Bending Stress in a Beam (Next Generation Structures)

One of a range of experiment modules that fit to the Structures platform (STS1, available separately), this product helps students to understand the bending stresses at various positions of a beam section due to a load.Students add loads to an inverted T-section beam held on two supports. Strain gauges at different heights up the beam measure the strains due to the load. A load cell measures the force applied at the mid span of the beam.

Students apply the load and measure the resulting strains.They use textbook beam equations to predict the stresses and bending moments for any given load, comparing them to measured results. This helps confirm the reliability of the textbook equations and the accuracy of the experiment results.

This product includes a Vernier caliper for accurate measurement of the beam cross-section.

The strain gauges connect to a strain gauge amplifier, which connects (with the load cell) to the USB interface hub of the Structures platform for computer display and data acquisition.