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ELASTIC DEFLECTION OF BEAMS
It has always been assumed that the practical elastic deflection of beams is similar to the
theoretical deflections of the above said beams. This experiment was carried out to compare and
contrast the experimental deflections to the theoretical deflection results that were obtained from
plastically deforming metal samples and fracturing two sets of ceramic tiles. The experiment was
carried out individually, using two different Instron machines. One machine was used for tension
testing while the other was used for compression testing. The compression testing is done by
applying the compressive load on the beam under test whereas the tension testing is done by
applying the tensile load on the test beam. The elastic test involved use of one Steel and one
Aluminium. The plastic test involved use of only two samples of which both beams were made
of Steel. The ceramic test involved use of 10 ceramic beams 5 of which were glazed up and the
other five ceramic beams glazed down.
Theory
Probability analysis for failure of brittle material
Before the failure of any brittle beam there is an elastic region which is immediately followed by
a rapid fracture and complete failure of the beam. This is clear in the plot of load vs deformation.
The fracture stress of the beam is determined by the strain at the beam surface which is applied
by the Instron machine. A sharp cusp is observed in the graph plot just before the complete beam

fracture. However for brittle materials it has been observed that the yield strength of each
individual piece of beam is dependent upon the presence of small cracks and flaws in the
material under study. The flaws have been seen to concentrate the stress build up during the
mechanical tests and around this flaw areas tension build up is seen to be higher than the other
areas of the beam. This results to failure of the materials. This means that a brittle beam with less
flaws will take up more stress and pressure than a brittle beam with more flaws and large cracks.
This is why Weibull Analysis is carried out to determine and predict the chances of failure of a
particular material beam at specified stress.
Aim of experiment
The aim of the experiment was to measure the elastic deflections of beams and compare the
experimental deflections to the theoretical values by using plastic deformation of metal samples
and fracturing of ceramic tiles.
Experimental Equipment
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.

1 Instron tension testing machine

1 Instron compression testing machine
1 Aluminium beam
3 Steel beams
10 Ceramic tiles

Experimental Procedure
1. Choose a material from the set of bars, Identify the material and look up the mechanical
properties of the material. Calculate the maximum load not to be exceeded in order not to
deform the beam plastically. Measure all dimensions of the beam then mount the beam on
the experimental set-up. Measure the distance between the centers on the rollers on the
support posts. Open the Bluehill software and make sure its set for flexure testing. Make

all the necessary settings and then click on the Test button and click on Next. When
the window displays that the test is ready stop and do the following:
2. Check that the crosshead will move when the test starts. One can access the console
settings to set the system to drive the crosshead down for your test. When complete check
out the crosshead motion again and click on the Done icon.
3. After activating the Test the load cell must be zeroed, this is done by done thrice by
clicking the
4. Balance load button. This is the first zero
5. Move the crosshead until the load cell and the bar just touch, continue moving the
crosshead until the crosshead is solidly compressing the sample and the load cell arm
cannot be moved by moving it manually. The load should read the load cell weight at
about 80 -100 Newtons. Click Balance load button. This is the second zero.
6. Continue moving the crosshead slowly until the load reads about 10 20N.Click
Balance the load button again and this is the third zero.
7. Click on Reset Gauge Length to zero the Extension sensor.
Click on Start button and wait for the test to run. The test will stop when the Max load defined
is reached. Click OK then Finish button this will automatically save your results to the
specified destination in form of an EXCEL file. Click on the Finish Sample button to save your
results. Repeat the procedure using all the samples provided.

Experimental data
In the elastic test for Steel and Aluminium The plot of flexure extension against flexure load in
both the Steel and Aluminium samples is an exponential graph that slopes from right to left. A
plot of Load against extension is similar to the plot of flexure load against the flexure extension.

A plot of Strain vs stress shows direct proportionality with stress increasing as more strain is
applied.
In the Plastic test the stress of the two steel samples is directly proportional to the strain applied
by the apparatus. The plot of Load against extension however gives slightly different results
since the steel extends until it reaches its elastic limit and the extension becomes constant at
despite addition of extra load.
In the Ceramic test both with the glaze up and the glaze down a plot of stress against F showed a
direct correlation of increase in the stress that lead to failure and breaking of the ceramic tiles
hence explaining the direct proportionality.
Discussion
From the above experiment it is observed that the stress applied to the material beams under test
is directly proportional to their bending or breaking, this is however dependent on the fact that
the material is brittle or not.
Conclusion
It is observed that the above experiment correlates with the theoretical figures and the expected
behavior of different materials when subjected to stress under different conditions. It is also
observed that the ceramic tiles break independently of whether they are placed in the apparatus
glazed up or down.

Works Cited
UNIVERSITY, WRIGHT STATE. ME4620: BEAM BENDING EXPERIMENTS. n.d.