Experiment No.

4: Stress Analysis of Beams Using Strain Gauges

ENGR 244 – Mechanics of Material

Lab section A-X

Aline Nguyen

40263347

Group members: Amaya Sastron-Navarrete and Dana Saidi

Date performed: February 19, 2024

Date submitted: March 11, 2024

 1. Objective
Using experimental values of stress and strain in a beam to calculate expected theoretical values
and compare the two. Using strain gauges to determine the characteristics of structural materials,
i.e. the elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio and the shear modulus.

2. Introduction
A material under bending undergoes two types of stresses. One region is under tensile stress and
the other is under compressive stress. When a positive moment is applied on a beam it is said
that the top surface is under compression and the bottom surface is under tension and it is the
opposite for a negative applied moment. There’s a plane of neutral axis which is neither under
compression nor tension. For solid rectangular bars, the centroid of the material is where the
neutral axis lies. A material under bending is also subjected to other types of stress such as shear
stress and torsional stress. In this lab, only pure bending will be analyzed where a load is applied
equidistant from the center of the bar at the same time. When under pure bending, the strain on
the material is said to be proportional to the distance from the neutral axis. Furthermore, an
object under bending can be analyzed as multiple place sections under bending and remain as
plane section after bending.

A useful relation between axial strain and lateral strain is Poisson’s ratio. When a solid
homogenous and isotropic material under a uniaxial load that is within the elastic regions, the
lateral strain has a constant relationship to the axial strain which we call Poisson’s ratio.

The practical applications of studying strain on materials is to determine how much stress a beam
can be subjected to before failing. This is important for engineering designs such as bridges and
building structures which are subjected to bending forces all the time.

3. Procedure
Begin by measuring the width and height of the steel beam sample three times and find it’s
average. Note the value down on a data sheet. Apply the strain gauges at 6 locations as shown in
the figure 1 below. Place the bean symmetrically on the support of the testing machine as shown
in figure 2 below, ensure no load is applied. Turn on the strain indicator (figure 3) and balance
the gauge selector (figure 4) for each channel until the strain indicator reads zero when no load is
applies. Before beginning the test, check that every channel (strain gauge) reads zero and
rebalance if necessary. Load the beam under a constant load of 100N/s in increment of 1000N up
to 5000N and record the readings of each strain gauge channels at each increment. Unload the
beam and record the readings at a zero load and check that the value is zero or close to it. This is
a verification point.
Figure 1: Placement of strain gauges [1] Figure 2: Location of applied forces on beam [1]

Figure 3: Strain indicator [1] Figure 4: Gauge selector and balance [1]

4. Results
To start, table 1 are the initial conditions of the samples used for the experiment which are the
width, height, length and calculated moment of inertia of the beam. A sample calculation is
provided below.

Table 1: Properties of the steel beam.

Length, L Span length Width, b Height, h Moment of

[mm] between two [mm] [mm] inertia, I
loading points, [mm4]
2c [mm]

Steel 455 70 19.273 31.743 51370.286

Moment of inertia, I=bh3/12

Where I is the moment of inertia in mm4

b is the width of the beam in millimetres [mm]

h is the height of the beam in millimetres [mm]

(19.273𝑚𝑚) × (31.743𝑚𝑚)3
𝐼= = 51370.286 𝑚𝑚4
12
In table 2 below is all the collected data of the experiment. Gauges 1-5 collects strain data in the
longitudinal direction and gauge 6 collects strain data in the transversal location.
Table 2: Collected strain data

Applied Strain indicator reading units are in micro-strain (10-6 strain)

load, P [N]
Channel #1 Channel #2 Channel #3 Channel #4 Channel #5 Channel #6

1000 -155 -98 3 96 164 -40

2000 -315 -194 6 194 322 -85

3000 -471 -289 10 293 483 -130

4000 -626 -385 14 394 646 -175

5000 -787 -481 15 490 803 -219

Unload 6 2 3 0 7 8

As mentioned before, a beam under bending is subjected to both stress and strain. The theoretical
and experimental values of stress can be obtained using the two following equations.
𝑀𝑦
𝜎𝑒𝑥𝑝 =
𝐼
Where σexp is the experimental value of stress in Pascals [Pa]

M is the moment [Nm]

y is the distance from the neutral axis [m]

I is the moment of inertia [m4]
To calculate the experimental value of stress, we must determine the distance of each gauge from
the neutral axis. As mentioned, the neutral axis is along the centroid of the beam and the gauges
were placed at specific locations from the neutral axis as listed in table 3 below.

