UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

Mechanical & Production Engineering Department

Structural Mechanics Laboratory

Programmes: BEng Mechanical Engineering Level II & III

(Minors: Energy Systems & Industrial Systems)

Module: 2012Y Mechanics of Materials II

Experiment Title: L3- Curved Bars Experiment

Group: GE3

Names and ID of students:

1312661 HOSANY BEEBEE HAMNAH

1513622 HOSSEN-BUCCAS MOHAMMAD ARSHAD

SAYAD USAAMAH

1414231 JHUGROO RUDY PURANANDA

1514165 JUGROOP BHAVISH

1515265 JUGROOP GEERISHRAJ

Instructor: Dr Kevin AMIC

Date of lab works: 2nd September 2016

Date of submission:
Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1

AIM OF EXPERIMENT............................................................................................................1

BACKGROUND THEORY.......................................................................................................1

Castiglianos Theorem............................................................................................................1

Derivation of Equations for vertical and horizontal displacements.......................................2

APPARATUS USED..................................................................................................................6

PROCEDURE............................................................................................................................6

Semi-circular bar:...................................................................................................................6

Quadrant and Davit-shaped bar..............................................................................................7

TABLE OF RESULTS...............................................................................................................7

a) Semi- circular bar............................................................................................................7

b) Quadrant..........................................................................................................................8

c) Davit-shaped bar.............................................................................................................8

ANALYSIS................................................................................................................................9

Graphs....................................................................................................................................9

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................13

APPENDIX..............................................................................................................................14

Appendix I............................................................................................................................14

Appendix II..........................................................................................................................14

Appendix III.........................................................................................................................16
 INTRODUCTION

Curved bars are not practically used on their own but are usually combined with other
elements of different shapes and sizes. The behaviour of such members when a load is
applied should therefore be considered an important factor to consider. Thus, experiments
have to be carried out so as to approximate the deflection of a curved member in loading.

Deflection can be calculated by standard formula or by methods such as virtual work, double
integration method, Castigliano's method, method of superposition or the area-moment
method, among others.

In this experiment, we will use the Castiglianos method in order to calculate the deflections
of the provided curved bars. Castiglianos method is based on the concept of strain energy of
a particular structure and the conditions where it is applicable is when the supports of the
structure are unyielding and the temperature of the structure is constant.

AIM OF EXPERIMENT

The aim of this experiment is to verify experimentally the deflection of curved bars, having
small cross-sectional dimensions compared with the radius of the bars centre line. The three
structural elements are as follows:

1. A 40 cm diameter semi-circular bar.

2. A 20 cm radius quadrant
3. A davit-shaped bar having straight length of 10 cm and a quadrant of 20 cm radius.

BACKGROUND THEORY

Castiglianos Theorem

Castiglianos theorem states that the deflection caused by any external load is equal to the
partial differential of the strain energy with respect to that external load. At every point of
action of these forces there are deflections. The following expression can be used to represent
Castiglianos Theorem:

L
M2 (Equation 1)
Strain Energy , U= dx
0 2 EI

Where; M is moment caused due to loading

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 E is modulus of rigidity of material

I is the moment of inertia of the member

Equation 1 can then be solved and reduced so as to obtain an expression for deflection, x
which is stated as Equation 2 below:

L
U M M
=
x= P 0 EI P dx (Equation 2)

where; P is the force of loading.

Derivation of Equations for vertical and horizontal displacements

1. Semi-Circular bar

Consider the Figure 1 below; all the factors involved in the loading of a semi-circular bar is
shown. The force of loading is represented by P and the radius of curvature as R.

Figure 1: Semi-Circular Bar subjected to loading, P.

Then the moment due to force P can be expressed as per equation 3:

M = PR sin (Equation 3)

Thus, for vertical displacements;

M
=R sin
Pv (Equation 4)

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And for horizontal displacements;

1cos
M (Equation 5)
=R
Pv

Also, from Figure 1, it can be seen that ds = R d

So, replacing Equations 3,4 and 5 in the general equation for displacement (Equation 2),
gives Equation 6 for vertical displacements and Equation 7 for horizontal displacements;

Note: The integral is bounded by and 0 because of the semi-circular shape.

xv = PRsin Rsin
EI
Rd
0

P R3
xv = EI 0
sin 2 d

3
P R
xv = 2 EI (Equation 6)

Similar steps are followed to obtain the displacements in the horizontal directions, except that
in order to solve the integral in the horizontal direction, a dummy load is applied. (Denoted as
H in Figure 1) It is just an imaginary force applied to the system and will later be replaced by
zero.

