LIGHT STRUCTURE LABORATORY

LABORATORY WORKSHEET

Course Code
BFC 31901

Department Structure And Material Engineering

Tiltle SHEAR FORCE INFLUENCE LINE

Faculty : Faculty of Civil and Environmental
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Department : Structure And Material Engineering

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Title :Shear Force Influence Lines

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1.0 OBJECTIVE

1.0 Part 1: To plot Shear force influence line.

2.0 Part 2 : To verify the use of shear force influence on a simply support beam

2.0 LEARNING OUTCOME

1.0 Able to apply the engineering knowledge in practical application.

2.0 Able to enhance technical competency in structural engineering through laboratory
application.
3.0 Able to communicate effectively in group.
4.0 Able to identify problem, solving finding out appropriate solution through laboratory.

3.0 INTRODUCTION

1. Moving loads on beams are common features of design. Many road bridges are
constructed from beam and as such have to be designed to carry a knife edge load or a
string of wheel loads, or a uniformly distributed load, or perhaps the worst combination
of all three. The method of solving the problem is to use influence lines.
4.0 THEORY

Definition: shear influence line is defined as a line representing the changes in shear force
at a section of a beam a unit load moves on the beam.

Part1: This experiment examines how shear force varies at a cut section as a unit load
moves from one end to another ( see figure 1). From the diagram, shear force influence line
equation can be written.

For 0 ≤ x ≤ a shear line is given by :

Sy = -x/ L…………………………….Eq(1)
For a ≤ x ≤ b shear line is given by :
Sy = 1-x/ L…… …………………….Eq(2)

Faculty : Faculty of Civil and Environmental

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Department : Structure And Material Engineering

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Title : : Shear Force Influence Lines

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 Figure 1

Faculty : Faculty of Civil and Environmental

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Department : Structure And Material Engineering

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5.0 Part 2 : If the beam are loaded as shown figure 2, the shear force at the “ cut” can be
calculated using the influence line. (See diagram 2).

Shear force at ‘cut ’section = F 1Y1 + F2Y2 + F3Y3 ………………Eq(3)

(Y1, Y2 and Y3 are ordinates derived from the influence line in term of X1, X2, X3, a,b and L)

6.0 APPARATUS

Sketch the apparatus used in this experiment and named the essential components
Faculty : Faculty of Civil and Environmental
Engineering
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Department : Structure And Material Engineering

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Title : Shear Force Influence Lines

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7.0 PROCUDERS
Part 1
1. Check the Digital Force Meter reads Zero with no load.
2. Place hanger with any mass range between 100g to 300g at the first grooved
hanger support at the left support and record the Digital Force reading in
Table 1.
3. Repeat the procedure to the next grooved hanger until to the last grooved
hanger at the right hand support.
4. Complete the calculation in Table 1.
 Part 2
1. Place three load hangers with 100g, 200g and 300g mass respectively at any
position between the supports. Record the positions and the Digital Force
Display reading in Table 2.
2. Repeat the procedure with three other locations.
3. Complete the calculation in Table.

8.0 RESULT

Location of Load Digital Force Shear Force Experimental Theory

From left hand Display at cut Influence line Influence
support(m)
Reading( N) section (N) value line value
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.18
0.20
0.22
0.24
0.26
0.34
0.36
0.38
0.40

Faculty : Faculty of Civil and Environmental

Engineering
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Department : Structure And Material Engineering

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Checking No

Title : : Shear Force Influence Lines

Effective Date

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Notes:
1. Shear force at cut section is the same value given by Digital Force Reading. Add – ve sign to
the value for positions 320mm to 380mm

2. Experimental Influence line values = Shear Force(N)

Load (N)
3. Calculate the theory value using the equation 1 for load position 40 to 260mm and equation
2 for load position 320mm to 380mm

Part 2:
Position of hanger from left hand Shear force Theoretical Shear
Location
support(m) Digital Reading Nm
N
100g 200g 300g
1
2
3
4
5

Notes: Theoretical Shear Force is calculated using Equation.

9.0 DISCUSSIONS

1. Derive equation 1 and 2

2. On the same graph paper, plot the theoretical and experimental values against distance from
left hand support
3. Comment on the shape of the graph. What does it tell about how shear force varies at the cut
section as a load moved on the beam?
4. Comment on the experimental result and compared to the theoretical result.
5. Comment the experimental result and theoretical result in table
6. Conclusions:
What can you prove from the experiment Part 1 and Part 2.