LIGHT STRUCTURE LABORATORY
LABORATORY WORKSHEET
Course Code
BFC 31901
Department Structure And Material Engineering
Tiltle Moment Influence lines
Faculty : Faculty of Civil and Environmental
Page 1
Engineering
Department : Structure And Material Engineering Edition
Checking No
Effective Date
Title : Moment Influence Lines
Amendment Date
1.0 OBJECTIVE
1.0 Part 1: To plot moment influence line.
2.0 Part 2 : To apply the use of moment influence on a simply support beam.
2.0 LEARNING OUTCOME
1.0 Application the engineering knowledge in practical application.
2.0 To enhance technical competency in structural civil engineering through laboratory
application.
3.0 Communicate effectively in group.
4.0 To identify problem, solving finding out appropriate solution through laboratory
application.
3.0 INTRODUCTION
1. Moving loads on beams are common features of design. Many road bridges are
constructed from beam and as such have to be designed to carry a knife edge load or a
string of wheel loads, or a uniformly distributed load, or perhaps the worst
combination of all three. To find the critical moment at a section, influence lines is
used.
4.0 THEORY
Definition : Influence line is defined as a line representing the changes in either moment,
shear force, reaction or displacement at a section of a beam when a unit load moves on
the beam.
Part1: This experiment examines how moment varies at a cut section as a unit load
moves from one end to another ( see diagram 1). From the diagram, moment influence
line equation can be written.
For 0 x a shear line is given by :
Sy = -x/ L(1)
xb
For a shear line is given by :
Sy = 1-x/ L(2)
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Title : : : Moment Influence Lines
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For a unit load between0 x a ,
MX= (L-x)a
1(a-x).(1)
L
For unit load between a x b ,
1 ( Unit Load ) x Cut MX MX = xb/L-
x (x-a).
(2
(1- X/L)
RA = RB=(X/L)
MX
a b
L
K
Figure 1
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5.0 Part 2 : If the beam are loaded as shown below, the shear force at the cut can be
calculated using the influence line. (See diagram 2).
Moment at cut section = F 1Y1 + F2Y2 + F3Y3 (3)
(Y1, Y2 and Y3 are ordinates derived from the influence line in term of X1, X2, X3, a,b and
L)
6.0 APPARATUS
Sketch the apparatus used in this experiment and named the essential components
1. Digital Force Meter
2. Load hanger
Faculty : Faculty of Civil and Environmental
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Engineering
Department : Structure And Material Engineering Edition
Checking No
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Title : Moment Influence Lines
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7.0 PROCUDERS
Part 1
1. The Digital Force Meter was check by Zero with no load.
2. Then , place hanger with any mass between 150g to 300g at the first grooved
hanger support at the left support and record the Digital Force reading in Table
1.
3. Repeat the procedure to the next grooved hanger until to the last grooved hanger
at the right hand support.
4. Lastly complete the calculation in Table 1.
Part 2
1. Firstly, place three load hangers with any load 50g to 400g on it and place it at
any position between the supports. Record the positions and the Digital Force
Display reading in Table 2.
2. Then repeat the procedure with three other locations.
3. Lastly complete the calculation in Table 2.
8.0 RESULT
Part 1
Location of Load Digital Force Moment Experimental Theory
From left hand Display Force at cut Influence line Influence line
support(m) Reading( N) section (N) value (Nm) value (Nm)
0.04 0.2 0.025 0.013 0.013
0.06 0.3 0.038 0.019 0.019
0.08 0.4 0.050 0.025 0.025
0.10 0.5 0.063 0.032 0.032
0.12 0.6 0.075 0.038 0.038
0.14 0.7 0.088 0.045 0.045
0.16 0.8 0.100 0.051 0.051
0.18 0.9 0.113 0.058 0.057
0.20 1.0 0.125 0.064 0.064
0.22 1.1 0.138 0.070 0.070
0.24 1.2 0.150 0.076 0.076
0.26 1.3 0.163 0.083 0.082
0.30 1.5 0.188 0.10 0.096
0.32 1.2 0.150 0.076 0.082
0.34 1.1 0.138 0.070 0.068
0.36 0.8 0.100 0.051 0.055
0.38 0.6 0.075 0.039 0.041
0.40 0.4 0.050 0.025 0.027
CALCULATION
Part 1
EXAMPLE CALCULATION
PART 1
Moment at cut section= 0.2 x 0.125
= 0.025 N
Experimental Influence line values = Moment (Nm)
Load (N)
= 0.005
1.962
= 0.013 m
Theoretical Influence lines value;
Equation 1 for load position 40 to 260 mm
Mx = (0.44 0.04) (0.3) 1(0.3 0.04)
0.44
= 0.013 Nm
Equation 2 for load position 320mm to 400mm
When x = 0.32 m
Mx = (0.32) (0.14) (0.32 0.3)
0.44
= 0.082 Nm
Part 2
F1 = 100g
= 100 x 9.81
1000
= 0.981N
F2 = 200g
= 200 x 9.81
1000
= 1.962N
F3 = 300g
= 300 x 9.81
1000
= 2.943N
0.981 1.962 N 2.943 N
x1
x2
x3
y1 y2 y3
Moment influence line for cut section
*For location 1,
Experimental moment at cut section (Nm) = Digital force reading x 0.125