Equation 3 is then written as :

1cos
M =PRsin+ HR

The above equations are then replaced in Equation 2 which results to Equation 7.

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PR sin + HR (1cos )


1cos

xH = Rd

Putting H = 0 and simplifying gives:

sin sin cos

xH = d

P R3
EI 0

3
2 PR
xH = EI (Equation

7)

2. Quadrant Shaped bar

The equations for vertical and horizontal displacements for a quadrant shaped bar are derived
in a very similar way as for the semi-circular shape. The only thing that is going to change is
the limits of the integrals, which will from /2 to 0 instead of to 0.

Thus, the equation for vertical displacement is given by Equation 8:

/2

xv = PRsin Rsin
EI
Rd
0

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 3 /2
PR
xv = EI
sin 2 d
0

P R3
xv = 4 EI (Equation 8)

For horizontal displacement, it is represented by Equation 9;

PR sin + HR (1cos )


1cos

xH = Rd


/2

sin sin cos

xH = d
/2
P R3
EI 0

P R3
xH = 2 EI (Equation 9)

3. Davit-Shaped bar

For the davit-shaped bar, the derivations will be a bit different due to the fact that there is
both a quadrant and a straight part. Both of these shapes will be considered separately and
added together to give the final equations for vertical and horizontal displacements.

For the quadrant part, the vertical and horizontal displacements are given by Equation 8 and
9. ( Derivations shown above)

P R3
xv = 4 EI (Equation 8)

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 3
PR
xH = 2 EI (Equation 9)

For the straight part:

For vertical displacement, M = PR and the limit of the integral is L to 0. ( Where L is the
length of the straight part). Replacing in Equation 2 and adding to Equation 8, results in
Equation 10:

L
P R3
xv = 4 EI
+ PREIR dy
0

P R3 P R2 L
+
xv = 4 EI EI (Equation 10)

For horizontal displacement, again we make use of the dummy load H, in order to find the
solution of the integral. Then, the moment M becomes

M= PR + H(R+y)

The limit is again from L to 0. Thus, the equation for horizontal displacement is given by
Equation 11;

L
P R3 ( PR+ H ( R+ y ))( R+ y )dy
xH = 2 EI
+ EI
0

P R3 PRL (2 R+ L)
+
xH = 2 EI 2 EI (Equation

11)

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 R

Figure 2: Davit-Shape bar subjected to loading, P.

All the equations obtained above are summarised in Table 1 below. The equations which can
be used as approximations have also been included in the table.

Vertical Deflection Horizontal Deflection

Member
Exact Approx. Exact Approx.
3
P R 2 P R3
Semi-Circle 2 EI 2 EI

P R3 0.5 P R3 0.48 P R3
Quadrant 4 EI EI EI
3 2 3 3
P R P R L P R PRL (2 R+ L) 0.48 P R PRL( 2 R+ L)
Davit + + +
4 EI EI 2 EI 2 EI EI 2 EI

Table 1: Equations for deflections for the different members

Where

P Load applied

R Radius

E Young Modulus of the material

I Moment of inertia

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 L-Straight length of davit shaped bar

APPARATUS USED

1. Curved bar apparatus

2. Load hangers and C hook
3. Dial gauges
4. Wrench
5. Weight set

PROCEDURE

Semi-circular bar:

1. The hanger is attached onto the semi-circular bar and a 2 N weight is added on it. The
latter serves to stabilise the system.
2. The removable dials are secured onto the semi-circle experimental setup and are then
used to measure the horizontal and vertical displacements.
3. The two dials are set to zero and the zero-datum reading is recorded.
4. The member is then loaded with weights from the range 2N to 20N. The weight
increments are chosen to be 2 N and a set of 10 readings are recorded in Table 2.
5. In order to obtain the deflections, the zero-datum reading is subtracted from the actual
readings.

Quadrant and Davit-shaped bar

The same procedures as for the semi-circular bar are repeated for both the quadrant and the
davit-shaped bar and the results are recorded in Tables 3 and 4 respectively.

