Investigating how an axial torque imparted on a

circular beam aects its bending.

Karol Bielaszka

Warsaw
th
Saturday 27 January, 2024
Contents
1 Introduction 2
2 Research question 2
3 Background information 2
3.1 Torque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.2 Stress and strain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.3 Pure torsion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.4 Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

4 Design of experiment 6
4.1 Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.2 Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.3 Preliminary trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.4 Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.5 Safety, environmental and ethical considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.6 Data processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

5 Conclusion 11
6 Evaluation 11

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1 Introduction
As of lately, I have begun to be surrounded by problems relating to engineering physics. From
designing model airplanes with optimal structures that minimised weight while maximising strength,
through picking the thickness of steel for my workbench to nding the optimal way to weld a joint
between two metals, my curiosity was captured by stresses, strains and material properties. One
thing I noticed was that when tapping (cutting the threads in a material to allow a scew or bolt
to be screwed onto it) long rods to fasten a machine to its stand, the whole material exed a quite
large amount. Another phenomenon I have encountered relating to the topic was when ying my
model airplane which had a wing supported by a carbon rod running through the center. As the
velocity of it got too high, the wing would start to oscillate at the rod's axis in a phenomenon called
utter. From transmission shafts, car suspension elements, the twisted sinew ropes of catapults and
other siege engines to the miniscule mechanisms in watches, digital projectors, or even wrenches and
simple springs, the principles of torsion are used throughout and it is no wonder that they have been
studied in detail by many physicists and engineers through the years. According to Murphy's law, if
something can go wrong, it will go wrong. This is why engineers strive for simplicity, using the most
elementary devices to their full extent and what's more elementary than a simple rod? As I want
to expand my engineering knowledge to create better designs, grasping the most principal problems
in depth would enable me to move on to more challenging concepts. This is why I wanted to study
the ways in which a simple circular rod behaves when a torque is imparted on it.

2 Research question
To what extent does the torque imparted on a circular rod aect its bending?

3 Background information
3.1 Torque

To understand torque, one must be familiar with the concept of a moment, which is a force applied
at a distance from a certain pivot point. It can be easily calculated using the equation:

M = F d sin θ (1)

Where M signies the moment, F the force applied, d the distance from the pivot point and θ the
angle at which the force is applied ( 0° when the force is directed towards the pivot point). As
Hibbeler explains, "Torque is a moment that tends to twist a member about its longitudinal axis."
This is a basic, but not exhaustive explanation, for as we know, for every action there is an equal
and opposite reaction and for the member to twist, there must exist two twisting moments, or else
the member would simply rotate. These moments, called a twisting make up the true denition of
torque, inducing stresses and strains on dierent regions of the member being bent.

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3.2 Stress and strain

But what is stress and strain? Simply put, as Ecient Engineer describes it, stress is the internal
force of a body resisting the external forces imparted on it, while strain describes the deformations
of the body resisting these forces. This, of course is not the whole story, as we can dierentiate two
types of stresses - normal and shear stresses, denoted by σ and τ respectively. Seen in gure(1),
Normal stresses are stresses acting normally to a surface. They can be tensile, for example when
a force stretches a member or compressive, when it acts in the other direction, compressing it.
Shear stresses act parallel to the surface, akin to the way scissors, or shears work. As one might

Figure 1: Shear stress (left) and normal stress (right). (Timoshenko and Gere)

think, whether stresses are of one type or the other depends on the way the surface is oriented
within a body. This simplied method does not tell us the whole story, because a fragment of a
three-dimensional object does not "pick" a surface in which it will react to them, rather the various
stress components (three normal stress components and six shear stress components) act on a three
dimensional tensor, as seen in gure (2) (as opposed to a two-dimensional one, which is a surface
with the stresses denoted akin to gure (1)), which is a point representing the full stress state of
the fragment. Strain, on the other hand is the amount of deformation due to stress. It can also be

Figure 2: A three dimensional stress tensor. Note that a planar section of it, for example along the XY plane
is a two-dimensional tensor with shear stresses (τxy , τ( yx)) and normal stresses (σx , σy ), (Hibbeler)

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divided into shear (γ ) and normal (ϵ) strain (see gure (3)). The formulas for strain are as follows:
∆L
ϵ= (2)
L0
∆x
γ= (3)
h
where equation (2) describes the change in length ∆L relative to the length at rest L0 , while equation
(3) shows the slant of the studied section ∆x relative to its height h as shown in gure (3). Strain

