Experiment No. 7 Bending Moment in Beams: Course Title: Lab Report #: Submitted To: Submitted By: Date of Submission

EXPERIMENT NO.
BENDING MOMENT IN BEAMS
Course Title:
Lab Report #: 4
Submitted To:
Submitted By:
Date of Submission:
OBJECTIVES
To comprehend the action of the moment of resistance within the beam. Also measure the
bending moment at a normal section of a loaded beam and to compare it with the theoretical
value.
APPARATUS
HST ACE 4 Bending Moment in a Beam
INTRODUCTION
Consider a beam resting on supports at A and B supporting a load P. If the beam is cut by a
vertical section XX, then for the beam to remain in equilibrium each part must be in equilibrium.
Neglecting the self weight of the beam any extra forces acting on part (A) to preserve
equilibrium must be transmitted from part (B) across the section XX, and vice versa. Also the
action of part (A) on part (B) must be equal and opposite to that of (B) and (A).
X P
A (A) (B) B
RA RB
As the load is solely vertical and in the plane of the beam there cannot be horizontal reactions, so
equilibrium yields two conditions:
a. Vertical equilibrium
b. Equilibrium of moments
In the first place these are used for beam as a whole to evaluate the reactions at A and B.
P
Qx l
Mx
Mx
+ive (A) (B) +ive

(A)
(A)
a b
RA RB
Qx
For equilibrium of moments take an axis as shown in the section XX to eliminate bending force
Qx. Then using the sign convention given for part (A) of the beam.
Internal moment, Mx = RA.a
and for part (B) of the beam Mx = RB.b – P.(b-l)
It can easily be proved that these have the same value by substituting for R and Pl as follows:
Mx = (P – RA)b – Pb + Pl
= RA.a
Sign Convention
The normal sign convention for beams, which has been used throughout the experiments, is to
regard the bending moment that causes sagging as positive. The corollary of this is that a
negative bending moment produces hogging curvature.
Bending Moment Diagram

Using the longitudinal axis of the beam as a base, the ordinates of a bending moment diagram
give the value of the moment at the corresponding section of the beam for one fixed position of
the loading.
PROCEDURE
Check that the beam supports have been fixed at 900 mm span as described in the Construction
part, and that beam is positioned so that the bearing pin in part (B) is 300 mm from the left hand
support A.
Part 1
Position one first hanger 100 mm from A, the second hanger in the groove just to the right of the
section C (300 mm from A) and the third hanger 300 mm from B. Align two parts of the beam
using the adjustment on the spring balance and note the initial “no load” reading in Table 1.
Table 1: Spring balance readings for bending moment at C

Balance reading (N)/Net force (N) for load at
Load (N)
W1 W2 W3
0
10
20
Place a 10 N weight on the first hanger, realign the beam and record the reading. Now repeat the
experiment with second and Third hanger, re-align the beam and read the balance reading.
Repeat the whole procedure using a 20 N weight.
Part 2
Without altering the load hanger put a 5 N weight on the second hanger, aligns the beam and
records the balance reading. Then add 10 N weights to the first and third hangers, align and re-
read the balance. Enter the result in Table 2.
Table 2: Spring balance readings for bending moment at C
Loading (N) Balance Reading (N) Net Force (N) Bending Moment (N)
Now move the third hanger to 400 mm from B and after aligning the beam record the new “no
load” reading. Try two arrangements of the same total loading by placing 5 N on the first hanger
and 12 N on the third hanger for one balance reading followed by moving the 10 N from the
third to second hanger for the next reading.
CONSTRUCTION
1. Fix the beam supports permanently as shown to provide a span of 900 mm.
2. Make a pencil mark on the side of part (A) of the beam 300 mm from the pin through the two
ball bearings in the right hand part (B) of the beam. Use this position the beam on its
supports.
3. Make pencil marks on top of the beam at 100 mm from the left hand support and 300 mm
from the right hand support. Suspend two of the load hangers at these positions and set up the
other hanger in the groove just to the right of the moment section.
4. The apparatus is now ready for Part 1 of the experiment.
5. There should be a pencil mark on top of the beam at 400 mm from the right hand support in
readiness for Part 2.
6. Align the beam by taking a line of sight along the rear tip corner of the beam.
RESULTS
By subtracting the “no load” value from each spring balance reading the net force causing the
bending moment at C is found. Multiply this by the 150 mm lever arm to derive the bending
moment. For every case the theoretical bending moment at C is to be calculated. In the first
section of Part 2 the load hangers remain in the Part 1 positions. As the system is a linear elastic
structure the individual readings can be summed for multiple loading. Compare the net force
when all three loads are applied with the sum of the values derived from Part 1.
Precautions
 Care should be taken in handling the weights
 Make sure eye is placed perpendicular to beam when taking value of force
 Avoid parallax error.
Sources of errors
 Parallax error while taking the readings from the spring balance
 Weights not added gently which caused it to fall down.
 The spring balance was a little faulty.
Conclusion
The theoretical value of bending moment acting at the midsection was nearly equal to the
experimental value. There was slight error due to experimental errors.

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Experiment No. 7 Bending Moment in Beams: Course Title: Lab Report #: Submitted To: Submitted By: Date of Submission

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EXPERIMENT NO.

BENDING MOMENT IN BEAMS

+ive (A) (B) +ive

Bending Moment Diagram

Table 1: Spring balance readings for bending moment at C

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