[2022]

MM 211 LAB REPORT 2

SESS_FRIDAY_11AM-2PM
VASEMACA BOLADAU (S11196260)

USP | SCHOOL OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING, MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS

Title: Calculate forces in a simple cantilever truss and modulus of elasticity of a specimen
(i.e., mild steel) using strain gauges.
Abstract:
This report is based on calculating force using varieties of equation and analysis such as
Young’s modulus, cross sectional area of cylinder, stress equation, pin joint analysis and
using the apparatus provided to gather the best results.
Aim: To gain knowledge om modulus of elasticity and strain gauges and force calculation.
Equipment:
➢ Strain gauges
➢ Mild steel (specimen)
➢ STR 8-Pin Joined Frameworks
Introduction:
Strain is trigged by stress. Stress is caused by an application of force onto a surface and strain
is how the system reacts when this occurs causing deformation [1]. Strain can also be defined
as the how much an object has deformed after stress has occurred. Strain is the product of
force and the cross-sectional area of the object which has experienced any sort of
deformation. This can be mathematically written as;

𝐹
σ=
𝐴
Where, 𝞼 is the stress
F is the force
A is the cross-sectional area
The value of strain can be measured using a strain gauge, the strain of an object changes as its
electrical resistivity changes. Strain can only be measured on a strain gauge if it’s in an
electrical form, thus, the gauge transforms the force applied to an object into electrical
signals. The strain gauge includes components such as electrical circuits that can effectively
counter the fast resistivity changes that the object undergoes related to strain [2].

Figure 1: Strain gauge [2].

Application:
Strain gauges are usually used by civil engineers on construction sites to sense for any
defaults, it must be valued well since it has high maintenance and bears high precision results
[3].

Figure 2: Strain gauge in field [3].

Procedure:
The following steps were followed to gather the results of the experiment. The initial step
was ensuring that there was no sort of damage on the set-up, this was done by visually
checking the equipment that all the components were accurately fastened and that the Test
Frame was secured at a place that was safe and easy to use.
The Test Frame was placed on a workbench making sure that the ‘window’ was within reach.
The supports were fixed and was loaded as shown in the figure below. The frame was then
built using its components and joint bosses and it was made sure that the joint halves were
matched perfectly. The frame was fitted into the supports by pins and that the ‘free’ was in its
correct position (i.e., in the middle) and the supports were tightened. The load cell was
positioned that the hole of the fork was aligned with the hole at which the loading was made.
The Digital Force Display was switched on and the mini-DIN lead was connected to ‘Force
Input I’ to the ‘Force Output’. The reading was adjusted to zero when no load was applied.
With the Digital Strain Display turned on the strain gauges were connected to the strain
display making sure that the number on the lead and the socket matched. To ensure that the
set-up was steady, the gauges were left to warm up for 5 minutes. A load of 100N was
applied to the load and the load cell was ‘zerod’ again. This was repeated when 500N load
was applied.
Experimental Set-Up:

Figure 3: Simple Cantilever Truss

Figure 4: Pin Joint Frame Equipment

Results:
Table 1.0: Strain Readings
Load Strain reading for Strain reading for Strain reading for
(N) member AB (µɛ) member AC (µɛ) member AD (µɛ)
0 -7 23 -14
100 -14 48 -30
200 -22 73 -46
300 -29 97 -62
400 -37 122 -78
500 -44 146 -94
Table 2.0: True Strain Readings
Load Strain reading for Strain reading for Strain reading for
(N) member AB (µɛ) member AC (µɛ) member AD (µɛ)
0 0 0 0
100 -7 25 -16
200 -15 50 -32
300 -22 74 -48
400 -30 99 -64
500 -37 123 -80

Graph of Load Vs Strain

600

500

400
Load (N)

300

200

100

0
-150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150 200
Strain (µɛ)

Strain Reading for Member AD Strain Reading for Member AC

Figure 5: The graph above shows the relationship of load with strain for members AC &AD
Table 3.0:
Value of theoretical and experimental forces

Member Experimental Theoretical Force Compression (C)

Force(N) (N) or Tension (T)
AB 0.000000261 0 C
AC 867.68 707.11 T
AD -558.64 -500 C

Rod diameter: 6mm

𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙 : 210 𝐺𝑁𝑚−2

Analysis:
Sample Calculation for true strain reading:
Load 200 : 𝐴𝐵 = −14 − (−7) = −7
𝐴𝐶 = 48 − 23 = 25
𝐴𝐷 = −30— (−14) = −16
Sample Calculation for Force:
Theoretical Force
+𝐹𝑦 = 0