= 1.0 x 0.125
= 0.125 Nm
Moment at cut:
Mx = 0
Mx = 1(0.3)- x (0.3) 1 (0.3-x)
0.44
= 0.3 - 0.3x 0.3 + x
0.44
Mx = 0.318x
When x = 0.3
Mx = 0.318x
= 0.318 (0.3)
= 0.095 Nm
Use interpolation to get y1,y2 and y3
y1, 0.095 = y1
0.3 0.04
0.3y = 0.0038
y1 = 0.013 m
y2, 0.095 = y2
1.3 0.06
y2 = 0.019 m
y3, 0.095 = y3
1.3 0.08
y3 = 0.025 m
Theoritical moment at cut section (Nm)
= F1y1 + F2y2 + F3y3
= 0.981 (0.013) + 1.962 (0.019) + 2.943 (0.025)
= 0.124 Nm
*For location 2,
Experimental moment (Nm) = 0.238 Nm
When y1 = 0.032 m , y2 = 0.038 m , y3 = 0.044 m
Theoritical moment (Nm) = 0.235 Nm
*For location 3,
Experimental moment (Nm) = 0.350 Nm
When y1 = 0.051 m , y2 = 0.057 m , y3 = 0.063 m
Theoritical moment (Nm) = 0.350 Nm
*For location 4,
Experimental moment (Nm) = 0.450 Nm
When y1 = 0.063 m , y2 = 0.076 m , y3 = 0.082 m
Theoritical moment (Nm) = 0.452 Nm
*For location 5 ,
Experimental moment (Nm) = 0.463 Nm
When y1 = 0.095 m , y2 = 0.101 m , y3 = 0.108 m
Theoritical moment (Nm) = 0.609 Nm
Faculty : Faculty of Civil and Environmental Page 3
Engineering
Department : Structure And Material Engineering Edition
Checking No
Title : : Moment Influence Lines Effective Date
Amendment Date
Notes:
1. Moment at cut section = Digital force x 0.125
2. Experimental Influence line values = Moment(N)
Load (N)
3. Calculate the theoretical value using the equation 1 for load position 40 to 260mm and
equation 2 for load position 320mm to 380mm
Part 2:
Position of hanger from Digital Experiment Theoretical
Location
left hand support(m) Reading Moment Moment
N Nm Nm
100g 200g 300g
1 0.04 0.06 0.08 1.0 0.125 0.124
2 0.10 0.12 0.14 1.9 0.238 0.235
3 0.16 0.18 0.20 2.8 0.350 0.350
4 0.22 0.24 0.26 3.6 0.450 0.452
5 0.30 0.32 0.34 3.7 0.463 0.609
Notes:
1. Experiment Moment = Digital Force Reading x0.125
2. Theoretical Moment is calculated Using Equation (3)
9.0 DISCUSSIONS
1. Derive equation 1 and 2
Fx = 0
Fy
= R A + RB 1
=0
RA + R B = 1
RA( L ) 1( L x ) = 0
RAL = 1(L- x)
RA = 1( L x )
L
=1- x
L
RB = 1 (1 x) = x
L L
Equation 1 ; 0 x a
-Mx + RA(a) 1(a - x) = 0
Mx = (1 x/L)a 1(a - x)
= (L x)a 1(a - x)
L
Equation 2 ; a x b
Mx RB(b) + 1(x - a) = 0
Mx = RB (b) 1(x - a)
= x/L (b) 1(x -a)
= xb/L 1(x -a)
2. On the same graph paper, plot the theoretical and experimental values against distance from left
hand support.Comment on the shape of the graph. What does it tell about how moment varies at
the cut section as a load moved on the beam.
Graph of experimental vs theoritical vs distance
0.25
0.2
0.15
Experimental
Moment 0.1 Theoritical
0.05
Distance
From the graph, a peak shaped graph can be obtained. The peak is the weakest point of the
beam where there is a hinge in the beam. As load is being moved on the beam, the influence
line which was constructed can be used to obtain the value of the moment. As load is moved
across near to it, the moment will increase. So does the other way round when load is moving
further than the hinge, the value of moment will decrease as the load is moving towards the
support at the end. As the load is moving along towards the hinge from both side of support, it
will come to a peak where the value of moment is the same.
3. Comment on the experimental result and compared to the theoretical result.
The experimental results that we obtained are quite accurate and compare to the theoretical
results, the experimental results are only slightly different with theoretical results. When we
were conducted the experiment, we tried to minimize the error by ensuring the Digital Force
Meter reads zero with no load before we place the hangers.
4. Comment the experimental result and theoretical result in table 2. Comment on why the results
differ.
Graph of experimental vs theoritical ( Part 2 )
1.2
0.8
Theoritical
0.6 Experimental
Moment
0.4
0.2
0
Location 1 Location 2 Location 3 Location 4 Location 5
From the graph, we can conclude theoretical and experimental line is increase gradually from the
data location 1 to the data location 5 eventhough we obtained different sharp of the graph. The
highest data is data on the location 5. Experimental value is 0.463 Nm and theoretical value is 0.609
Nm.The experimental results of the location 5 are slightly different from theoretical results are due to
human error and instrument sensitivity as the reading of the instrument keep changing when we
conducted the experiment.
5. Conclusions:
What can you prove from the experiment?
As a conclusion, both objectives were achieved. Moment influence line could be plot and the
influence line can be use to determine the moment.Besides that, by using theoretical and
experimental method we can obtained same result . We were able to
identify the reaction and behaviour of a beam in terms of its moment reaction value. This
method is useful to check every cross section for a particular beam.
