Mechanics of Materials-II Lab (MEN 2260) Term: Spring 2019

Open Ended Problem

Submitted to:
Sir Umar Hayat

Submitted by:
Tanzeel Sharif (L1F17BSME0068)
Zuhaib Ahmed (L1F17BSME0069)
Salman Shahid (L1F17BSME0083)
Ghous Anjum (L1F17BSME0075)
Contents
Open Ended Statement........................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Strain Gages .................................................................................................................................... 3
configuration of strain gauges ........................................................................................................ 3
The three types of strain gage configurations, quarter-, half-, and full-bridge, are determined by
the number of active elements in the Wheatstone bridge, the orientation of the strain gages, and
the type of strain being measured...................................................................................................... 3
Working principle ............................................................................................................................ 3
Applications..................................................................................................................................... 4
They measure axial tension or compression with no impact on the rails themselves. When
subsidence occurs, the strain gauges can generate a warning so maintenance can be done early to
minimize impact on rail traffic. ........................................................................................................... 4
What is a Crank of a Screw Jack? .................................................................................................... 4
Experimental procedure ......................................................................................................................... 5
Material Properties ......................................................................................................................... 5
Sample specifications and drawings ............................................................................................... 6
Sample preparation ........................................................................................................................ 6
Loading Conditions.......................................................................................................................... 8
Essential Formulae Used ................................................................................................................. 9
Calculations ............................................................................................................................................. 9
Results and discussions ........................................................................................................................... 9
Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 10
References ............................................................................................................................................ 11
Rubrics...................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Open Ended Statement
Use strain gauges to determine strains and applied stresses on any loaded structural member.

Introduction
Strain Gages
A strain-sensitive material is one whose electrical resistance is proportional to
the instantaneous strain over its surface. Such materials are of two types:
metallic or semiconductor. When such a material is stretched, its length
increases and its cross-section decreases; consequently, there is an increase in
its electrical resistance. This change in resistance is a measure of its mechanical
motion. Thus, a strain gage is a device which uses change in electrical resistance
to measure strain. It is basically a piece of very thin foil or fine wire which
exhibits a change in resistance proportional to the mechanical strain imposed on
it.

Configuration of strain gauges

The three types of strain gage configurations, quarter-, half-, and full-bridge, are
determined by the number of active elements in the Wheatstone bridge, the
orientation of the strain gages, and the type of strain being measured.
Working principle
In order to measure strain with a bonded resistance strain gauge, it must be
connected to an electric circuit that is capable of measuring the minute changes
in resistance corresponding to strain. Strain gauge transducers usually employ
four strain gauge elements that are electrically connected to form a Wheatstone
bridge circuit. A Wheatstone bridge is a divided bridge circuit used for the
measurement of static or dynamic electrical resistance. The output voltage of
the Wheatstone bridge is expressed in millivolts output per volt input. The
 Wheatstone circuit is also well suited for temperature compensation. The
number of active strain gauges that should be connected to the bridge depends
on the application. For example, it may be useful to connect gauges that are on
opposite sides of a beam, one in compression and the other in tension. In this
arrangement, one can effectively double the bridge output for the same strain.
In installations where all of the arms are connected to strain gauges, temperature
compensation is automatic as resistance change (due to temperature variations)
will be the same for all arms of the bridge.

Applications
There wide applications of strain gauges, stress analysis in the industries are
being done by strain gauges
Strain Gauges in Aerospace Applications
The use of strain gauge technology in aerospace applications has a long history.
Strain gauges are bonded directly to structural load bearing components to
measure stresses along load paths for wing deflection.
Monitoring Bridge Cables with Strain Gauges
Most bridges must be assessed in the field for structural damage, and this may
involve visual inspection, dye penetrant testing, and other techniques. Smart
bridge technology, which includes the use of strain gauges, allows efficient and
effective real-time monitoring making inspections more thorough.
Rail Monitoring wwith Strain Gauges
They measure axial tension or compression with no impact on the rails
themselves. When subsidence occurs, the strain gauges can generate a warning
so maintenance can be done early to minimize impact on rail traffic.

What is a Crank of a Screw Jack?

It is a type of crank that changes motion through an angle. A bell crank lever is
an angled Class 1 lever. A typical 90ᵒ bell consists of an "L" shaped crank pivoted
where the two arms of the L meet. When one is pulled, the L rotates around the
 pivot point, pulling on the other arm. A typical 180ᵒ bell crank consists of a
straight bar pivoted in the centre When one arm is pulled or pushed, the bar
rotates around the pivot point, pulling or pushing on the other arm crank consists
of an "L" shaped crank pivoted where the two arms of the L meet. The bell crank
lever is used when the effort force must be at an angle, usually a right angle, to
the load.

Steel is made up of carbon and iron, with much more iron than carbon. In fact,
at the most, steel can have about 2.1 percent carbon. Mild steel is one of the
most commonly used construction materials. It is very strong and can be made
from readily available natural materials. It is known as mild steel because of its
relatively low carbon content.

Experimental procedure
Material Properties
Chemistry
Mild steel usually contains 40 points of carbon at most. One carbon point is .01
percent of carbon in the steel. This means that it has at most .4 percent carbon.
Most steels have other alloying elements other than carbon to give them certain
desirable mechanical properties. 1018 steel, a common type of mild steel,
contains approximately .6 percent to .9 percent manganese, up to .04 percent
phosphorus, and up to .05 percent sulphur. Varying these chemicals affects
properties such as corrosion resistance and strength.