Figure 3: Strains acting on a two-dimensional tensor.

for many materials can easily be calculated as, for many materials it follows Hooke's law, from which
the equations can be derived:

σ = Eϵ, (4)
τ = Gγ (5)

with E representing the modulus of elasticity (Young's modulus) and G the shear modulus of
elasticity. The reason Hooke's law, which is related to springs applies to many materials such
as metals is that the molecules in them can be thought of as bound in place, with a small amount of
freedom. This freedom may be represented as imaginary springs connecting the molecule with the
neighboring ones. One may also approach this dierently, considering that a spring is nothing but
a rod under torsion which has been wound into a spiral, so it is only natural that the same rules
would apply to an unwound rod.

3.3 Pure torsion

In the case of a rod under torque, the angle of twist θ is the angular shear strain that every element
located on the surface of the rod develops. It would be benetial to assess the twisting motion using
a small region of the surface of the rod, as it clearly shows the strain that develops in this situation,
which is called pure shear as there are no normal stresses involved and the shear stresses are equal
on all sides of the studied region. Knowing that θ is constant along the length of the rod, we can
easily see the strain arising from the torque. Ecient Engineer explains that the angle of twist is
relatively small, so according to the small angle theorem, θ ≈ BB L = L as seen in gure (5). We
′ rφ

have only derived the shear strain on the surface, but the particles inside the rod also experience

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 Figure 4: How torque deforms a rod.(Hibbeler)

Figure 5: (a) shows the deformation of a single elemnt under torsion, while (b) shows the shear stress that
develops. (Brzoska)

shear strain. Fortunately, the strain varies linearly across the radius of the bar and using ρ as the
distance of a point from the radius, we can derive the nal equation for shear strain at any point in
the bar.
ρθ
γ= (6)
L
Just as the strains do, the shear stresses of a bar under torsion scale linearly along its radius.
Looking at the crosssectional view of the rod, we mayt consider the rod as a series of discs which are
rotated the angle θ from each and that the torque each disc imparts on the previous is the torque
the whole rod is experiencing, T . As the shear stress is expressed as internal forces per unit of area,
we can conclude that the sum of all shear stresses in this theoretical disc is equal to the torque. The
mathemathical derivation of this relation would be thus:
∞ Z r
(7)
X
T = F r sin θ = (τn ρn )A = τ ρ dA
n=1 0

This equation can be rearranged as follows:

Z r
τ τρ Tρ
T = ρ2 dA = →τ = (8)
ρ 0 J J
Where J is the polar moment of inertia. Using equations (6) and (5), using Hibbeler's method, we
can derive:
τ Tρ ρθ
γ= = ,γ= (9)
G JG L
TL
→θ= (10)
GJ

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The polar moment of inertia for a solid bar is J = π2 r4 , nally leading to the equation describing
the research question.
TL
θ= π 4 (11)
2 Gr

3.4 Hypothesis

After conducting the preliminary research and from my own observations in the real world, I hypoth-
esised that the angle of deection will be directly proportional to the torque imparted on the rod.
This statement arose from the fact that Hooke's law, which is used extensively in physics predicts
the same for springs. The derived equation gives me more condence that this is what will happen.

4 Design of experiment
4.1 Variables

Independent variable

Torque applied - This torque would be created by a weight of changing mass hanged at the end of
a lever arm. This will allow for the torque to be applied in a stable way, allowing me to accurately
take measurements while the mass hanged o the end. Using a torque wrench or other device that
created the torque using either man or machine power would not create a stable torque and/or
require a complicated testing setup.

Dependent variable

Angle of deection of the rod - This would be measured by the deection of a metal measurement
arm at the end of the rod.

Controlled Variables

Length of the rod - as the angle scales linearly with the length of the rod, it must be kept the same
for the measurement. This was simply done by using the same rod for the whole experiment. The
length was measured with a tape measure of accuracy ±0.5mm
Radius of the rod - Was also ensured by using the same rod made with a high enough precision of
±0.05mm uncertainty of the diameter. This is a key element to the accuracy of the experiment, as
the angle is inversely proportional to r4 .
Temperature of the rod - The test was conducted in an enclosed, temperature controlled room with
the thermostat set to a constant temperature. This would keep the temperature range within an
acceptable level of 22 ± 1°C, acceptable for the experiment, as the shear modulus of steel varies
imperceptibly in this range, shown by Matlakhova et al. on a steel of similar properties.

