Deflection of the Beams

Objectives:
1. To study the relation of deflection with increasing load keeping span and height constant.

2. To study the relation of deflection with varying span keeping height and load constant.

3. To study the relation of deflection with varying height keeping load and span constant.

Introduction:
Beam:
Beam is the structural element that mainly resists loads applied laterally to beam’s axis i.e., vertical
loads, shear forces and bending moments

Basic types of beams are:

• Cantilever Beam (beam that is fixed from one end and free at the other end)
• Simple span beam (supported at both ends)
• Continuous Beam (supported at more than one points)

Theory:
Simply supported beam:
In this type of beams two free ends of beam are supported by edge supports of the loading frame
subjected toa singular central load as shown in figure

1
 Numerically deflection of a simply supported beam with center load expressed as

𝛿=𝑊𝐿3/48EI I=(1/12)𝜔ℎ3
Were,

𝛿= Deflection of beam

W= applied load

I= moment of inertia

E= young’s modulus of beam

height of beam

Apparatus:

2
 1. Dial gauge
2. Load hanger.
3. Moveable frame.
4. Beam.
5. Load

Procedure:

1. First of all, we lose the screws from left and right side.
2. Now, Place the specimen between the spots.
3. We must make sure that the dimension of specimen is same from each (left and right) side.
4. Place the dial gauge on specified spot on the lever and set the reading to zero.
5. Push the dial downwards such that its tip touches that specified spot, this is done to store the
readings in the dial gauge.
6. Place the loads on load hangers while keeping the dial reading 0.
7. Repeat above procedure with different loads.
8. Plot the graph using these readings.

Calculations:
We calculated the beam deflection equation for one scenario and based on the said made our analysis.
The deflection equation for all the scenarios can be calculated similarly.

We see that there is an error between the theoretical and practically calculated value. Further discussion
on this in the discussions section.

For the scenario with 5N loading at 0.3m on a 4mmx25mm beam.

3
4
5
6
Results:

Load (N) Deflection(mm)

5 0.86

10 1.72

15 2.65

20 3.56

Load VS Deflection:
(a) Investigate the relationship between load and deflection.

Set the bearers so that a span of 600 mm is obtained. The interval between each groove on the
shaft of the apparatus is 100mm. Place a test specimen with dimension of 425 mm on the
bearers and mount the load device in the center of the test specimen. Set the testing device so
that the top of the gauge is centered on the upper plane of the load device. Lower the gauge so
that its small hand is at about 10 and set the gauge to zero by twisting its outer ring. Load with
weights as shown and read off the deflection. One revolution of the large hand of the gauge
corresponds to 1mm of deflection.

Dimensions of the beam used are 4 × 25 mm.

7
Span VS Deflection:

(b) Investigate the relationship between the span and deflection.

Employ a test specimen with dimension of 425 mm and load with weight 10N. Vary the span as
indicated and read off the deflection. Calculation is taken according to the following table:

Span(mm) Deflection(mm)

300 0.22

400 0.50

500 1

600 1.72

Dimensions of the beam used are 4 × 25 mm and constant load of 10 N.

8
9
Width VS Deflection:

c) Investigate the relationship between the width and deflection of the test specimen.

Set the bearers for a span of 600 mm. Employ the test specimens indicated below, load with
weight 10N and read off the deflection.

Width (mm) Deflection (mm)

4 × 15 2.74

4 × 20 2.05

4 × 25 1.72

4 × 30 1.43

Constant Load of 10 N is applied

Height VS Deflection:

d) Investigate the relationship between the height and deflection of the test specimen.

Set the bearers for a span of 600mm.Employ the test specimens indicated in the table below,
load with weight 10N

Height (mm) Deflection(mm)

3 × 25 3.81

4 × 25 1.72

6 × 25 0.50

8 × 25 0.19
Observations:

We see that with change in loads, span, width, and height the specimen shows different trend of
deflection for each case as.

• Varying load for constant dimensional Specimen the deflection increases and shows an (almost)
linear trend.
• Varying span for a constant load of 10 N shows that with increasing span the deflection in the
beam increases.
• Varying width for a constant load of 10 N shows that with increasing width the deflection in the
beam decreases.
• Varying Height for a constant load of 10 N shows the with increase in height the deflection in the
beam decreases.

The graphs reflect the trends shown by each case.

Discussion
We saw that there is a difference between the theoretical and practical value. The main reason of this is
because the beams we used to calculate the practical values had been strain hardened i..e, they had
been subjected to load so many times that there was a significant amount of plastic deformation in the
beams. This changed their elastic modulus values which resulted in a significant difference between the
theoretical and practically measured values.

SOURCES OF ERROR:

Although the theoretical value does not change much from the practically measured ones. But,
following could be the reasons for the slight errors:

• Inaccurate weights: The weights applied for loading could be inaccurate i.e., they may not be
exactly equal to the mentioned value

• Human error: There could be an error while noting the values down, this comes under the heading
of human error.

• Non-Ideal conditions: As the apparatus is a real-life system, it may involve some errors due to
being a non-ideal system.

• Random error: This is the kind of error that occurs when multiple readings are taken and they
deviate a bit from each other.

12