Table 3: distance y from the neutral axis of every gauge

Channel #1 Channel #2 Channel #3 Channel #4 Channel #5 Channel #6

Distance from the -15.9 -10.1 0 10.1 15.9 -15.9
neutral axis, y [mm]

Using the formula to calculate the experimental stress, it was done for every load P and listed in
table 4 below. A sample calculation is provided below.
𝑃 (𝐿 − 2𝑐)
𝑀𝑦 2 × 2 ×𝑦
𝜎𝑒𝑥𝑝 = =
𝐼 𝐼

1000 𝑁 ((445 − 70) × 10−3 )

× 𝑚 ∗ (−15.9 × 103 ) 𝑚
𝜎𝑒𝑥𝑝 = 2 2 = −29.791𝑀𝑝𝑎
4 1𝑚 4
51370.286 𝑚𝑚 × ( 3 )
10 𝑚𝑚
Table 4: Experimental stress values

Channel #1 Channel #2 Channel #3 Channel #4 Channel #5 Channel #6

Applied
load, P [N] σexp1 [MPa] σexp1 [MPa] σexp1 [MPa] σexp1 [MPa] σexp1 [MPa] σexp1 [MPa]

1000 -29.791 -18.924 0.000 18.924 29.791 -29.791

2000 -59.582 -37.848 0.000 37.848 59.582 -59.582

3000 -89.373 -56.772 0.000 56.772 89.373 -89.373

4000 -119.164 -75.696 0.000 75.696 119.164 -119.164

5000 -148.955 -94.619 0.000 94.619 148.955 -148.955

Unload 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

Using data from tables 2 and 4, a strain versus strain graph can be made using experimental
values.

Graph 1: Stress versus strain graph for gauge points 1 and 5

Stress strain curve

200.000

150.000
y = 0.1866x - 0.9481
100.000

50.000
Stress [MPa]

0.000
-1000 -800 -600 -400 -200 0 200 400 600 800 1000
-50.000

-100.000

-150.000
y = 0.1884x - 0.7479
-200.000
Strain [10-6 strain]

Channel #1 Channel #5 Linear (Channel #1) Linear (Channel #5)

There’s a linear relationship between stress and strain when the material is within the elastic
region of deformation. The slope of the line is the elastic modulus, E, of the material. The elastic
modulus of the steel sample can be obtained by finding the average slope of each data as
demonstrated below using values of the trendline.
𝜎 0.1884 + 0.1866
𝐸= = = 187500 𝑀𝑝𝑎 = 187.5 𝐺𝑝𝑎
𝜖 2 × 10−6

Thus, the experimental value of the elastic modulus of the steel sample is 187.5 GPa.

By plotting the longitudinal strain εL, using values from channel #5 and the transvers strain εT,
using values from channel #6 versus the applied load P, the Poisson ratio ν can be determined by
taking the absolute value of the equation below.

ν = (δεT/δP) / (δεL/δP)
Graph 2: Longitudinal/transverse strain versus the applies load P for gauges 5 and 6

Longitudinal/tranverse strain versus load P

1000

800

600
Strain [10-6 strain]

y = 0.1596x + 5.0952
400

200

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
-200
y = -0.0453x + 6.381
-400
Applied load P [N]

channel #6 channel #5 Linear (channel #6) Linear (channel #5)

ν = (δεT/δP) / (δεL/δP)
0.0453
𝜈=− = −0.28
0.1596
Thus, Poisson’s ratio of the steel sample is 0.28.

The theorical value of stress can be obtained using the equation below.

𝜎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜 = 𝐸𝜖

Where σtheo is the theoretical value of stress [Pa]

E is the elastic modulus [Pa]

ε is the strain which is unitless

The published value of the elastic modulus of steel is 200 GPa.

The theoretical values of stress are listed in the table below using the published value of E and
the experimental values of strain from table 2. The calculation to obtain these values are shown
in the sample calculation below.

𝜎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜1 = 𝐸𝜖 = 200 𝐺𝑝𝑎 × −155 × 10−6 = 0.031 GPa = 31 MPa

Table 5: Theoretical values of stress

Channel #1 Channel #2 Channel #3 Channel #4 Channel #5 Channel #6

Applied σtheo1 σtheo2 σtheo3 σtheo4 σtheo5 σtheo6
load P [N] [MPa] [MPa] [MPa] [MPa] [MPa] [MPa]

1000 -31 -19.6 0.6 19.2 32.8 -8

2000 -63 -38.8 1.2 38.8 64.4 -17

3000 -94.2 -57.8 2 58.6 96.6 -26

4000 -125.2 -77 2.8 78.8 129.2 -35

5000 -157.4 -96.2 3 98 160.6 -43.8

Unload 1.2 0.4 0.6 0 1.4 1.6

To calculate the experimental value of the shear modulus of the steel sample, the following
equation can be used.

G = E / [2(1+ν)]

Where G is the shear modulus [Pa]

E is the experimental value of the elastic modulus [Pa]

ν is the experimental value of Poisson’s ratio

187.5 𝐺𝑝𝑎
𝐺= = 73.24 𝐺𝑝𝑎
2 × (1 + 0.28)
The theoretical value of shear modulus for steel is 73.24 GPa.

The experimental location of the neutral axis can be determined by plotting the experimental
strain versus distance from the horizontal mid plane using data from table 2 and 3 of gauges 1 to
5.
Graph 3: strain versus distance from the horizontal mid plane at a 5000N load of gauges 1 to 5

Strain versus distance from the horizontal

mid-plane
1000
800
600
Strain [10-6 strain]

400
200
0
-20 -15 -10 -5 -200 0 5 10 15 20
-400
-600
-800
-1000
Distance from the horizontal mid plane [mm]

The midpoint of the graph is where the neutral axis lies. In the graph, the midpoint lies at the
point (0, 15) where the x-variable is the experimental neutral axis. Thus, the experimental neutral
axis of the beam is at 0mm from the center of the beam.

