FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

In the name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful

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#0
4

Torsion Analysis
Prepared by:
Mohamad Mazwan Mahat
Edited by:
Nasrul Azuan bin Alang
Fakulti Kejuruteraan Mekanikal,
Universiti Malaysia Pahang
Lab Location
Strength of Materials Lab
Lab Objectives
By the end of this lab, students should be able to:
Determine the torsion breaking strength of solid bar for
different type of materials.
Identify the range and the transition from elastic to plastic
deformation, the deformation in the elastic range by illustrating
in a separate chart.

20

Date: ____________________
Group Members

BMM2521 Engineering Mechanics Lab II_1011/2_Torsion_Test

Student
ID

Section

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3
5

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1.0

Introduction

Torsional Strength is a measure of the ability of a material to withstand a

twisting load. It is the Ultimate Strength of a material subjected to torsional
loading, and is the maximum torsional stress that a material sustains before
rupture. Alternate terms are modulus of rupture and shear strength.
Because many engineering structures, such as beams, shafts, and airplane
wings, are subjected to torsional forces, the torsional problem has been of
practical importance in structural analysis for a long time. Saint-Venant
(1885) was the first to provide the correct solution to the problem of torsion
of bars subjected to moment couples at the ends. He made certain
assumptions about the deformation of the twisted bar, and then showed that
his solutions satisfied the equations of equilibriums and the boundary
conditions. From the uniqueness of solutions of the elasticity equations, it
follows that the assumed forms for the displacements are the exact
solutions to the torsional problem.
First, consider the torsion of a shaft with a circular cross section. Assume
that the shaft is fixed at the origin of the Cartesian coordinate system. The x
coordinate is along the shaft axis. Also note that units in this section are
assumed to be consistent. The visualization of the bar under torsional load
is shown below;-

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Figure 1: Circular bar under Torsional Load

2.0

Experiment Procedure

Figure 2: Specimen for the Torsion Test

Figure 3: Equipment Setup (Top view)

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*Note: Please refer to this illustration for easy understanding

The experiment procedure is divided into 2(two) section. For the first
section you need to set up the connection and load the specimen correctly.
Secondly, perform the experiment by applying load to the circular bar.
Section 1(Specimen preparation)
*You may refer to the previous page for numbering illustration
1. Make sure that no load is applied to the torque measurement unit. Press
and hold the button on the display and then press the P button. The
display returns to zero.
2. Insert sockets (1) into square connections.
3. Release clamping lever (2) on torque measurement unit (3) and push it
backwards.
4. Place specimen (4) in the sockets and slide the torque measurement unit
forwards again. Make sure that the moving driver (5) is located in the
centre of its range of movement.
5. Secure torque measurement unit with clamping lever. Carefully pretension the specimen until there is no more slack and the torque display
begins to move.
6. Set the torque display to zero using the tare function.
7. Set the pointers on the two angle scales (6) to zero.
8. Set the dial gauge (10) on the compensation device to zero by rotating
the scale ring.
9. Reset the revolution counter (7).

Section 2(Apply Load)

1. Turn the hand wheel (8) clockwise. The hand wheel should always be
turned by a defined angle for each load step.
2. The following angles are recommended as the adjustment for each load
step.
3. First hand wheel turn: 90 corresponds to 1.4 on the specimen
4. Second and third turn: 180 corresponds to 2.8 on the specimen
5. Fourth turn onwards: 360 corresponds to 5.7 on the specimen
6. To convert the input angle on the hand wheel into the angle on the
specimen, divide the input angle by 63.

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7. After each load step, the deformation of the torque measuring shaft
should be compensated. To do this, adjust the dolly on the handwheel
(11) until the dial gauge (10) shows a value of zero again.
8. After each load step, the torsion moment is read on the display and noted
along with the torsional load displayed.
9. With long, thin specimens, several hundred turns can be made before
breakage. In this case, simply read off the value on the revolution
counter.

3.0

Results
Table 1: Results for Mild Steel
Input angle,
Turn wheel
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
45.0
60.0
120.0

Torsion angle in
degree
0
1.4
2.8
4.3

BMM2521 Engineering Mechanics Lab II_1011/2_Torsion_Test

Torsion Moment
in Nm

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150.0
170.0
210.0

1200

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3
Table 2: Results for Brass
Input angle,
Turn wheel
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
15.0

Torsion angle in
degree
0
1.4
2.9
4.3

BMM2521 Engineering Mechanics Lab II_1011/2_Torsion_Test

Torsion Moment
in Nm

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20.0
25.0
30.0
45.0
60.0
120.0
150.0
170.0
210.0

1200

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3
Table 3: Results for Aluminium
Input angle,
Turn wheel
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
15.0

Torsion angle in
degree
0
1.4
2.9
4.3

BMM2521 Engineering Mechanics Lab II_1011/2_Torsion_Test

Torsion Moment
in Nm

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20.0
25.0
30.0
45.0
60.0
120.0
150.0
170.0
210.0

1200

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Calculation:-

The maximum torsion moment gives the following torsion breaking

strength: (Compute all 3 materials)

tb

M tb 16.M tb 16...........Nm
2

_______
N
/
m
Wp
.d 3
.63

(Insert the Mtb fracture value)

3
5.0

Discussions

1.

Define the term torsional moment.

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2
2.

Describe the plotted graph result and compare the materials breaking
strength. Comment on elastic and plastic region as well as the rupture
point.
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3.

Why do engineers need to have knowledge about failures due to

torsional load in designing mechanical parts? State any examples to
support your reasons.
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2
4.

Assume that same material has constant value of torsion breaking

strength. If the solid circular bar now is changed to hollow circular

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bar, what would be the value of torsion maximum torsion moments?

Why?
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2
5.

Give 3 methods on how to minimize and avoid torsion.

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6.0

Conclusion
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2
References

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BMM2521 Engineering Mechanics Lab II_1011/2_Torsion_Test