1.

0 METHODOLOGY/PROCEDURE

1. The apparatus was set up as shown Figure 1 ;

Vertical dial gauge

Horizontal dial
gauge J shape beam

Load holder
and a load

Figure 1 : Apparatus of J shape Beam

2. The dial gauges (vertical and horizontal position) were placed at the beam;
3. Load holder were hanged at the fix beam and the dial gauges were set to 0.00 mm;

Figure 2: The dial gauges were set to 0.00mm

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4. Load 1 N were put on the holder as shown Figure 3;

Figure 3: Load 1 N were put on the holder

5. The horizontal and vertical deflection of the beam were recorded, every indicated strain will
be 0.01 mm;

Figure 4: The student recorded the dial gauges reading.

6. A 1 N of load was added to the load holder and the horizontal and vertical deflection were
recorded again.

7. Step 6 were repeated until a total weight applied to the load holder is equal to 6 N;

2
 Figure 5: 5N of load applied.

8. A 1 N of load was removed from the load holder and the horizontal and vertical deflection
were recorded again.
9. Step 6 were repeated until a 1 N load were left.

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2.0 RESULTS

Beam 3: J shaped beam

Radius of semi-circle beam, R = 145mm

Beam dimension = 24.7 mm x 2.89 mm x 550 mm

E = 210 GPa

W (N) y Exp (mm) y Theory (mm) x Exp (mm) x Theory (mm)

1 2.0 0.46 1 3.46
2 3.0 0.93 3 6.91
3 3.8 1.4 5 10.4
4 4.7 1.8 5 13.3
5 5.8 2.3 6 17.3
6 6.9 2.8 11 20.7
Table 1: Deflection of J-shaped Beam

W (N) y Exp (mm) y Theory (mm) x Exp (mm) x Theory (mm)

6 0.69 2.8 0.11 20.7

5 0.64 2.3 0.10 17.3

4 0.56 1.8 0.10 13.3

3 0.50 1.4 0.09 10.4

2 0.41 0.93 0.07 6.91

1 0.33 0.46 0.05 3.46

Table 2: Deflection of J-shaped Beam in Inverse Weight

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3.0 DISCUSSIONS

The graphs below illustrate how weights in Newton (N) effect the deflection on horizontal and
vertical of semi-circle beam (mm) and a quarter circle beam (mm) can be observed as shown.

Beam : J-shaped

Verti cal and Horizontal Defl ecti ons of J-shaped Beam

(mm) due to Weight (N)
25

20

15

10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6

y Exp (mm) y Theory (mm) x Exp (mm) x Theory (mm)

Graph 1 Graph of the experimental and theoretical for both deflection direction (mm) of j shape
beam due to applied load (N)

Verti cal and Horizontal Defl ecti ons of J-shaped Beam

(mm) due to inverse in Weight (N)
25

20

15

10

0
6 5 4 3 2 1

y Exp (mm) y Theory (mm) x Exp (mm) x Theory (mm)

Graph 2 Graph of the experimental and theoretical in both deflection directions (mm) of j shape
beam due to inverse applied load (N)

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For this beam, the experimental values and the theoretical values of the deflections are analysed and it
is presented in the line graph above. It is clearly seen that the values are differ because of the error
factors that contribute to imperfections. However, the trend of these deflections is still the same with
another typesof beam. The deflection is correlate with the applied loads.

Sample Calculation

Given information from the experiment that have been discovered,

b = 24.7mm = 0.0247m

t/h = 2.87mm = 2.87 x 10-3m

therefore, the moment of inertia, I can be calculated by the following equation;

b h3
I=
12

(2.87 x 10 ¿¿−3)3
¿( 0.0247) ¿
12

¿ 4.866 x 10−11 m4

Beam: J shaped

Sample calculation of theoretical vertical deflection of the J shaped beam at loading force in weight of
3N:

πP R3 PL
δ v= +
2 EI AE

π (3)(0.145)3 (3)(0.55)
¿ +
(2)(210 x 10¿¿ 9)(4.866 x 10¿¿−11)¿ ¿ (7.138 x 10−5)(210 G)

¿ 1.406 x 10−3 m

Sample calculation of theoretical horizontal deflection of the semicircle beam at loading force in
weight of 3N:

2 P R3 (3 R+ L) 2 P R3
δ h= -
EI EI

3 (2)(3) ( 0.145 )3
¿( 2)(3) ( 0.145 ) ¿ ¿ -
(210 x 10¿¿ 9)(4.866 x 10¿¿−11) ¿ ¿

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¿ 0.0104 m

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4.0 CONCLUSIONS

It was acknowledged that the calculation and experimental values of the horizontal and
vertical deflections for semi-circular, quarter circular and j shape beam were not in complete
agreement. Thus, a percent error analysis was performed to determine the degree of this discrepancy.
Percentage error of the deflections can be calculated by using the formula given and the percentage
are recorded as calculated as below.

A sample calculation of percentage error of experimental and theoretical values of vertical

and horizontal deflections weight force of 3N for the beams. The percentage error is calculated as
shown in specified.

theory−experimental
Percentage Error= x 100 %
theory
Beam 3: J shaped

Sample calculation of percentage error of experimental and theoretical values of vertical deflection of
weight force of 3N for the semicircle beam

1.406−3.8
Percentage Error= x 100 %
1.406
¿−170.3 %
Sample calculation of percentage error of experimental and theoretical values of horizontal deflection
of weight force of 3N for the semicircle beam

3.46−1
Percentage Error= x 100 %
3.46
¿ 71.1 %
During the experiment, some sources of error have been taken in consideration that caused the
faulty for this experiment. One of the sources of error is due to the sensitivity of the tip of the dial
gauge. A slight touch on the apparatus have interrupted the reading on the dial gauge. Therefore, an
improvement to overcome this fault would be to use digital deflection indicators. By using digital
deflection indicators seemed allow for more accurate values of deflections to be recorded as in percent
error or graph plotting. Besides that, the environment of the laboratory also plays a role in this
experiment. For instances, the table we used to place the apparatus is tilted on one side which makes it
difficult to read the readings and on the same time preventing anything to bump into the table
direction. This was hard to control but we managed to pull it off until the end of the experiment. In
this case, an improvement to eliminate this issue is to set up a better place for the experiment to be
conducted. Last but not least, the fault in readings the results on dial gauge will be one of the sources
as well, as the eyes level are not parallel to its dial. Therefore, the same remedy stated above that by
replacing the dial gauge with digital deflection indicators is the best solution.

To conclude, in this experiment, analytical expressions are obtained for displacement of a

semi-circle, a quarter circle and J-shaped beam subjected to a concentrated load at free end. In the
analysis, the Castigliano’s theorem is employed and the deflections of the beam are acquired by
calculating the theoretical results with the equation stated previously in the theory section. Likewise,
for the experimental results. It is demonstrated that this experiment is useful and accurate, while

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requiring only a limited calculation. When the loads acting on a semi or a quarter circle and J-shaped
beam simultaneously, we have obtained the deflections of the beam.

5.0 REFERENCES
1. Textbook: Mechanics of Materials 9th Edition in S.I Units by R. C. Hibbeler (2014)

Chapter 14, Energy Method (Page: 569-619)

2. Beer & E. Russell Johnston, Jr (1992). "Mechanics of Materials, Metrics Editions,

McGraw-Hill Book Company
Chapter 11, Bending (Page: 301-389)

3. Internet/Website: Introductory Problems in Structural Analysis Deflections – Work-

Energy Methods, (Date: 1 Nov 2017)
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~fanous/ce332/virtualwork/homepage.html