TITLE

EXPERIMENT ON BEAMS (PART 2) DEFLECTION OF SIMPLY

SUPPORTED AND CANTILEVER BEAMS

1.1 INTRODUCTION
In this laboratory activity, students will be exposed to the apparatus and
the procedures to carry out experiment on beams - Part 2 to determine the
deflection of the simply supported and cantilever beams.
1.2 OBJECTIVE
The objective of the experiment is:
To establish the relationship between deflection and applied load
for simply supported beam and cantilever beams, hence determine the
elastic modulus of the specimen from the deflection data.
1.3 LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the laboratory activities, students would be able to:

Identify and use the correct apparatus/tools to carry out experiment on beams;
Work in a group to undertake the task; and
Collect and analyze the data correctly and produce the technical report.

1.4 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

The deflection of a beam depends on its length, its cross-sectional shape,
the material, where the deflecting force is applied, and how the beam is
supported.
The deflection is measured from the original neutral surface of the beam
to the neutral surface of the deformed beam. The configuration assumed
by the deformed neutral surface is known as the elastic curve of the beam

b) Simply Supported Beam

The maximum deflection of a simply supported beam loaded with a load W at the middle of the
span is given by;
Rewriting,

2.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Numerous methods are available for determination of beam deflections. Some of these methods
such as Integration Method and Macaulays Method have been introduced in the previous course,
ECS238 Basic Solid Mechanics. Another common method that can be used to solve for
deflection at any point on a structure is the method of virtual work or sometimes referred to as
the Unit Load Method.
In this experiment, the group is required to compare the deflection of various types of beams
under loads with those obtained from theory.

3.1 APPARATUS
a) Simply Support Beam
i. A support frame
ii. A simply supported beam
iii. A load hanger a dial gauge with 0.01 mm accuracy to measuring deflection
iv. Beam specimen with constant depth and width throughout its length
v. A caliper to measure the depth and width of the beam specimen
vi. A meter ruler or tape measure to measure the span of the beam
vii. A set of weights
b) Cantilever Beam
i. A support frame
ii. A fixed support with clamping facility
iii. A load hanger a dial gauge with 0.01 mm accuracy to measuring deflection
iv. Beam specimen with constant depth and width throughout its length
v. A caliper to measure the depth and width of the beam specimen
vi. A meter ruler or tape measure to measure the span of the beam
vii. A set of weights
3.2 PROCEDURES
a) Simply Support Beam
i. Width and depth of specimen being measured and the readings was recorded.
ii. Beam specimen for simply supported beam was set up.
iii. The load hanger was fixed at the desired distance from the beam.
iv. The dial gauge on the top of the load ganger was placed and the resulting deflection was
measured.
v. The dial gauge was set to zero.
vi. Suitable load was place on the load hanger.
vii. The resulting dial gauge reading was recorded
viii. The load on the hanger was increased.
ix. Step v and vii was repeated for a few load increments.
x. The test being repeated to obtain another set of readings.

b) Cantilever Beam
i. The width and depth of specimen being measured and the readings was recorded.

ii. The beam specimen was placed between the sandwich plates and the clamping screws were
tightened.
iii. The load cell locking screws was unlocked and the dial gauge was pushed away from the
vertical shaft.
iv. The locking screws at the shaft was adjusted so that both of the screws were pressed the shaft
and the shaft was vertical.
v. The load hanger was fixed at the desired distance from the beam.
vi. The dial gauge on the top of the load hanger was placed and the resulting deflection was
recorded.
vii. The dial gauge was set to zero.
viii. A suitable load was placed on the load hanger.
ix. The resulting dial gauge reading was recorded.
x. The load on the load hanger was increased.
xi. Step vii until x was repeated for a few more load increments.
xii. The above test was repeated to obtain another set of readings.

3.3 Results
a) Simply Support Beam
Span of tested beam, L = 86.2mm
Width of beam specimen, b = 25mm
Depth of beam specimen, d = 0.6mm
Moment of inertia of beam specimen, (bd3/12) = 0.45mm4
Dial gauge reading, 1 div = 0.01 mm
Table 1 : Deflection Results for Simply Supported Beam
Applied Load
(N)
N
5
10
15
20
25

b) Cantilever Beam

Experimental Deflection
div
118
318
518
728
848

mm
1.18
3.18
5.18
7.28
8.48

Theoretical
Deflection
mm
2.70
5.39
8.09
10.78
13.48

Span of tested beam, L = 37mm

Width of beam specimen, b = 25mm
Depth of beam specimen, d = 0.6mm
Moment of inertia of beam specimen, (bd3/12) =0.45 mm4
Dial gauge reading, 1 div = 0.01 mm
Table 1 : Deflection Results for Cantilever Beam

Applied Load
(N)
N
5
10
15
20
25

Experimental Deflection
div
294
613
948
1300
1659

mm
2.94
6.13
9.48
1.30
1.659

Theoretical
Deflection
mm
3.41
6.82
10.23
13.64
17.06

4.1 Analysis
4.2 Discussion and Conclusion
Based on the experiment conducted, the error deflected at the result is not same with the
theoretical. We can conclude that the percentage of the error made in this experiment is due to
human error and parallax error. The percentage of error for simply supported beam is -58.91%
while for cantilever beam is -6.96%. The percentage of error we can calculate using equation :-

The error made is because of the human error. This occurs when the force that we apply to the
load on the hanger is not same. Next is parallax error. This error occurs when the observers eye
is not squarely aligned with the pointer and scale. The reading may be to high or low.
Conclusion

From the experiment we conducted, we have obtained percentage error of 6.96% for cantilever
beam and up to 58.91% for simply supported beam. Then value of E that we got from experiment
is significantly different from the actual E (55000MPa). E for simply supported beam is
59282.77MPa while for cantilever beam is 87179.70MPa. We can conclude that E affect the
deflection of beam.