COMPARE THE BENDING PERFORMANCE OF THE BEAM
Aim:
To compare the bending performance of three types of beams which are: rectangular section beam, I section beam and C section beam.
Theory:
Finite element analysis (FEA):
It is a computational method where the whole geometry is discretized into smaller elements and a system of governing equations are applied to these smaller elements and then solved together to stimulate the behaviour of whole geometry.
Stress-strain curve:
A stress-strain curve for a material gives the relationship between stress and strain. It is obtained by gradually applying a load to a test coupon and measuring the deformation, from which the stress and strain can be determined. These curves reveal many of the properties of a material such as Young's modulus, the yield strength and the ultimate tensile strength.
Geometry of beams:
- Rectangular beam
- I section beam
- C section beam
Procedure:
- First, step is to create the sketch according to the dimensions given above.
- Then extrude it to 400mm
- Then a new study for static analysis was selected in the simulation part of SOLIDWORKS.
General steps in FEA:
Pre-processing:
- Defining material property, the material was taken as alloy steel.
Solving:
- Type of analysis: Static analysis.
- Beams are fixed at one end.
- A 1500 N load was applied on the top face.
- The simulation was run using a basic mesh.
Post-processing:
- Results: Stress, Strain, Displacement contour
Mesh:
- Rectangular beam:
- I section beam:
- C section beam:
Output:
- Rectangular beam:
- I section beam:
- C section beam:
Mass:
- Rectangular beam: 11.09 kg
- I section beam:2.36 kg
- C section beam:3.23 kg
Observations/Conclusions:
- From stress plot, we can see that stress is minimum in rectangular beam and maximum in C section beam.
- from strain plot, we can see minimum strain is in rectangular section beam and maximum is in C section beam.
- From displacement plot, we can see that minimum displacement is in rectangular section and maximum is in C section.
- It can be seen that C section beam is subjected to torsion.
- By taking all the factors including mass, I section beam seems to be best out of all three types of beam as mass is lower so, we are saving material cost, strain and displacement are also comparably similar to rectangular beam.