Experiment AM2.

2 Unsymmetrical Bending of a Cantilever

UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
School of Mechanical Engineering
Unsymmetrical Bending of a Cantilever
axes. This leads to the following formulae
(standard texts outline the derivation):

F L3 1 1
F L3 1 1
U=
+ + cos 2

6 E Ix I y
6 E I y Ix

V=

F L3
1 1
sin 2

6E
Iy Ix

where:
L
=Effective length of the specimen
(m),
) (GNm-2 )
E
=Young's modulus
U
=Deflection in the direction of pull
(m),
V
= Deflection at right angles to the
pull (m),
e
= Angle of) pull ()
)
IX, IY
= Principal second moments
of
4
area (m ) .

Figure 1 Cantilever schematic and

notation
Figure 3 shows a cantilever beam with a
load applied at the free end. The beam
has two principle axes, x and y, about
which pure bending can take place. The
principle axes pass through the centroid
of the section but do not necessarily
coincide with the arbitrary geometrical
axes of the section.
If applying a moment about one of the
principle axis then the beam will deflect
in that direction only and the simple
bending formula can predict the
deflection. However, if the moment is at
an angle to either of the axes the n the
beam will bend about both of the axes.
The free end deflection will have two
components - one in the direction of pull
(U) and at right angles ((V).
If we were interested in predicting the
magnitude of the deflections, we would
need to resolve the moment into
components acting about the principal

A good way of reading off the cantilever

deflections for various angles is to
construct a Mohr's Circle, The Mohr's
Circle is an excellent graphical method,
which you may have come across before
in stress analysis. To construct a Mohr's
Circle of deflections you would need to
know at least the principal second
moments of area (IX and IY) In this
experiment we will use the Mohr's Circle
in reverse to establish values of the
principal second moments of area from
deflections measured off the equipment
in each direction (U and V). We can then
compare the principal second moments
to theoretical values.
3

Radius=

FL 1 1

6 E I y Ix

Experiment AM2.2 Unsymmetrical Bending of a Cantilever

OC=

FL 1 1
+
6 E Ix I y

Fig 2: Mohrs circle of deflections to find

the principal second moments of area.
Ensure that the equipment is set up as
following steps I and 2 on page 2. Loosen
the two rearward facing thumbscrews on
the indicator bosses, turn the indicators
inward to contact the inner two datum
pegs and lock off the thumbscrews. This
sets the 90 angle between the two

Tap the frame sharply to reduce the

effect of friction and zero the indicators.
Apply loads in 100 g increments, up to a
maximum of 500 g on the end of the
cord. Ensure the cord remains parallel to
the lines on the plate below. Tap the
frame sharply after adding each load.
Record the resulting deflections (left and
right) in Table 2 under the 'Head angle:
0 title.
You may find the following table useful in
converting the masses used in the
experiments 10 loads.
Table 1: Grams to Newtons conversion
table
Mass (gm)
Load (Newtons)
100
0.98
200
1.96
300
2.94
400
3.92
500
4.90
Undo the top chuck hand wheel, rotate
the specimen clockwise 22.5 (i.e. to the

Angle specimen
U section speclmen
Rectangular
specimen
Figure 3 Orientation and location of each typenext
of specimen
the bottom
location)in and
tighten.chuck
Adjust the
indicators.
indicators, if required, and then repeat
Select one of the three specimens and fit
the loading procedure, recording the
it into the bottom chuck referring to
results under 'Head angle: 22.5' in
Figure 3 for correct positions. Fit the top
Table 2. Continue taking results until the
of the specimen into the top chuck in the
specimen has rotated 180.
same relative position, ensure that the
With all the tables complete, resolve
specimens are set squarely and all of the
the left and right indicator readings
screws are tight. Fit the extension piece
into the U and V directions using the
to the bottom chuck, hook the cord onto
following formulae:
the groove and pass it over sliding the

pulley.
()
Undo the top chuck hand wheel and
U=
rotate the specimen so it is orientated as
2
per Figure 3. When you feel the chuck
'click' into tile correct position, tighten

the hand wheel.

()
Ensure that the indicators have about 10
V
=
- 11 mm forward and 2 - 3 mm backward
2
travel in this position; if not loosen the
indicator top screw and slide the indicator
Be careful with your signs as these values
to the correct position, retighten the
can be negative.
screw.

