ENME 479 Lab 2, Experiment 6:

Maxwell-Bettis Reciprocity

Purpose: The purpose of this experiment is to investigate Maxwell-Bettis Reciprocity theory and cases where it is
applicable. This will be done by loading a beam placed on three supports and then measuring the deflection at another
point of the beam. The conditions under which the theory will not hold true will also be investigated. Lastly, the
importance of stress control in indeterminate structures will be discussed.
Data & Observations:

Load (grams)

Distance measurements: (refer to picture)

250
500
750
1000
1250
1500
1750
2000

Support A to Support B = 56.8 in.

Support A to Load A = 26.6 in.
Support B to Support C = 53.4. in
Support B to Load B = 53.4 in.
Load B to Support C = 31.3 in.

Displacement at: (inches)

A
B
0.009
0.010
0.018
0.019
0.027
0.028
0.036
0.038
0.045
0.048
0.054
0.057
0.063
0.066
0.072
0.075

Discussion:
1. How do we determine if Maxwell-Bettis reciprocity was observed in this experiment?
From the data collected, it is seen that the displacements at point A when point B was loaded are almost exactly
identical to the displacements at point B when point A was loaded. We are also assuming that the load placed would
exert a stress on the bar that is less than the yield stress, so that the bar was deformed in the elastic range. In summary,
this is what Maxwell-Bettis Reciprocal Theorem States: in a linearly elastic system, the deflection produced at point 1 by
a load at point 2 is equal to the deflection produced at point 2 by a load applied at point 1. (Beer, 2009)
This can be illustrated by the following equation, where P is a force, and is a displacement:

The theoretical values that we expected to see from the experiment would be that of equal displacements at A and B.
2. Why does the theorem only apply to linearly elastic systems?
In in an elastic range, strain is proportional to the stress in the system, as stated by Hookes Law: stress = Youngs
modulus * strain. This relationship is maintained until the yielding strength of the material is reached. After this point,
the material goes through plastic deformation and the stress and strain are no longer proportional to each other.
Permanent deformation occurs because the molecular structure of the material has been changed. Ultimately, this
means that Maxwells Reciprocity theorem does not hold true anymore because if the beam had been loaded past its
yield strength at point A in the bar and the deflection measured at point B of the bar, we would not see an identical
deflection at point A when the load is placed at point B; this is because the material does not have its original properties
due to plastic deformation.
The following graph illustrates the relationship between load applied at points A and B and the respective
displacements. It is easily seen that the equations of the lines do not overlap each other. The discrepancy of the graphs
will be discussed in the error section.

Further Questions:

Loading on a steel beam

Displacement (in)

1. An indeterminate structure is defined as

0.08
one in which the equations of equilibrium
0.07
are not sufficient to determine all forces
0.06
acting on the system. In other terms, the
0.05
deformations of a body under loading
need to be considered to solve the
0.04
Displacement at A
system. Stress control is thus important in
0.03
an indeterminate structure because in
Displacement at B
0.02
order to discern if the structure will
0.01
behave as it was designed to, we have to
look beyond the forces acting on the
0
system which will cause strain. In reality
0
1000
2000
3000
structures are not rigid bodies, i.e. they
Load (g)
deform under stress; therefore,
controlling the stress in the system is
important because the strain this causes will be taken into account when analyzing its behaviour.
Stress control is not possible in a statically determinate structure because the unknown forces in the system can be
solved by simply using the equilibrium equations, and thus the deflection of the structure need not be considered.
2. The significance of Maxwell-Bettis Reciprocity is that it is the most important and fundamental theorem based
directly on the principle of conservation of energy (Pandit, 2007). Many theorems in mechanics can be derived from this
theorem of reciprocity. Examining the theorem, it can be seen how the conservation of energy is applied: the deflection
and thus the work (work is force times distance) done at point B by a load at point A will be equal to the deflection and
work at point A if the load is now on B.
A condition under which it is not applicable is if the material is not isotropic, that is if the stress-strain curve of the
material will be dependent of the orientation of the specimen (Bower, 2008). The theorem would not hold true as a
non-uniform bar under loading will exhibit non-uniform stress throughout it; therefore, the deflection may not be the
same at point A when B is loaded and vice-versa. In mechanical engineering, we would see this theorem no hold true if
say the bar was made of a composite material that was not of uniform thickness throughout it. The theorem also does
not hold true under plastic deformation. Aforementioned, once a material is put under stress greater than its yielding
stress, stress and strain no longer behave proportionately. Relating to the reciprocity theory, if a bar had been plastically
deformed by a load at A and the deflection measured at B, the deflection caused by the loading now at point B may not
produce an equal deflection at point A due to the bar not behaving as it originally did before any loading happened.

Sources of Error
Sources of error in the experiment need to be considered to account for the unexpected values found in our
experiment. This could be from not overcoming the static friction by inducing vibrations in the system, which could
cause the measuring of strains being inaccurate. Multiple trials of the experiment by choosing different pairs of points
could give us better conclusions on the reciprocity theorem. A simplification made in the lab is that an assumption was
made that the beam was elastically loaded before performing our experiment. If the beam had been plastically
deformed in some sections before our experiment took place, this could also affect the strains measured.