AM2540

APPLIED MECHANICS LAB

SPRING STIFFNESS TEST

Group 28
-me16b112, me16b113, me16b114

OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this experiment is to find the spring constants for
some sample springs and to compare the estimated spring constant with
those obtained from theoretical calculations.

APPARATUS:
A spiral spring, a set of weights, a weight hanger, a balance and a lab
scale.

THEORY:

When under load, the restoring force applied by the spring is

proportional to the deflection from the mean position caused due to
the load, x, when the deflection is under the elastic limit. This
proportional relationship of deflection with the force applied is known
as the Hookes law.

F = -kx
Where k is the proportionality constant known as stiffness constant
of the spring (or linear spring stiffness). The figure below shows an
illustration of the same.

The spring stiffness constant depends on

1 radius of the spring (geometry).
2 radius of the wire used.
3 number of turns.
4 material property.

Specifically as in the relation below.

PROCEDURE:

 1. Initial reading of the vernier scale is taken with zero load i.e. the
mean position of the spring.
2. The load is kept on increasing in sets of 0.5 kgs till 2.5 kgs and
the deflection after each set is taken in loading. In similar
manner, deflection from the mean position is taken while
unloading the spring in sets of 0.5 kgs.
3. The average value of deflection as observed while loading and
unloading is plotted against the load (with g=9.81m/s^2) and the
slope is the stiffness constant for the springs.
4. Repeat the above steps for every spring.

TABLES AND CALCULATIONS

Table 1: Cylindrical extension spring

Table 2: Cylindrical compressive spring.

Table 3: Conical extension spring.

Table 4: Readings of the springs and the theoretical calculation for

stiffness constant for both the cylindrical springs.


GRAPHS:

RESULT:

The observed stiffness constant for the springs are

Cylindrical extending spring:
Cylindrical compressive spring:
Conical extending spring:

OBSERVATIONS:

Almost a linear graph is observed for the cylindrical springs where as

for the conical one, almost a parabolic graph is observed. Also, the
dependency of number of turns, the geometrical parameters of the
spring and material of the spring is seen too in the experiment.

CONCLUSION:
The observation further deducts that the spring constant is
independent of the deflection caused due to the load in case of the
cylindrical springs (Hookes law followed) and the conical spring doesnt
obeys the Hookes law (i.e stiffness constant depends upon the
deflection and the load applied).

MEASUREMENT OF A BENDING
STRESS USING A STRAIN GAUGE

AIM:
To measure the tensile bending stress at the root of a
cantilever beam subjected to tip transverse loading using a strain
gauge. The experimental setup is as follows:

Apparatus :
Strain Gauge , A Strain Gauge Indicator , Aluminium bar , a
micrometer screw for loading , a bar holder.
THEORY:
A strain gauge consists of a metallic foil pattern
whose resistance changes with even a small change in length. This
change in resistance is proportional to the change in length, which is
detected by the strain gauge indicator. The relation between strain
and the normal stress is given by Hookes law as

Where
XX is the normal stress.
E is the Youngs modulus of elasticity
XX is the strain due to the normal strain

Theoretical value of the tensile bending stress is calculated from
Flexure Formula which is

Where,
Mb is bending moment developed at the location of the strain
gauge
IZZ is moment of area of the beam cross section
XX is normal bending stress
y is distance of the plane from central axis
E is Youngs modulus of elasticity
is the radius of curvature of the beam under
bending
The deflection and the applied transverse load are related as
Where
is the applied deflection on the screw gauge
L0 is the length of the cantilever beam
P is the transverse load

And the bending moment at the gauge location is given by

Where
L1 s the distance of the gauge from the free end

OBSERVATIONS:
From experiment, we have
L0 = 25.5 cm y = 0.25 cm
L1 = 23.8 cm b = 2.5 cm
h = 0.5 cm
Moment of inertia: IZZ= bh3/12
IZZ = bh3/12 = 260.41 (mm) = 2.6041
10-10m4 .
S.noflectionisplay Strain Strain Stress Stress %
(mm) perimental eoreticalxperimentaheoretical ference
) ) l) (Pa) ) (Pa)

1 0.5 55 55 10 -6
53.8795 10 6
712 1062.23599

2 1.0 109109 10 -6
107.65.521 10 6
.428 106 1.25

3 1.5 169169 10 -6
161.45 1.661 10.1401064.67684

4 2.0 222222 10 -6
215.26 5.318 106 .853 106 3.13

5 2.5 287287 10 -6
269.11 9.458106 18.569 4.78
106

6 3.0 343343 10 -6
322.91 3.667 106 .281 106 6.2


7 3.5 412412 10 -6
376.76 .945 106 25.997 7.4
106

8 4.0 467467 10 -6
430.57 2.223 106 .710 106 8.45

9 4.5 531531 10 -6
484.52 .639 106.425106 9.6

10 5.0 597597 10 -6
538.23 41.1931067.138106 10.91

Values of P and Mb for different deflections:

s.no Deflection (mm) P (transverse Mb (Nm)

Load) (N)

1 0.5 1.625 -0.386750

2 1.0 3.251 -0.773738

3 1.5 4.876 -1.160488

4 2.0 6.501 -1.547238

5 2.5 8.127 -1.934226

6 3.0 9.752 -2.320976

 7 3.5 11.378 -2.707964

8 4.0 13.003 -3.094714

9 4.5 14.629 -3.481702

10 5.0 16.254 -3.868452

INFERENCE:
1.As we are applying transverse load on the cantilever beam it leads to
a bending moment throughout surface which results in bending stress.
2. By using the above stress strain relation we can calculate stress at
the point,so we are using a strain gauge to measure strain from which
we calculate stress.
3.Theoretically , stress can be calculated from the flexure relation
and we observe that the experimental and theoretical stresses are
nearly in close agreement.