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4.2 Setup

The experiment would consist of a rod xed at one end with two members - the torque arm o of
which a weight hangs and creates the torque and the reading arm, on which a dial indicator rests,
measuring its linear deection in the vertical axis. To prevent the rod from bending downwards
instead of rotating, two supports are placed on either side of the torque arm. These supports have
roller bearings on which the rod rests on which allow the rotation of the rod, whilst still carrying its
vertical load.

Figure 6: Pictures of the setup. The unseen end is held with the same type of clamp to the surface.

Diagram of experiment

Figure 7: Diagram of the experiment showing the rod xed at one end with two movable supports at either
end of the arm imparting the torque. A short reading arm is axed to the end of it.

Experimental apparatus

ˆ Metal rod with support and reading arm ˆ Sti work surface

ˆ Metal clamps
ˆ Digital scales (±1 g)
ˆ Vise grips
ˆ Dial indicator (±0.005 mm)
ˆ Weights (I used bags of sugar and our)
ˆ Tape measure (±0.5 mm)
ˆ Plastic bag

ˆ Supports with roller bearings ˆ Calipers (±0.025 mm)

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4.3 Preliminary trials

At rst the test was conducted with only one support before the torque arm. Unfortunately, this
caused a bending moment to arise, deecting the bar downwards at the end which caused the
measurement to be compromised. The bar was at rst held in place at one end by a clamp applied
to its surface. This did not x it in place, allowing for some freedom at the end, so I welded a metal
bracket to the end, giving the clamp a at surface to hold onto and resist bending. One aspect of the
experiment that I was worried about was the dial indicator, which has a springloaded tip causing the
measurement arm to bend. This turned out to not be an issue, but a similar problem arose which
was the slight bending of the whole bar at a small load due to the springloaded tip. The problem
could fortunately be adjusted for after collecting the data.

4.4 Procedure

1. Ax the rod to the work surface using the clamps and supports.
2. Measure the radius of the rod with calipers
3. Clamp the vise grips onto the rod and measure the length they are applied at.
4. Put the weights into the plastic bag and weigh it.
5. Set the dial indicator to zero deection or write down the base measurement.
6. Hang the bag at the end of the vise grips at a repeatable position and ensure that the force is
applied at a single point by "bunching up" the handles.
7. Using the tape measure, measure the distance from the center of the bar to the bag.
8. Take the measurement of the deection.
9. Change the weights.
10. Repeat steps (4), (5), (6), (8) and (9) for all the weights ve times.

All the measurements are written down in Excel to be processed later.

4.5 Safety, environmental and ethical considerations

This is a basic experiment, but some caution must be considered when conducting it. Testing if
the setup can hold the weights applied must be conducted, as a heavy enough load slipping o a
loaded bar might cause minor injuries or damage to the apparatus. If one wants to construct the
rod using welding, which is the most rigid way of adding the bracket and measurement arm to the
rod, one must be experienced with handling such equipment as it frequently leads to injury. A safer
approach to constructing such a bar would be to grind down two at, parallel surfaces which could
be held with clamps or a vise. The accuracy, however would be smaller, as the torque would partially
distribute along the inside of the held part of the rod. The environmental impact is kept minimal, as

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all of the equipment can be used again. The only environmental impact this experiment has is the
energy required to construct the rod and supports. Other, more environmentally friendly methods
other than welding could have been used, but this use is justied by the increase in rigidity of the
setup. The experiment doesn't have any ethical impact to be considered.

4.6 Data processing

Controlled variables and constants

ˆ Length of rod from xed end to the torque rodˆ Length of measurement rod - 0.1 ± 0.0005 m
(vise grips) - 0.9 ± 0, 0005 m
ˆ Temperature 22 ± 1°C
ˆ Radius of rod - 0.0100 ± 0.000025 m ˆ Shear modulus (S235 steel) - 80800000000
N/m
ˆ Length of torque rod (distance from rod center
to bag hanging point) - 0.2 ± 0.0005 m ˆ Force of dial indicator spring - 0.8 ± 0.01 N

Table of values

The data was collected into the following table, which also shows the average of the ve trials and
the uncertainty. These readings from the dial indicator were converted to the deected angle using
Table 1: Table of the angles obtained in the experiment, the theoretical values and their uncertainties.