TABLE OF RESULTS

a) Semi- circular bar

Table 2. Showing the deflection of the semi-circular bar

Vertical Horizontal
Dial Deflection ( 0.01 Dial Deflection ( 0.01
Load (N)
reading mm) reading mm)
2 9.69 0.00 10.35 0.00
4 9.70 0.01 9.35 1.00

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 8 10.9 1.21 8.01 2.34
9 10.9 1.21 7.62 2.73
10 11.49 1.80 5.97 4.38
12 12.55 2.86 3.44 6.91
14 12.98 3.29 2.83 7.52
16 14.44 4.75 0.33 10.02
18 14.06 4.37 0.17 10.18
20 14.1 4.41 - -

b) Quadrant

Table 3. Showing the deflection of the quadrant

Vertical Horizontal
Dial Deflection ( 0.01 Dial Deflection ( 0.01
Load (N)
reading mm) reading mm)
2 9.36 0.00 4.22 0.00
4 9.09 0.27 5.50 1.28
8 8.84 0.52 5.65 1.43
9 8.61 0.75 5.76 1.54
10 8.31 1.05 5.92 1.70
12 8.03 1.33 6.13 1.91
14 7.76 1.60 6.28 2.06
16 7.55 1.81 6.42 2.20
18 7.27 2.09 6.62 2.40
20 7.06 2.30 6.92 2.70

c) Davit-shaped bar

Table 4. Showing the deflection of the davit shaped bar

Vertical Horizontal
Dial Deflection ( 0.01 Dial Deflection ( 0.01
Load (N)
reading mm) reading mm)
2 7.81 0.00 9.7 0.00
4 7.45 0.36 10.01 0.31
8 7.02 0.79 10.03 0.33
9 6.59 1.22 10.72 1.02
10 5.99 1.82 11.32 1.62
12 5.57 2.24 11.97 2.27

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 14 5.16 2.65 12.21 2.51
16 4.69 3.12 12.34 2.64
18 4.28 3.53 12.03 2.33
20 3.85 3.96 13.03 3.33

ANALYSIS

All three members were made from (25 mm 5 mm) steel strips. The Youngs modulus of
the material is E = 205 GPa.

1. For each of the three members, the graphs of load P against deflection were plotted.
Both the vertical and horizontal components of deflection were plotted on separate
graphs for each member.
2. Straight line curve fits were added to the plotted data points

Graphs

(a) Semi- circular bar

Deflection against Load

12

10

8 Vertical Deflection
Linear (Vertical Deflection)
6 Horizontal Deflection
Deflection (mm)
Linear (Horizontal
4
Deflection)
2

0
2 4 8 9 10 12 14 16 18 20

Load (N)

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 (b) Quadrant

Deflection against Load

3

2.5

2 Vertical Deflection
Linear (Vertical Deflection)
1.5 Horizontal Deflection
Deflection (mm)
Linear (Horizontal
1
Deflection)
0.5

0
2 4 8 9 10 12 14 16 18 20

Load (N)

(c) Davit-shaped bar

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 Deflection against Load
4.5
4
3.5
3 Vertical Deflection
2.5 Horizontal Deflection
Deflection (mm) 2 Linear (Horizontal
1.5 Deflection)
1
0.5
0
2 4 8 9 10 12 14 16 18 20

Load (N)

3. Using table 1, the exact and the approximate deflections for the tested members were
found.

NOTE: Refer to appendix for calculations done in this part of the report.

- I = 2.6041 10-10 m4 (From appendix I)

The exact and the approximate deflections for the tested members were found as per the
following (From appendix II):

a. Semi-circular member subjected to an 8 N load.

Vertical deflection = 0.00188 m
Horizontal deflection = 0.00240 m

b. Quadrant subjected to an 8 N load.

Vertical deflection = 0.000942 m
Exact horizontal deflection = 0.000599 m
Approximate horizontal deflection = 0.000575 m

c. Davit-shaped subjected to a 10 N load.