Experiment AM2.2 Unsymmetrical Bending of a Cantilever

Plot graphs of U and V (mm) versus the
pulling mass, P (in grams) for each head
angle. Establish gradients of dU/dP and
dV/dP on each graph noting the results in
Table1 (in mmg-1), Convert these values
Into fundamental units of mN-1.
Use this data to construct a Mohr's Circle
by plotting the values of dUIdP versus
dV/dP for each head
angle. The points should form a circle; if
distorted draw a Circle that-encompasses
most of the points or draw two circles and
average them.
Calculate the principal second moments
of area using the Mohr's Circle and the
following formulae:

I X=

L3
3 E(OC R)

IY =

L3
3 E(OC + R)

where:
L = Effective length of the specimen
(m),
E =Young's Modulus (69 GNm-2 for
aluminium),
OC = Distance from origin to centre of
Mohrs
Circle (mN-1)
R = Radius of Mohr 's Circle (mN-1).
Repeat the procedure for the other two
specimens as required, using a fresh
results sheet for each specimen.
To find out the theoretical principal
second moments of area in some cases is
quite easy, in others can be a little more
involved. Refer to Figure 4. For the
rectangular and 'U' sections the principal
axes are parallel and perpendicular to the
arbitrary axes A and B which we would
normally use to work out the second
moment of area (IA and IB)

Experiment AM2.2 Unsymmetrical Bending of a Cantilever

Head angle: O
Load
(g)

Left
dial

RIght
dIal

100
200
300
400
500'

-,' ..
Head angle: 22.S"
Load

(g)

Left
dial

Right
dial

100
200
300
400
500
Head angle: 45"
Load
(g)

Left
dial

Right
dial

0
100

200

300
400

SOO

Head angle: 67.5

Load
(g)

0
;00
200
300
400
500

dial
Left dial'
Right

> Head angle: 90

Load
(g)

Left
dial

Right
dial

100
200
300
400
500
Head angle: 112.5
Load
(g)

Left
dial

Right
dial

0
100
200
300
400
500
Head angle: 13S"
Load
(g)

dial dial
Left RIght

100
200
300
400
.500
Hoad angle: 157 .5
Load
(g)

Left
dIal

Right
dial

0
100
200
300
400
500
Head angle: 160
Load
(g)

Left
dial

Right
dial

Experiment AM2.2 Unsymmetrical Bending of a Cantilever

0

100
200
300
400

SOO

Table 2 Experimental results for unsymmetrical bending of an angle section

Figure 4 Orientation of the arbitrary and principle axes for the three test sections
This means that the second moments of
area, IA and lB, are the same as the principal
second moments (IX and IY) because the
principal axes always lie along the axes of
symmetry of a section.
Calculate the theoretical values for the
principal second moments of area for the
rectangular and 'U' sections in the normal
way.
Finding the principal second moments of
area is more difficult when either the axis
of symmetry does not coincide with the A
and B axes or the section is not
symmetrical. For instance, through
inspection the 'L' section used in the
experiment has its axis of symmetry at 45
to the A and B axes, and so lA and IB are not

also
the principal second moments of area.
When sections have no symmetry, for
example an unequal 'L' or a 'Z', we would
not be able to tell through inspection
where the principal axes lie.
In both these cases, we can use a Mohr's
Circle to find the principal second
moments of area and the position of their
axis in relation to the arbitrary axes A
and B.
To construct a Mohr's Circle follow the
steps below and refer to Figure 5.
Measure the dimensions of the 'L' section
and use an appropriate method to
calculate IA, IB and IAB (the product
moment).

Set up horizontal and vertical axes for

the second moments and product
moments respectively. Plot IA and IAB to
give a point X and IB and IAB to give a
Point Y. Join points X and Y to give the
point C. With the centre C and the radius
CY draw a circle.

Figure 5 Mohr's circle for second

moments of area
The two points where the circle crosses
the horizontal axis are the values of the

Experiment AM2.2 Unsymmetrical Bending of a Cantilever

principal second moments of area IX and
IY.
Join up the points X and Y and measure
the angle from the horizontal axis (in the
case of an equal 'L' section, this should
be a vertical line i.e. 90). The position of
the principal axes in relation to the axes
A and B = measured angJe/2 (i.e. 45 for
an equal L' section).
.
.
This method applies to any section
regardless of complexity as long as the
IA, IB and IAB values can be calculated.

Compare the theoretica1 values to the

experimental values and comment on
the accuracy of your results. Give
possible reasons for any discrepancy
between the theoretical and
experimental values either in terms of
the analysis or in the equipment. Is the
graphical Mohr's Circle method truly
accurate? If not how could it be made
more so?