I.

OBJECTIVES

1.

To compare the experimentally determined stresses in a T-beam with

those predicted from the beam-bending stress theory.

2.

To compare the location of the neutral axis determined by:

a. Hand calculation using the centroid equation
b. The location determined from balancing a unit length of the cross
section.
c. Experimentally determined from the strain gage data.

3.

To use the data acquisition program to obtain measurements from

electrical strain gages and to investigate the distribution of stress in
the T-Beam.

4.

To familiarize the students with the LABTECH data acquisition

program.

II.

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Electrical resistance strain gages are the most frequently used devices in
stress-strain work throughout the world today. The electrical strain gage
operates on the direct relationship between the change in electrical
resistance of a wire as it is stretched and the strain developed within the
material. The ability to precisely measure the change in electrical resistance
gives a direct, precise measure of the strain.
As a wire is stretched, its length increases and its cross sectional area
decreases, which increases the resistance of the wire. By bonding the
strain gage to a structural member and measuring the change in resistance
as the load is applied, the corresponding strain can be measured. The
experimental value of stress may be determined from the measured strain
by using Hooks Law for uniaxial stress, = E. E is the modulus of
elasticity of the beam material. The beam used in this experiment is made of
6
7075 aluminum which has a modulus, E = 10x10 psi.
The theoretical maximum stress developed within a beam is calculated
using the flexure equation over the linear region of stress and strain.

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Bending stress equation:

max

Mc
=
I

2.1

where:
M

the maximum moment

the moment of inertia about the centroidal axis

the maximum distance from the centroidal axis

The moment of inertia of a non-centroidal cross-sectional area about the

centroidal axis is obtained by use of the parallel axis theorem.
I = I0 + Ad2

2.2

where:
Io

the moment of inertia about the centrodial axis

corresponding cross-sectional area

distance between centroid and any parallel axis

The location of the centroid is determined from the following equation:

n

Aiyi
_
i=1
y =

2.3

Ai
i=1

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Wheatstone Bridge Circuit

Once the input voltage of 10 volts is sent across P+ to P- a bridge
completion unit (Figure 1) is used to measure the voltage across each strain
gage (total of eight). These measured voltages are then fed into the eight
signal conditioner modules of the OM3-S unit. The OM3-s unit then
amplifies and filters each signal voltage, which is then sent to the
computers analog to digital converter board for analysis. The LABTECH
software converts these digital voltages into strain and writes the
information to a spreadsheet file.

Figure 1
After the signal is received from the OM3-S, the LABTECH Program will read
the voltage. The program will then establish a relationship between the
incoming voltage and a voltage across the strain gages that occur when
loading is applied. The equation for this is as follows:
Vr = (Vout strained- Vout unstrained)/Vin
where:
Vr

2.4

= is the calibrated voltage ratio (Vr = 0 for unstrained

gage)

Vout strained

= voltage across the signal after load is

applied

Vout unstrained

= voltage across the signal before load is

applied

Vin

= constant 10V signal from OM3-S to the bridge

completion module

It should be observed that the only variable voltage is Vout strained.

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Once the voltage ratio Vr is found, the following equation is used to

calculate the strain:
4Vr
=

2.5

GF * (1 + 2Vr)
where:

strain

GF

constant gage factor of 2.135

III.

EQUIPMENT LIST

1.

10,000 lb. compression machine

2.

Bridge Completion Unit

3.

30 inch long, 7075 T6 aluminum T-beam with eight mounted strain

gages

4.

Small length cut from T-beam (use for cross section measurements)

5.

Scale and micrometer

6.

LABTECH Program: Data acquisition instruction

7.

One 3 1/2 inch floppy disk

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IV.

PROCEDURE

4.1.

Measure and record all necessary dimensions of the T-Beam, load

and support points. The location of all the strain gages in relation to
the base of the beam are stored in a file called gageloc.xls in your
instructors directory. Do not remove the beam from the test fixture
as the strain gages are easily damaged.

4.2.

Calculate the location of the centroidal axis and the moment of

inertia. Check the result with your instructor. A small length of the T
beam has been cut off and is provided so that the centroid can be
checked by finding the balancing point of the cross section.

4.3.

Calculate the maximum load P that can be applied to the beam given
an allowable stress bending stress of 10,000 psi. Check your
computation with the lab instructor before starting the experiment.

4.4.

launch LABTECH by double clicking on the LABTECH pro icon. Double

click on the Build -Time icon. Open the file (substitute your instructors
name for INSTRUCTOR) C:\NBP_WIN\INSTRUCTOR\NEWTB.LTC.
BUILD-TIME
ICON IN
PROGRAM
MANAGER

4.5

With the beam unloaded run the LABTECH program to acquire the
strain readings present in the unloaded beam. Click the LABTECH
Run icon located on the left-hand side of the screen. Click OK to
start the acquisition. Data will be saved in your instructors directory
under the file name STRAIN&.XLS. The & character will be replaced
with a number. Each time you acquire data this sequence number will
increase by one (STRAIN1.XLS, STRAIN2.XLS etc.).

