Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering & Technology

Chandigarh-Patiala Highway, Sector-8, Ramnagar, Banur, District Patiala (Pb.)

SOM-303 Page 1 of 3
TO PERFORM SHEAR TEST ON A MILD STEEL SPECIMEN AND TO DETERMINE ITS SHEAR STRENGTH.

AIM: To perform Shear test on a mild steel specimen and to determine its shear strength.

APPRATUS: Universal Testing Machine (UTM), mild stool specimen.

THEORY:
A force which makes or tends to make two adjacent parts of a member to slide
relative to one another along their piano of contact is called shear force. The shear
force divided by the area of the shearing plane is termed as the shear stress. The
maximum shear stress which a material can withstand is called the shear stress of the
material. The shear stress involves in the determination of the shear strength of the
material.
In shear test, the specimen is subjected to double shear under a tensile or a
compressive load. The load to cause shear failure is noted. If P is the shear force at the
failure and d is the initial diameter of the specimen, the shear strength is given as,

Su= (P/2)/TTd2/4 =2P/ TTd2

The Specimen
The specimen used for shear stress is usually solid, rounded, straight rods. The
specimen has larger diameter at the ends for gripping. The diameter of the specimen
is usually 25mm.

Equipment for Testing Procedure

In shear test, the specimen is sheared off either under tensile load or
compressive load, the schematic diagram for shear testing equipment is shown in the
figures.

PREPARED BY CHECKED BY APPROVED BY EFFECTIVE DATE

LAB ASSISTANT LAB INCHARGE H.O.D

 Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering & Technology
Chandigarh-Patiala Highway, Sector-8, Ramnagar, Banur, District Patiala (Pb.)

SOM-303 Page 2 of 3
TO PERFORM SHEAR TEST ON A MILD STEEL SPECIMEN AND TO DETERMINE ITS SHEAR STRENGTH.

Compressive load

OBSERVATION FOR SHEAR TEST:

Material of the specimen .................

Diameter .................
Gauge Length .................
Area of Cross Section .................
Breaking Load .................
Breaking Stress ................

RESULT
Shear Strength of given specimen ………………………

PREPARED BY CHECKED BY APPROVED BY EFFECTIVE DATE

LAB ASSISTANT LAB INCHARGE H.O.D

 Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering & Technology
Chandigarh-Patiala Highway, Sector-8, Ramnagar, Banur, District Patiala (Pb.)

SOM-303 Page 3 of 3
TO PERFORM SHEAR TEST ON A MILD STEEL SPECIMEN AND TO DETERMINE ITS SHEAR STRENGTH.

SHEAR TEST

PROCEDURE:

1. Measure the dimensions of the specimen with adequate accuracy.

2. Insert the specimen in the space within the shear Testing equipments and
grip it properly.
3. Position and tighten the nuts.
4. Then, apply the compressive load
5. Record the load at failure.
6. Divide the failure load by initial diameter of the specimen to find the shear
strength.

PRECAUTIONS:

1. The fork plates of the shackles should be firmly hold together to eliminate
any bending in the specimen under high loads
2. For the purpose of positioning and rigidly holding the bushes, nuts should
be used
3. All the components of the shear testing machine should be sufficiently
strong so that they may be well within the elastic limit under high loading.
4. The rate of increase of load should not exceed 10 mm/min

PREPARED BY CHECKED BY APPROVED BY EFFECTIVE DATE

LAB ASSISTANT LAB INCHARGE H.O.D