5. Discussion
In this experiment, a negative moment is applied on the beam causing the top surface to be under
tension and the under face to be under compression. The experimental values of stress as shown
in table 4 relatively close to the theoretical values of stress from table 5. Channels 1, 2 and 6 are
under tensile stress and channels 3, 4, and 5 are under compressive stress. Channel 6 measures
the transverse stress and since the under-face of the beam is under compression along the axial
direction (longitudinal direction) the transverse direction is under tension. That is why even
though gauge 6 is measuring the strain on the under face, and it is expected to measure
compressive stress, it is measuring strain at a perpendicular direction from gauge 4 and 5.
Gauges 4 and 5 are measuring the strain along the axis of the beam which is under compression
and gauge 6 is measuring the transverse strain which is under tension.
The theoretical values for stress measured at gauge 3 is 0 MPa for all loads but the experimental
data shows that there’s a small compressive stress ranging between 3-0.6MPa. Theoretically it
should be zero for all values at gauge 3 as it is at the neutral axis - for that plane is theoretically
not under tension nor compression. There is a value for stress at gauge 3 is because the
experimental data shows that a small strain is being measured at this location thus the calculation
shows that there’s a small value for stress. Furthermore, there are large discrepancies between
the theoretical and experimental values of stress at gauge 6. The possible errors for this are when
calculating the experimental values, it does not consider the transverse position (the distance
along the x-axis) of the strain gauge. The experimental calculations only considered the vertical
distance between the neutral axis and gauge 6. By viewing figure 1, gauge 6 is not placed at the
center of the beam, rather it is a small distance away from the center and the calculations did not
take it into account.
Comparing the experimental value for elastic modulus, Eexp = 187.5 GPa to the expected value of
E=200 GPa, both values are relatively close to each other. The same can be said for the shear
modulus where the experimental value is Gexp = 73.24 GPa and the expected value is G=77 GPa,
both values are relatively close to one another. Lastly, the theoretical neutral axis lies at the
centroid of the beam which is the midpoint of the beam along the vertical direction. Graph 3
shows that the midpoint of the graph is also at the center of the beam in the vertical direction,
thus satisfying the theoretical location.

Studying composite beams that are constructed of various materials is not the same as a solid
beam made of one material. To determine the stress distribution along a composite beam, the
cross section must be transformed to consider the difference in elastic moduli of every material.

For the example below, the shear distribution can be calculated as follows:

Where Eal=70 GPa and Es=210 GPa

Ratio of modulus of elasticity is:

n= Es / Eal = 210GPa/70GPa = 3
The area care of the composite material is be modified as such:
Location of the neutral axis is:
𝐴𝑎𝑙 𝑌𝑎𝑙 + 𝐴𝑠 𝑌𝑠 (30 ∗ 20)(40 + 10) + (60 ∗ 40)(20)
𝑦= = = 26𝑚𝑚 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑚
𝐴𝑎𝑙 + 𝐴𝑠 (30 ∗ 20) + (60 ∗ 40)

Moment of inertia:
1
𝐼 = ∑(𝐼𝑖 + 𝐴𝑖 𝑑𝑖2 ) = ∑ 𝑏ℎ3 + 𝐴𝑑 2
12
𝑖 𝑖

1 1
𝐼= (30 ∗ 203 ) + (30 ∗ 20) ∗ (50 − 26)2 + (60 ∗ 403 ) + (60 ∗ 40) ∗ (26 − 20)2
12 12
𝐼 = 365600 + 406400 = 772000 𝑚𝑚4 = 7.72 ∗ 10−7 𝑚4
Max shear in the transformed steel section:

𝑀𝑐 (2000𝑁𝑚)(26 ∗ 10−3 𝑚)
𝜎= = = 67357512.95 𝑃𝑎 = 67.35 𝑀𝑃𝑎
𝐼 (7.72 ∗ 10−7 𝑚4 )

Max shear in the untransformed steel section:

67.23MPa * n = 67.23 MPa * 3 = 201.69 MPa

Max shear in the aluminum section:

𝑀𝑐 (2000𝑁𝑚)(34 ∗ 10−3 𝑚)
𝜎= = = 88082901.55 𝑃𝑎 = 88.08 𝑀𝑃𝑎
𝐼 (7.72 ∗ 10−7 𝑚4 )

The distributed stress for the composite material is as such:

6. Conclusion
The equations used to calculate the theoretical values of stress, Poisson’s ration, elastic modulus
and shear modulus are valid as the experimental data are close to the expected theoretical data.
 7. References
[1] “ Lab Manual: ENGR 244 Mechanics of Materials”. Concordia University, Department of
Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering.
[2] Beer F. and Johnston, R. (1992) Mechanics of Materials, McGraw-Hill.

8. Appendix
A) Original lab data sheet