INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY TALLAGHT

DUBLIN
Dept of Mechanical Engineering

Lab Title: ______Modulus of Elasticity by Flexure

Lecturer: ______Fiona Mc Evoy_____________

Student Name: ______John Patrick De Lara_____________

Date of Submission: ______07/12/2021_____________

Declaration

I hereby declare that this is my original work produced without the help of any
third party.

Signed: John Patrick De Lara

Date: 05/12/2021

Lecturer Feedback
Introduction
The modulus of elasticity refers to a material’s stiffness. This can be thought of as the amount
of deformation a material undergoes when subjected to a load. Experimentally, the modulus
of elasticity, or Young’s Modulus, is found by determining the slop of the stress versus strain
curve.
With excessive loading, the stress-strain curve initially begins linearly, followed by a
dramatic change of slope. The phenomena occurring during this sudden change in slop is
known as plastic deformation and is beyond the scope of this lab. For the purposes of testing
the Young’s Modulus, the applied load should be kept below the yield strength, the pressure
as which a material begins to experience plastic deformation.
A simple way of determining the Young’s Modulus is to create a uniaxial stress state. This is
achieved by supporting a beam in a cantilever setup while applying pressure to a point on the
beam. A strain gage should be located perpendicular, as well as a known distance, from the
applied force.
With a known force, beam, and strain, and resulting stress can be calculated. Therefore;

E = Δσ / Δε (Eqn 1)
E = Modulus of Elasticity (N/m ) 2

σ = Stress (N/m2)
ε = Strain (m/m)

For the uniaxial stress state, Hook’s Law is rearranged form of Eqn 1;
σx = Eεx σy = 0 σz = 0 (Eqn 2)

For the more general biaxial stress state, Hook’s law is rearrange form;
σx = E / 1-v2 (εx + vεy ) σy = E / 1-v2(εy + vεx ) σz = 0
v = Poisson’s Ratio

Two strain measurements are required to determine either stress, and two elastic constants (E
and v) must be known. From the form of Eqn 2 and 3, we can see that the percentage error of
σ is equal to the percentage error of E. Therefore, the exact value of the modulus of elasticity
of the construction of material is very important to engineers.

Equipment
 Cantilever flexure frame.
 High strength aluminium alloy beam (3 x 25 x 320mm)
 P-3500 Strain indicator
 Strain gages
 Micrometers and Calipers
 Hanger and known weights
 Machining scale
 Student Strain Gauge Appliaction Kit
Procedure
Before performing the experiment, it is important to accurately measure the dimensions of the
specimen to be tested. Using micrometers and/or calipers, the width, thickness, and effective
length should be measured and recorded. The effective length is defined as the distance
between the strain gage and the location where the load will be applied.
The specimen should then be secured in the flexure fixture. The strain gage should be
attached to the beam such that the long wires run parallel to the effective length.
The strain gages used in this experiment have three leads to effectively eliminate any
inaccuracies that would occur due to the length of the lead wires. Two lead wires connect to
the first side of the gage where the third lead known as the independent lead, connects to the
opposing side. It is important to note the independent lead cannot be interchanged with either
of the other two leads in connecting into the strain indicator.
The gage factor refers to the change in resistance of the gage with respect to the change in
length. The gage factor is usually supplied with strain gages and is important in configuring
the strain indicator.
With only the hook on the loading point, the strain indicator should read zero. If it does not,
the balance should be adjusted such that a zero readout is achieved.

The Flexure Formula may be used to compute the stress as a function of the applied load
when the beam dimension is known;
σ = Mc / I = 6PL / bt2
M = Bending moment at gauge centreline (N-m)
c = Semi-thickness of beam (m)
I = Moment of inertia of beam cross section (m4)
P = Load (N)
L = (Effective beam length)
B = Beam width (m)
t = Beam thickness (m)

A strain gauge bonded at the portion of interest will be used to measure the surface strain. The
load will be delivered in increments, and the strain will be recorded as a result. The stress and
strains will be plotted to create a stress-strain diagram from which the elasticity modulus may
be calculated.