−𝑃 − 𝑅𝑌𝑍 = 0
−𝑃 = 𝑅𝑌𝑍

+∑𝑀𝑍 = 0
−𝑃(𝐴) + 𝑅𝑋𝑋 (𝐴) = 0

+∑𝐹𝑋 = 0
𝑅𝑋𝑍 + 𝑅𝑋𝑋 = 0
𝑅𝑋𝑍 = −𝑅𝑋𝑋
 • Pin Joint Analysis at ‘X’
∑𝐹𝑌 = 0
𝑭𝑿𝒁 = 𝟎𝑵

• Pin Joint Analysis at ‘Y’

𝑃 = 500𝑁
∑𝐹𝑌 = 0
𝐹𝑍𝑌 (𝑠𝑖𝑛45) − 500 = 0

𝑭𝒁𝒀 = 𝟓𝟎𝟎√𝟐 𝑵

• Pin Joint Analysis at ‘Z’

1
−500 + 𝐹𝑌𝑍 ( )=0
√2
1
𝐹𝑌𝑍 ( ) = 500
√2
𝑭𝒀𝒁 = 𝟕𝟎𝟕. 𝟏𝟏 𝑵

Experimental Force

• Stress Calculation
σ
𝐸=
ɛ
σ = 𝐸ɛ

σ = (210 × 109 )(−44 × 10−6 )

σ = −9.24 × 10−3

• Area Calculation

𝐴 = 𝜋𝑟 2

𝐴 = 𝜋(3 × 10−3 )2

𝐴 = 2.83 × 10−5 𝑚2
Force Calculation

• Member AB
𝐹
σ=
𝐴
𝐹 = σ. 𝐴
 𝐹 = (−9.24 × 10−3 )(2.83 × 10−5 )

𝑭 = 𝟐. 𝟔𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟕 𝑵

• Member AC
σ = 𝐸ɛ

σ = (210 × 109 )(146 × 10−6 )

σ = 30,660,000
𝐹 = σ. 𝐴

𝐹 = (30,660,000)(2.83 × 10−5 )

𝑭 = 𝟖𝟔𝟕. 𝟔𝟖 𝑵

• Member AD
σ = 𝐸ɛ

σ = (210 × 109 )(−94 × 10−6 )

σ = −19,740,000

𝐹 = σ. 𝐴

𝐹 = (−19,740,000)(2.83 × 10−5 )
𝑭 = −𝟓𝟓𝟖. 𝟔𝟒 𝑵

Discussion:
The values recorded under Table 1.0 were obtained directly from the experimental set-up which
is from the strain display reading meter. When recording the values for strain reading, it was
important to leave the system for a few minutes after a load was added. This helps stabilize the
system which produces accurate results. Moreover, with reference to the values in Table 1.0,
the true strain values for each member (Table 2.0) were gathered by subtracting all the values
of the strain reading from the initial reading on the table.
Furthermore, equations were formulated using a free body diagram and Pin Joint Analysis
was then later used to calculate the theoretical force of all members. On the other hand, the
experimental value of force was calculated by obtaining the value of stress and area. The
stress value was calculated using the Young’s Modulus equation, since the Young’s Modulus
constant was given in the lab manual, it was easier to attain the value of stress. The value of
stress was equated to the product of Young’s Modulus constant and the value of strain
reading at 500 N load. The cross-sectional area of the rod was calculated by using the
equation for calculating the area of a cylinder. These two values were multiplied to get the
value of force. From the table is can be observed that the experimental values had some slight
difference with the theoretical values. This could be caused by man made errors, example;
taking the strain reading before the system is steady, not calibrating the force input and force
output to zero before applying any load. These errors can be minimised or best eliminated if
students strictly follow the instructions on the manual to get the best results.
The graph in Figure 5 shows the relationship of load against stress. The graph of load against
strain reading on AC produced a positive linear graph, which depicts that the value of stress
increases as load increases, whereas, for member AD a negative linear graph was produced.
As load was increased, the stress value at member AD decreases on the negative side of x
axis.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the modulus of elasticity or Young’s modulus was used to gather some
required values which was used for calculating the value of force. The strain gauges were an
important equipment in this experiment as it was responsible for giving out the strain reading
values. It was observed that there might be some human errors involved in the experiment
and ways to eliminate or minimise these errors have been listed in the above paragraph. All in
all, the experiment was a success for the aim was achieved.

Reference:
[1]D. Editors, "What is Strain in Engineering? - Digital Engineering", Digital Engineering, 2022.
[Online]. Available: https://www.digitalengineering247.com/glossary/strain. [Accessed: 30- Apr-
2022].

[2]"What is a Strain Gauge and How Does it Work?", Michigan Scientific Corporation, 2022.
[Online]. Available: https://www.michsci.com/what-is-a-strain-gauge/. [Accessed: 30- Apr- 2022].

[3]G. Hollings, "Strain Gauges: How they Work, Applications, and Types", Blog.endaq.com, 2021.
[Online]. Available: https://blog.endaq.com/strain-gauges-how-they-work-applications-and-types.
[Accessed: 30- Apr- 2022].