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STRAIN
GAGE 1
ICONS

RUN
ICON

DOUBLE CLICK
FILE ICON TO
CHANGE
SEQUENCE
NUMBER

ZOOM
ICON

4.6

Run the LABTECH program as described in 4.5 to obtain three strain

files corresponding to three load cases. Use three well spaced loads
up to near the computed maximum load (these will be given by the
instructor). The ram is raised or lowered by flipping the toggle switch
located on the front, just above the motor, to the up or down
position (up unloads the beam). The valve control, controls the ram
speed.

4.7

Data can be retrieved from Microsoft Excel by opening the

STRAIN&.XLS FILES. Save your Excel files to floppy disk. Make sure
you save them as a worksheet file or all equations and graphs will be
lost.

4.8

There will be one separate file with data pertaining to each individual
loading level and the unloladed case. Each column of these files lists
the strain data from one strain gage (eight columns total). Average
strain values, stress calculations and graphing can be obtained
within the spreadsheet program.

4.9

The strain data you recorded for the three load cases must be
adjusted or calibrated by subtracting the strain values measured for
the unloaded case to give the proper stain results.

4.10

If desired, this calibration process can be performed using a different

method to zero out the unloaded beam strains prior to loading the
beam. This optional method zeros the strain using the LABTECH
software and is given Appendix A.

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V.

REPORT

5.1.

Beam Properties
For the T-beam, include the tabulated beam information recorded in
Table II along with a table of the position of the eight strain gages
with reference to the bottom of the beam (Table III) in the Results
section. Calculations for the moment of inertia, the location of the
centroidal axis and the maximum allowable load, should be put in the
Appendix.

5.2.

Graphs and Calculations

Results should include a graph of the stress, calculated from = E ,
versus distance from the bottom of the beam (tensile stress is
positive and compressive stress is negative). From this graph,
determine the location of the neutral axis. Plot on this same graph
the corresponding theoretical stress curve (using equation 2.1). This
graph, will thus show both the experimental and theoretical stress
distribution, from the bottom of the beam to the top. Plot the same
experimental and theoretical curves for the other two load cases
(three graphs in total). If a strain gage in not functioning, omit its data
point from the graph. Make sure you use an X-Y plot since the
distance between the gages varies.
POSITIVE STRESS,
BOTTOM OF BEAM

SHOW DATA
POINTS

LOCATION
OF NEUTRAL
AXIS, = 0

STRESS
(PSI)
0
NEGATIVE STRESS,
TOP OF BEAM

DISTANCE FROM
BOTTOM OF BEAM (IN)

EXPERIMENTAL
RESULT

THEORETICAL
RESULT

Figure 2
Example graph of Theoretical and Experimental Stress Results

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5.3.

Comparison of Results
Compare the theoretical and experimental stress graphs for each
load case. These three graphs should be presented in the Results
section with titles and axis labels. Excel can be used to obtain a best
linear curve fit of the data points. The equation of this linear curve fit
has the form Y = mx +b which can be displayed on the graph (right
click on the data points in the graph and use insert trendline and
under options, select display equation on chart). For each graph
compare the slope m and the neutral axis location x (x =- b/m when Y
= 0). Make percent comparisons of these two factors for each load
level. Put these results in a table and include it in the Results section.
Raw data (for example, the spread sheet strain data) go in the
Appendix. The Result section is the most important part of the report
so take time to describe each table and graph that you are presenting
(use Figure and Table numbers). Also include the value of the
centroid found from balancing the cross section.

VI.

SELECTED REFERENCES

6.1

Introduction to Mechanics of Solids, Popov, pp. 177-188.

6.2.

Engineering Mechanics of Deformable Bodies, pp. 205-273.

6.3.

Strain Gauge Techniques, Murray and Stein

6.4.

Statics and Strength of Materials, Stevens, Ch. 8 and 11

6.5

Experimental Stress Analysis, Daily, James.

6.6

LABTECH Data Acquisition and Process Control Software, Windows

Users Guide

Note: Major contributions to this experiment were made by:

HOOMAN NASTARIN, MASARU KENT KAWAI, JONGLIM KIM, CATHERINE
MICHAUD, LINDA MILES, GHASSAN SAKAKINE, MARIA SOTO-CARDENAS,
CALVIN WOO

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T BEAM SHOWING
STRAIN GAGES

MEASURES BEAM
LOAD

VALVE CONTROL
FOR LOADING SPEED

TOGGLE SWITCH
TO LOAD AND
UNLOAD BEAM

STRAIN GAGE
AMPLIFIER

Figure 3
Experimental Test Set-up for T-Beam Experiment

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MECHANICS LABORATORY
AM 317
EXPERIMENT #3. STRESS MEASUREMENT IN A T-BEAM

STUDENTS NAME: __________________________GROUP NO.: ________

INSTRUCTORS NAME: _______________________DATE OF EXP.: ______
n

Aiyi
i=1

y =
n

Ai
i=1

Centroid Calculation

Figure 1. Cross-Section.
SECTION
i = 1 BOTTOM
i = 2 TOP

bi

hi

Ai = bi x hi

Yi

i
=

Ai x Yi
iYi
=

Table I
Calculation of the centroid of the cross-section.