Vertical deflection = 0.00193 m
Exact horizontal deflection = 0.00169 m
Approximate horizontal deflection = 0.00166 m

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 4. The approximate theoretical results were compared with the deflections cross-
referenced off the graphs obtained at step 1 of the analysis section (see Table 5)

Table 5. Showing the comparison between the theoretical results and the deflections cross-
referenced off the graphs

Member Deflection Theoretical value Read-off value

Vertical 0.00188 0.00121
Semi-circle
Horizontal 0.00240 0.00234
Vertical 0.000942 0.00052
Quadrant Exact 0.000599
Horizontal 0.00143
Approximate 0.000575
Vertical 0.00193 0.00182
Davit Exact 0.00169
Horizontal 0.00162
Approximate 0.00166

5. The percentage errors were provided for each of these values and presented in
Table 6 (see appendix III for calculations of percentage error).
Table 6. Showing the percentage error for each of the values

Theoretical Read-off Percentage

Member Deflection
value value error (%)
Vertical 0.00188 0.00121 35.6
Semi-
circle Horizontal 0.00240 0.00234 2.5

Vertical 0.000942 0.00052 94.5

Quadrant Exact 0.000599 94.5
Horizontal 0.00143
Approximate 0.000575 75.1
Davit Vertical 0.00193 0.00182 5.70

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 Exact 0.00169 4.14
Horizontal 0.00162
Approximate 0.00166 2.37

CONCLUSION

It can be observed that, from the results obtained, large errors were induced in finding the
deflections of the quadrant-form bar. For the semi-circular bar, only some errors were
induced and minimum errors were found for the davit-shaped bar.

It can thus be concluded that this experiment can only be used to measure the deflections of
the semi-circle and the davit-shaped rod. The errors obtained may have been due to the dial
indicator. More accurate results could be obtained upon use of better apparatus.

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 APPENDIX

Appendix I

Given the cross section of the bars is 25 mm by 5mm,

bh3
I=
12

3
( 25 103 ) ( 5 103 )

12

10 4
2.6041 10 m

Appendix II

a. Semi-circular member subjected to an 8 N load.

Vertical deflection
3
PR
Vertical deflection=
2 EI

( 8 ) ( 0.20 )3

2 ( 205 10 9 )( 2.6041 1010 )
3
1.8831 10

Horizontal deflection

2 PR 3
Horizontal deflection=
EI

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 2 ( 8 ) ( 0.20 )3

( 205 109 ) ( 2.6041 1010 )

2.3977 103

b. Quadrant subjected to an 8 N load.

Vertical deflection

3
PR
Vertical deflection=
4 EI

( 8 ) ( 0.20 )3

4 ( 205 10 9 )( 2.6041 1010 )

4
9.4158 10

Exact horizontal deflection

0.5 PR 3
Exact horizontal deflection=
EI

0.5 ( 8 ) ( 0.20 )3

( 205 109 ) ( 2.6041 1010 )
5.9942 104

Approximate horizontal deflection

3
0.48 PR
Approximate horizontaldeflection=
EI

0.48 ( 8 ) ( 0.20 )3

( 205 109 ) ( 2.6041 1010 )
5.7544 104

c. Davit-shaped subjected to a 10 N load.

Vertical deflection

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 3 2
PR PR L
Vertical deflection= +
4 EI EI

( 10 ) ( 0.20 )3 ( 10 )( 0.20 )2 ( 0.10 )

+
4 ( 205 10 9 )( 2.6041 1010 ) ( 205 109 ) ( 2.6041 1010 )

1.9262 103

Exact horizontal deflection

3
PR PRL ( 2 R+ L )
Exact horizontal deflection= +
2 EI 2 EI

( 10 ) ( 0.20 )3 (10 )( 0.20 )( 0.10 ) [ 2(0.20)+0.10 ]

9
+
2 ( 205 10 )( 2.6041 10 ) 2 ( 205 10 9) ( 2.6041 1010 )
10

1.6858 103

Approximate horizontal deflection

0.48 PR 3 PRL ( 2 R+ L )
Approximate horizontaldeflection= +
EI 2 EI

0.48 ( 10 ) ( 0.20 )3 ( 10 ) ( 0.20 ) ( 0.10 ) [ 2 ( 0.20 ) +0.10 ]

9
+
( 205 10 ) ( 2.6041 10 ) 2 ( 205 109 ) ( 2.6041 1010 )
10

3
1.6559 10

Appendix III

Example for calculation of percentage error

Taking first values (vertical deflection for semi-circle),
Theoretical value, V1 = 0.00188 m
Read-off value from graph, V2 = 0.00121 m

|V 2V 1|
Percentage error= 100
Theoretical V

|0.001210.00188|
100
0.00188

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 0.00067
100
0.00188

35.64

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