LIGHT STRUCTURE LABORATORY

LABORATORY WORKSHEET

Course Code BFC 31901

Department Structure And Material Engineering

Tiltle Moment Influence lines

 Faculty : Faculty of Civil and Environmental
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Engineering
Department : Structure And Material Engineering Edition
Checking No
Effective Date
Title : Moment Influence Lines
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1.0 OBJECTIVE

1.0 Part 1: To plot monet influence line.

2.0 Part 2 : To apply the use of moment influence on a simply support beam.

2.0 LEARNING OUTCOME

1.0 Application the engineering knowledge in practical application.

2.0 To enhance technical competency in structural civil engineering through laboratory
application.
3.0 Communicate effectively in group.
4.0 To identify problem, solving finding out appropriate solution through laboratory
application.

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. To find the critical moment at a section, influence lines is
used.

4.0 THEORY

Definition : Influence line is defined as a line representing the changes in either moment,
shear force, reaction or displacement at a section of a beam when a unit load moves on
the beam.

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

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

Sy = -x/ L………(1)
For a ≤ 𝒙 ≤ 𝒃 shear line is given by :
Sy = 1-x/ L……(2)
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For a unit load between0 ≤ 𝒙 ≤ 𝒂 ,

MX= (L-x)a …
1(a-x)………….(1)
L

For unit load between a ≤ 𝒙 ≤ 𝒃,

MX = xb/L- (x-a)……….……(2

1 ( Unit Load ) x ‘Cut’ MX

x

RA = (1- X/L) RB=(X/L)

MX

a b

L
K

Figure 1
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5.0 Part 2 : If the beam are loaded as shown below, the shear force at the “ cut” can be
calculated using the influence line. (See diagram 2).

Moment at ‘cut ’section = F 1Y1 + F2Y2 + F3Y3 …(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
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Engineering
Department : Structure And Material Engineering Edition
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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 between 150g 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 any load 50g to 400g on it and place it 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

Part 1
Location of Load Digital Force Shear Force Experimental Theory
From left hand Display at cut section Influence line Influence line
support(m)
Reading( N) (N) value (Nm) value (Nm)
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.18
0.20
0.22
0.24
0.26
0.28
0.30
0.32
0.34
0.36
0.38
0.40
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Department : Structure And Material Engineering Edition
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Title : : Moment Influence Lines Effective Date
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Notes:
1. Moment at cut section = Digital force x 0.125

2. Experimental Influence line values = Moment(N)

Load (N)
3. Calculate the theoretical 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

_____g _____g ____g

1
2
3
4
5

Notes:
1. Experiment Moment = Digital Force Reading x0.125
2. Theoretical Moment is calculated Using Equation (3)

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 moment 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 2. Comment on why the
results differ.
6. Conclusions:
What can you prove from the experiment?