Lab Manual Mechanics of Materials - l

LAB EXPERIMENT # 10
Objective:
1) The show the linearity of the strain gauges in the open ends condition.
2) To find the hoop stress and strain relationship (young's modulus) for the cylinder
material in open end connection.
3) To find the longitudinal and hoop strain relationship (Poisson’s Ratio) for the
cylinder material in open end connection.
Introduction:
The pressure vessels (i.e. cylinders or tanks) are used to store fluids under
pressure. The fluid being stored may undergo a change of state inside the pressure vessel
as in case of steam boilers or it may combine with other reagents as in a chemical plant.
The pressure vessels are designed with great care because rupture of a pressure vessel
means an explosion which may cause loss of life and property. The material of pressure
vessels may be brittle such as cast iron, or ductile such as mild steel. In many engineering
applications, cylinders are frequently used for transporting or storing of liquids, gases or
fluids e.g: Pipes, Boilers, storage tanks etc. These cylinders are subjected to fluid
pressures. When a cylinder is subjected to a internal pressure, at any point on the cylinder
wall, three types of stresses are induced on three mutually perpendicular planes
 Hoop or Circumferential Stress (σC) – This is directed along the tangent to the
circumference and tensile in nature. Thus, there will be increase in diameter.
 Longitudinal Stress (σL ) – This stress is directed along the length of the cylinder. This is
also tensile in nature and tends to increase the length.
 Radial pressure ( pr ) – It is compressive in nature. Its magnitude is equal to fluid
pressure on the inside wall and zero on the outer wall if it is open to atmosphere.

Classification of Pressure Vessels

The pressure vessels may be classified as follows:
1. According to the dimensions. The pressure vessels, according to their
dimensions, may be classified as thin shell or thick shell. If the wall thickness of
the shell is less than 1/20 of the diameter of the shell (d), then it is called a thin
shell. Magnitude of radial pressure is very small compared to other two stresses
in case of thin cylinders and hence neglected.

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Lab Manual Mechanics of Materials - l

On the other hand, if the wall thickness of the shell is greater than 1/20 of the
diameter of the shell, then it is said to be a thick shell. Thin shells are used in
boilers, tanks and pipes, whereas thick shells are used in high pressure cylinders,
tanks, gun barrels etc.
2. According to the end construction. The pressure vessels, according to the end
construction, may be classified as open end or closed end. A simple cylinder with
a piston, such as cylinder of a press is an example of an open end vessel, whereas
a tank is an example of a closed end vessel. In case of vessels having open ends,
the circumferential or hoop stresses are induced by the fluid pressure, whereas in
case of closed ends, longitudinal stresses in addition to circumferential stresses are
induced.
This experiment gives students an opportunity to experiment with a cylinder that has a
diameter/thickness ratio of more than 20, making it thin-walled. The cylinder will
undergo pressure loading that will introduce hoop and longitudinal stresses on the surface
of the material. The fact that the cylinder is thin-walled allows for the assumption that the
hoop and longitudinal stresses are constant throughout the wall thickness or area. Two
different conditions of pressure loading will be tested: “open end” and “close end”. The
open end condition can be seen as studying a portion of a long pipeline, while closed end
conditions can be imagined as looking at an enclosed gas tank that holds a certain amount
of pressure. Using this computerized thin cylinder experiment we will introduce varying
amounts of pressure into the cylinder and utilizing strain gage readings on the surface of
the cylinder to determine Young’s modulus (E), Poisson’s ratio, ν, and to study the strain
Mohr’s circles of the two different end conditions.

Hardware Required:

1) TQ SM1007 Computerized Thin Cylinder. The cylinder is made of aluminum (E

= 69 GPa) and has strain gages attached as shown below:
2) Dell Computer with the SM1007 program installed
3) Printer (as a backup device)

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Lab Manual Mechanics of Materials - l

Open End Connection:

A Hand Wheel at the end of the frame sets the cylinder for the open and Closed Ends
experiments. When the user screws in the Hand Wheel, it clamps the free-moving pistons

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Lab Manual Mechanics of Materials - l

in the cylinder. The frame then takes the axial (longitudinal) stress and not the cylinder
wall, as if the cylinder has no ends. This allows ‘Open Ends’ experiments, as shown in
figure.

Tasks:
1. Create a blank table of results, similar to table shown.

2. Switch ON the power to the thin cylinder and leave it for five minutes before you
do the experiment. This allows the strain gauges to reach a stable temperature and
give you accurate readings.

3. Look at the positions of the strain gauges.

4. Open (turn anticlockwise) the pressure control and screw in the hand wheel to set
up the open ends condition.

5. From VDAS interface select the 'open ends' experiment condition.

6. Shut (turn clockwise) the pressure control and use the 'press & hold to zero' button
to zero the strain gauge display reading. All the strain gauge reading should now
read 0 µ (+/-5 µ), and the pressure meter should read 0 MN.m⁻².

7. The strain gauge reading may vary slightly (+/-2 µ) as you take readings. This is
normal.

8. Enter your first set of reading (at zero pressure) into your blank result table.

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Lab Manual Mechanics of Materials - l

9. Pump the hand pump until the pressure is approximately 0.5 MN.m⁻². Wait a few
seconds for the reading to stabilize and record the reading into the result table.

10. Carefully increase the pressure in 0.5 MN.m⁻² increment up to 3 MN.m⁻². At each
increment, wait for a while for the reading to stabilize and record the reading into
your result table.

11. Warning: do not exceed a cylinder pressure of 3.5 MN.m⁻²

12. Open (turn anticlockwise) the pressure control to reduce the indicated pressure
back to 0MN.m⁻².

Analysis:
a. What is the difference between the “Open End” and “Closed End” conditions?
Which case experiences “uniaxial state of stress” and which case experiences
“biaxial state of stress”? Explain each case in detail including equations if
necessary.
b. Using the strains, Poisson’s ratio and Young’s modulus obtained from the
experiment read the Dowling textbook and come up with the hoop stress, σH,
and the longitudinal stress, σL, for both cases (open and closed ends). There
should be four results reported. (Hint: Look around section 5.3.2 in the
Dowling textbook or section 7.5 in the Gere & Timoshenko textbook, and
since this is a plane stress condition, neglect σz. Assume εx is in the
longitudinal direction and εy is in the hoop direction.)
c. With the data obtained in the Young's Modulus experiment, plot on ONE
GRAPH the hoop stress (in MPa) versus hoop strain (in με) for gauges 1 and
6. With these two straight line fits, find the Young's Modulus E for both
gauges (which are the slopes for the curves). Use these E values to determine
an average E.

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Lab Manual Mechanics of Materials - l

Deliverables:
1. Take readings, note them on a separate page in a table given below and get checked from
Lab Engineer.

Cylinder Condition : Open Ends

Direct Strain
Readin Pressure Hoop
Gauge Gauge Gauge Gauge Gauge Gauge
g (MN.m-²) Stress
1 2 3 4 5 6
(MN.m-²)
1 0
2 0.5
3 1
4 1.5
5 2
6 2.5
7 3

2. Draw a graph b/w strain (vertical axis) vs pressure (Horizontal axis),

3. Draw a graph b/w hoop stress (vertical axis) vs hoop strain (Horizontal axis),

4. Draw a graph b/w longitudinal strain (vertical axis) vs hoop strain (Horizontal
axis),

Questions/Assignments:
1. Define hoop stress?

2. Define longitudinal stress?

3. Which one will be greater hoop or longitudinal?

4. What is the difference between the “Open End” and “Closed End” conditions?

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