BEAM AND LEAF SPRING

The Beam and Leaf Spring parts (SM1000g) fit into the compressive test area of TecQuipment’s Universal Testing Machine (SM1000).

The heavy-duty box-section support beam works as the main support underneath the test beams and the leaf spring during the tests.

The spring is of the same heavy-duty design as those used in vehicle suspensions. This give students a better understanding of a ‘real world’ engineering component. For beam tests, the test beam rests across two knife-edge supports fixed to the support beam. This forms a ‘simply supported beam’. The testing machine applies a compressive bending force and measures the beam deflection. Students may adjust the position of the knife-edge supports to set the length of beam under test.

For leaf spring tests, the spring rests on its rollers on two flat supports fixed to the support beam. Again, the testing machine applies a compressive force and measures the leaf spring deflection.

For the beams, students use the deflection and force values to find the relationship between force and deflection for the different beams. They can then compare the results with those predicted by theory.

For the leaf spring, students use the deflection and force values to find actual leaf ‘spring rate’.

TecQuipment includes the spanner and hexagon tools needed to fix the parts to the testing machine.