provided by a shear spring balance suspended over the beams.

The spring balances are calibrated in kgf (Kilogram Force) and to achieve a Newton reading
multiply the spring balance reading by 9.81m/s2.

Both of the 'U shaped brackets contain a pivot pin, which support each beam and allow the
beams to pivot. Each 'U' bracket is suspended above the main base unit by a support rod.

Several stirrup shaped load hangers can be threaded over the two parts of the beam, by
removing the hanger pin and sliding the hanger over the relevant beam and replacing the
hanger.

Calibrated weights are provided to apply loads to the beam sections.

Theory:

a- Bending

By taking clockwise and anticlockwise moments about X, the bending moment, Mx is

M x =R A . a−W 1 (a−L1)

M x =R B . b−W 3 (L3−a)−W 2 (L2−a)

To obtain the reaction, RA and RB, taking clockwise moments about A:

( W 1 . L1 ) + ( W 2 . L2 ) + ( W 3 . L3 )
R B=
L

R A =( W 1 +W 2+W 3 )−R B

Experimental procedure:

1- Bending moment
Part a:

Using the diagram for reference:

A =Simple support for short beam A

B= Simple support for long beam B

C= Cut section

W1= Weight hanger 1

W2 = Weight hanger 2

W3 = Weight hanger 3

 Set up the beams as shown in the diagram above. The span should be 900 mm. W1 is
positioned 100 mm from the left, W2 is positioned 300mm from the left with the pin of
this hanger within the groove of beam B. W3 is positioned 600mm from the left.
Positioning can be done easily by using the graduations on the adhesive graduation label
on the front of the beams. Each graduation being 50mm apart.
 Level the two beams by adjusting the thumbnut on the end of the studding protruding
from the bending moment and shear force spring balance.
 Record the bending moment spring balance reading only, in kgf, into the boxes marked
with A in table. This will be the reading at 'no-load', ON.
 Add 10 N to W1. Level the beams and record the new reading of the bending moment
spring balance in table 1 in the box marked with a B.
  Remove the 10 N weight from W1 and place it on W2. Level the beam and record the
new bending moment spring balance reading in table in the box marked C.
 Remove the load from W2 and place it on W3. Level the beam and record the new
bending moment spring balance reading in table 1 in the box marked D.
 Finally repeat the whole procedure using a 20 N load, recording all bending moment
spring balance values in table within the boxes marked E, F and G.

Load (kg) Balance reading Kgf (N) and

Net force (N) for load at
W1 (kgf) Net force W2 Net force W3 Net force
(N) (kgf (N) (kgf) (N)
)
0 1.6 1.6 1.6
10 2.1 2.9 2.3
20 2.4 4.3 3.0
Bending moment(Nmm) and (theoretical value)
10
20

Part b (superposition):

 Keep the load hanger positions the same as part 1 above. Level the beams and record the
bending moment spring balance reading in table in box marked A.
 Place a 5 N load on W2. Level the beams and record the new bending moment spring
balance reading in table 2 in the box marked B. Keeping the 5 N load in place on W2, add
10 N loads to W1 and W3. Level the beams and record the new bending moment spring
balance reading in table in the box marked C.
 As time permits repeat with a different span between supports, with the load hangers in
different positions, and with different loadings.

Loading (kg) Balance Reading Net Force (N) Bending moment (Nmm) and
(Kgf ) (theoretical value)
 0 1.6
W2=5 2.2
W1=W3=10, W2=5 3.2

Part c:

 Remove all loads from the hangers. Set up the apparatus as shown above. Level the
beams and record the bending moment spring balance reading in table in the box marked
A.
 Try two load arrangements of the same total loading by placing 5 N on W1 and 12N on
W3, followed by 5 N on W1, 10 N on W2 and 2N on W3. For each arrangement level the
beams and record the new bending moment spring balance reading in table 3 in boxes
marked B and C respectively.

Loading (kg) Balance Reading Net Force (N) Bending moment (Nmm) and
(Kgf ) (theoretical value)

0 2.3
 W1=5, W3=12 3.7

W1=5, W2=10, W3=2 4.2

Discussion:

Shearing forces are unaligned forces pushing one part of a body in one direction, and another
part the body in the opposite direction and it is measured in N.

Shear force or shearing force is defined when a plane is passed through a body, a force is
acting along this plane. Bending moment exists in a structural element when a moment is
applied to the element so that the element bends. Moments and torques are measured as a
force multiplied by a distance to the unit of Newton-meters (Nm).

There is some source of error had observed after calculating and observing the values and
action of shear force. Therefore, we have to solve it by making the beam more stable because
the beam was unstable positioned because the loads was not placed on the exact middle or on
the marked lines which is the parallax error, when force is applied to this experiment, the
distance between the loads and span will not be exactly equal Furthermore, this results can be
improved so that the results will become more accurate, improvement like reducing the mass
of the hanger to avoid additional force acting on it, make sure that the beam is stable and
record the readings and lastly calculate the average readings.

References:

1- Gere, J.M.; Timoshenko, S.P. (1996), Mechanics of Materials: Forth edition, Nelson
Engineering, ISBN 0534934293
2- Beer, F.; Johnston, E.R. (1984), Vector mechanics for engineers: statics, McGraw
Hill, pp. 62–76