Torque Uncertainty of Theoretical Uncertainty

Bending angle [rad ±0.005]
[Nm the trial value in theoretical
±0.0015] Trial 1 T. 2 T. 3 T. 4 T. 5 Avg.
average [rad] [rad] value [rad]

1.9860 0.0212 0.0203 0.0202 0.0205 0.0208 0.0206 0.0005 0.0225 0.0035
2.6545 0.0288 0.0293 0.0293 0.0292 0.0292 0.0291 0.00025 0.0301 0.0032
2.95445 0.0330 0.0326 0.0328 0.0321 0.0328 0.0326 0.00045 0.0335 0.0032
3.9315 0.0431 0.0428 0.0434 0.0426 0.0436 0.0431 0.00050 0.0446 0.0030
4.9400 0.0548 0.0570 0.0554 0.0561 0.0558 0.0558 0.00110 0.0560 0.0029

the small angle theorem, as the biggest deviation from this conversion to one that used trigonometry
was 3 × 10−4 rad, which was well below the uncertainty in the readings. The uncertainty in the
angle read also kept the same value due to this theorem. The theoretical angle has the uncertainty
calculated from equation (11), as shown below:
TL
mgrL
θ= π π 4 4
=
2 Gr
2 Gr (12)
∆θ ∆m ∆r ∆L ∆r
⇒ = + + +4
θ m r L r
The uncertainties in the variables used for this equation were as follows:

ˆ m - ±0.001 kg ˆ L - ±0.0005 m

ˆ r - ±0.000025 m

9
Graphing

From this, a graph of the expected values and measured values could be drawn. We can see that
while all the values reside within the uncertainties, but the values with lower weight seem to exhibit
an increasing deviation from the expected value. This error has been identied in the preliminary
testing phase and correcting the expected value by the measured force imparted by the dial indicator.
This visibly corrects the error, as can be seen in the average percentage error of the individual values
shrinking by 55% from 3.76% to 1.71%. The error of the read value shown as its error bars was
calculated as: θ −θ
max
2
min
. This, instead of calculating the variance was done due to the small amount
of samples, which would not give a reliable value of the variance. The R2 value, which is a statistical
indicator ranging from 0 to 1 of how well the values plotted on a graph follow a line of regression, with
0 meaning there is no correlation between the functions and 1 being that there is perfect correlation
between the line of regression and the values has been calculated in gure (9), where the correlation
to the linear line of trend was calculated as R2 = 0.9988. This

Figure 8: Graph of the experimental values and theoretical values. Even though all experimental values lie
within the uncertainties of the theoretical values, One may easily see the error rising the smaller the torque
applied is.

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Figure 9: Corrected graph of the average experimental values to the theoretical values, which account for the
dial indicator force.

5 Conclusion
This experiment shows a very clear linear correlation between the torque imparted on a rod and
its angle of deection. The bending happens only in the region between the twisting moments,
as if it extended to the region not subjected to torsion (the region between the vise grips and
measurement arm), the values calculated would be incorrect due to the length of the bent region
changing. Extending this relation to the real world means that engineers can easily predict the
bending of a rod, or examine the torque on a member, while mechanics can tighten bolts to a
certain torque knowing the physical properties of the wrench they are using and measuring the
deection. The linearity of this relation means that when a rod is bent and then set loose, a simple
pendulum forms, which can be used to for example make watch timing mechanisms.

6 Evaluation
The experiment was conducted in such a way that the most crucial variables (radius, deection, mass)
were measured to a very high accuracy, while ensuring minimal errors due to the physical construction

11
by using welded joints, supports with bearings to not impede the deection. An oversight of the
experimental design was the uncertainty in the length of the torque arm. This caused a great
error to arise in the theoretical value. This oversight could have easily been omitted by using the
already prepared calipers to set up the micrometer to a greater degree of accuracy than with the
tape measure. Another error that could have been reduced was the weight measurement. As I did
not have access to scales that could more accurately measure weights of up to 2, 5 kg, I used the
ones in the experiment thinking they would not impact the error as much, once again forgetting
the impact on the theoretical value. The least controlled variable was also the least important, as
deviations in temperature did not aect the shear modulus enough for the change to be perceptible.
The experiment design tried to eliminate random errors by ensuring stable readings that can be
carefully measured, with the main sources of random error being the minute stiness of the dial
indicator and/or the slight shifts in the position of the weights. There was one major systematic
error, created by the springloaded dial indicator, but this error was easily accounted for.

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