Physical Properties: Strength

Mild steel is very strong due to the low amount of carbon it contains. In
materials science, strength is a complicated term. Mild steel has a high
resistance to breakage. Mild steel, as opposed to higher carbon steels, is quite
malleable, even when cold. This means it has high tensile and impact strength.
 Higher carbon steels usually shatter or crack under stress, while mild steel bends
or deforms.

Quantitative Physical Properties

Mild steel has a density of .248 pounds per cubic inch. It melts at 2,570 degrees
Fahrenheit. It has a specific heat of around .122 British Thermal Units (BTU)
per pound, per cubic inch.

Usability
Mild steel is especially desirable for construction due to its weldability and
machinability. Because of its high strength and malleability, it is quite soft. This
means that it can be easily machined compared to harder steels. It is also easy
to weld, both to itself and to other types of steel. It takes on a nice finish and is
polishable. However, it cannot be hardened through heat treatment processes,
as higher carbon steels can. This is not entirely a bad thing, because harder steels
are not as strong, making them a poor choice for construction projects.

Sample specifications and drawings

Sample preparation
Strain Gauges work better on the smooth, cleaned and finished surfaces for
better accuracy in the readings so the sample preparation is followed by these
steps.

Sanding
Use the 220-grit sandpaper and begin to smooth the edges of the metal using
light strokes. As the rough edges are removed, switch to finer-grit sandpaper.
Use a polishing pad once the metal is smooth to remove any metal dust and
bring out the shine of the metal.
Chemical Finishing
Acetone is a chemical liquid which is used to smoothen, cleaning, finishing the
surface of the metal. While preparing the surface of the crank we applied the
appropriate amount of acetone liquid with piece of cotton 3 successive times
gently.

Strain gauge installation procedure

Mark shaft surface for strain gauge orientation and alignment. The strain gauge
should be installed flat and square to the axis of the shaft. For a straight
reference line square to the axis, wrap a piece of paper around the shaft, align
the edges and then mark or etch the straight reference line onto the shaft.
Prepare strain gauge for mounting
Apply cellophane tape to top side of gage. Use the tape as a “handle.”
Position strain gauge before gluing
Lift one end of tape and “hinge” back to expose bottom of gage.
Glue strain gauge to surface
With the tape still hinged back, apply bead of elfy glue where the tape meets the
shaft surface.
Attach lead wires and protect strain gauge
Discard Teflon film and carefully peel back cellophane tape from the strain
gage.
Tin with solder the solder pads of the strain gage plus the lead wires. Attach
lead wires to solder pads.
Clean solder joints
For electrical shielding – Cover the strain gage and lead wires with tape or
equivalent.
Loading Conditions
In this stress-strain analysis we used a crank of a screw jack under the certain
loading conditions
We applied a torque on one end of the crank lever which causes torsion and
bending moment. Due to these loading conditions the bar undergoes a normal
strain and shear strains on the defined location of the crank. We were required
to measure these strains practically and theoretically. Schematic drawing of the
crank under loading conditions is shown below.
Schematic setup
 Essential Formulae Used
Theoretical formulae
1)Bending Stress = σ = ( 𝑀𝑐)/𝐼
2)Shear Stress = τ = 𝑇𝑐/𝐽
3)Moment = M = 𝐹 ∗ 𝐿
4)Torsion = T = 𝐹 ∗ 𝐿
𝜋
5)Second Moment of Area = 𝐼 = (𝑑)4
64
𝜋
6) Second Moment of Area w.r.t arbitrary axis = 𝐽 = (𝑑)4
32
σ
7) Normal Strain = ε = 𝐸
τ
8) Shear Strain = γ = 𝐺

Practical Formula for Strain

𝑉𝑜
4∗
𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑟
ε=
𝐺𝑎𝑢𝑔𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 ∗ 𝑉𝑖 ∗ 𝑁

Calculations

Results and discussions

After successfully conducting the performance of the experiment, we calculated shear strain
and normal strain in the given loading condition and desired structure. It can be observed from
the graphs generated from the experimental and theoretical data that strain is directly
proportional to applied force i.e. the strain increases as the force applied increases, but due to
errors occurring in the apparatus and in the installation of strain gauges the experimental data
could not be matched with theoretical.

Force vs Normal Strain

0.0008
0.0007
0.0006
0.0005
Force(N)

0.0004
0.0003
0.0002
0.0001
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Srain

Theoretical Actual
 Force vs
Shear strain
Theoretial Actual

0.0002

0.00015
FORCE(N)

0.0001

0.00005

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
SHEAR STRAIN

Conclusions
We determined effects of shear stress and bending moment on crank lever of the screw jack by
applying load on one side of it while the other end was tightly clamped.

In conclusion, from the outcome of the data, the experiment was unsettled.

Because the results from the test were inconsistent, we concluded that while applying certain loads
on one side of the crank, the normal strain and shear strain due to torsion increased accordingly.
Eventually it can be said that strains produced in the crank are directly proportional to the applied
stresses. Results can be furthermore improved if we use more no. of strain gauges. This can actually
improve the accuracy of the results.

There are certain errors in the readings which were produced due to improper installation of the
strain gauges.

Further errors experienced were due to the wrong selection of the glue being used in the
experiment.

While installing the strain gauges we should be very careful so that they should be installed properly
to measure the strains produced.

To improve the accuracy of the results we should properly clean and smoothen out the surface of
the crank before installing the strain gauges.
References