Beam Specifications
Position of Neutral Axis,
Moment of Inertia,
Length of the Beam,
Modulus of Elasticity,
Maximum Allowable Stress,

Data
y (in.)
I (in.4)
L (in.)
E (psi)
(psi)

Table II
Beam Data

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Figure 2. Gage Locations

Gage
No.
#1

Position of Gage
From Bottom of Beam

#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
Table III
Gage Position (Do not remove beam from support, get the gage locations
from the excel file gageloc.xls)

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PRELIMINARY CALCULATIONS

SHEAR
DIAGRAM

MOMENT
DIAGRAM

SAFE LOAD, Pmax = __________

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Appendix A
Calibration of the Strain Gages
Optional Method
Temperature changes and other effects can cause the strain gages to go
out of calibration. This goal of calibration is to have the strain gages read
zero strain when the beam is unloaded. Make sure that no load is present
on the beam when calibrating the gages.

A.1

Launch LABTECH by double clicking on the LABTECH pro icon.

Double click on the Build time icon. Open the file (substitute your
instructors name for INSTRUCTOR) :
C:\NBP_WIN\INSTRUCTOR\CALIB.LTC.

A.2

Make sure the beam is unloaded and click the LABTECH Run icon
located on the left-hand side of the screen. Click OK to start the
acquisition. Data will be saved in your instructors directory under the
file name CALIB&.XLS. The & character will be replaced with a
sequence number. Each time you acquire data the number will
increase by one (CALIB1.XLS, CALIB2.XLS etc.). The instructor
should reset the counter back to 1 at the end of each class and delete
old files). To reset the counter, double click on the file icon at the
center.

A.3

Use Excel to open the CALIB&.XLS file you created. The LABTECH
program has stored 60 measured voltage values (later converted to
strain) for each of the eight strain gage as shown in Table 1 below
(only two of the 60 voltage values are shown for each gage):

GAGE 1
1.262936
1.514322

GAGE 2
2.2299865
2.1740598

GAGE 3
0.967050
0.659738

GAGE 4 GAGE 5 GAGE 6

3.492923 1.1149932 2.229986
3.688382 1.0870299 2.174060

GAGE 7
3.344980
3.261090

GAGE 8
1.262936
1.514322

Table 1
Excel file containing calibration data
A.4. The first few and last few strain values may be inaccurate due to
transients and will not be used to calculate the average voltage
values. To calculate the average strain, go to cell A65 and enter the
following equation: =AVERAGE(A5:A55)/3300. The 3300 value comes
from the amplification of the strain gage amplifier.

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Copy the equation in cell A65 to cells B65 to H65 such that you have
an average value for each column of data. Note these calibration
values in Table 2:
GAGE 1

GAGE 2

GAGE 3

GAGE 4

GAGE 5

GAGE 6

GAGE 7

GAGE 8

Table 2
Record the calculated calibration values in this table

A.5. Return to the LABTECH program. Hold down the alt key and press the
tab key until the LABTECH icon appears. Open the file:
C:\NBP_WIN\INSTRUCTOR\NEWTB.LTC
A.6. Click ZOOM (left side of screen) to enlarge the flow diagram at the
top center of the screen. Double-Click on the AI (analog input) icon
labeled for strain gage 1. Make sure that Strain 1 is displayed in the
title bar, if not, click cancel and try again until you find the analog
input for gage 1.

ZOOM ON STRAIN 1
ICONS

ZOOM ICON

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A.7. Having double-clicked on the icon labeled AI for gage one, move the
mouse button to the third icon from the left, SCALE, and holding
down the mouse button, drag the icon to the empty portion of the
screen. Enter the negative of the value you recorded in Table 2 for
gage 1 in the OFFSET data entry box. This offset value will then set
the strain to zero for the unloaded beam. In the figure above, the
offset value was 7.14E-03. The exponent can be seen by inserting
the cursor in the offset box, and while holding down the mouse
button, move the cursor to the right.
A.8. Working counter-clockwise for gages 2 to 8, repeat this process. Use
the scroll bars at the bottom and right of the screen to find the
remaining AI icons for the other strain gages and enter the remaining
Table 2 data. Save the file when complete. All values entered in the
offset boxes should be negative.

TITLE BAR
SHOWING TITLE:
STRAIN 1

DRAG SCALE ICON

TO BOTTOM OF
WINDOW

ENTER STRAIN
CALIBRATION
VALUE IN OFFSET
BOX

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