LIGHT STRUCTURE LABORATORY

LABORATORY WORKSHEET

Course Code BFC 31901

Department Structure And Material Engineering

Tiltle Plastic Analysis

 Faculty : Faculty of Civil and Environmental
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Engineering
Department : Structure And Material Engineering Edition
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Title : Plastic Analysis
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1.0 OBJECTIVE

1.1 To find the form factor.

1.2 To investigate the load declection relationship for a beam to the point plastic
collapse.

2.0 LEARNING OUTCOME

1.0 Able to apply the structural knowledge in practical application

2.0 To improve the technical efficiency though the laboratory.
3.0 Able to communicate effectively in teamwork.
4.0 Able to recognize the problem, solving and getting the solution through experimental
work.

3.0 INTRODUCTION

During the design process for beams it would not be unreasonable for one to assume that
no part of the beam should experice a stres greater than that allowable for theworking
material. Howover, it can be found that a beam will withstand much larger forces before
collapse than simple elastic thery predict.

4.0 THEORY

When a beam is bent around the neutral axis, the stress through the beam section varies
with the distance from the neutral axis, from the greatest at the extreme fibres
(y =maximum) to zero at neutral axis (y=0)
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Department : Structure And Material Engineering Edition
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If the beam is subjected to an increasing bending moment, the stress will build up through
the section to a maximum at the extreme fibres. This means that although the outer parts of
the beam may well have yielded and are behaving plastically, the inner parts may still be
behaving elastically and resisting load.

If the bending moment continues to increase, the plastic portion will move further into the
Beam leaving a smaller elastic core. This called the partially plastic condition. The beam
The beam will continue to resist the bending moment although with an increasing rate of
Deflection as the plastic portion moves further toward the neutral axis.( See diagram below)

Eventually the elastic portion will far enough into the beam and the beam will be “ fully”
plastic. It will form a plastic hinge and be unable to resist any further bending moment(shown
below)
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The ratio of the “fully “ plastic bending moment to the “just” plastic moment is called
FORM FACTOR. The form factor is entirely dependent on the shape of the beam and
Not on the size, material or fixing condition.

For cantilever beam

Yield stress 𝝈 y = 4WL ………..equation 1

bd

For the simply support beam

Maximum bending moment, MP = WL ………… equation 2

4

Bending moment at yield of the extreme fibre My = 𝝈 y I/y

Experimental form factor = MP/My where the text book value is 1.5
 Faculty : Faculty of Civil and Environmental
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Engineering
Department : Structure And Material Engineering Edition
Checking No
Title : Plastic Analysis Effective Date
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5.0 PROCUDERS

1. Take a specimen beam and measure the cross section, calculate the second moment of area
for the specimen.
2. Ensure the clamp plates are removed and place the specimen beam across the chucks of the
unit.
3. Push the roller mechanism outwards to its stop.
4. Put the pin though the load cell fork and wind the load cell down until the pin just touches
the specimen beam; zero both the load cell and the indicator.
5. Wind the load cell down to cause a measured deflection of 3mm and take a reading of the
force required.
6. Continue to wind the load cell down in 3mm step until there is no or very little increase in
load for each increment of defection.
7. Enter your result into Table 1.

6.0 RESULT

Deflection Force

3
6
9
12
15
18
21
24
27
30
33
36

Table 1 : Result for Experiment ( Simply supported beam)

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Department : Structure And Material Engineering Edition
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Title : : Plastic Analysis Effective Date
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7.0 DISCUSSION

Experiment 1

1. Plot the graph Force vs Deflection and from your result comment on the shape of
the resulting plot.
2. From Table 1, note the collapse load, and using the bending moment diagram
calculate the plastic moment (MP).
3. Using yield stress of 325Mpa* Calculate the bending moment (My) to just cause
yielding of the extreme fibres.
4. Calculate the from factor (MP/my). Compare to the text book value.
5. Discuss the advantages of considering the extra available strength due to the
plastic beam theory when designing structures.