COMPARISON OF BENDING IN BEAMS USING FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS (using SOLIDWORKS)

AIM:

To compare the stress, strain and displacement of the three cantilever beams and find the best out of them using SOLIDWORKS

OBJECTIVES:

1. To understand the build and properties of the three cantilever beams
2. To compare the stress, strain and displacement of the beams under some force as mentioned above
3. To execute the aforementioned points using SOLIDWORKS

INTRODUCTION:

Cantilever beam can be defined as a beam which is supported on only one end. That means one end is fixed and the other end is exposed beyond the support.

Advantages of a cantilever beam:-

1. Very simple to construct.

2. Only one fixed support is required, support on the opposite side is not required.

3. These types of beams create a negative bending moment, which can help to counteract a positive bending moment created elsewhere. This is particularly helpful in cantilevers with a back span where a uniform load on the back span creates positive bending, but a uniform load on the cantilever creates negative bending.

4. The span can be greater than that of a simple beam because the beam can be added to the cantilever arms.

5. Because the beam is resting simply on the arms, thermal expansion and ground movement are fairly simple to sustain.

6. Cantilever beams are very rigid, due to their depth.

PROCEDURE OF COMPLETION:

• First, the designs were created and the beams were constructed as per the dimensions as shown below:

All the dimensions are in mm. The beams were made `400mm` long.

• Then, the beams were fixed alongside their cross-sectional faces.
• Force of `1500N` was applied to each of the beams on the longitudinal face of the beams.
• Then, a mesh of `6mm` was used for calculation purposes in each of the beams.
• Alloy steel was used as the material for construction of these beams. The properties are as follows:

• Then, the solver was run to get the desired results.

OBSERVATIONS:

The stress, strain and displacement of each of the beams were captured as a comparative study as follows:

Rectangular-beam:

I-beam:

C-beam:

CONCLUSION:

1. As we can observe, the Rectangular-beam has least displacement and can withstand considerable amount of stress. But, its material cost is high and is not the best choice.
2. The C-beam gets twisted upon the force acting on it and has the highest displacment although it withstands higher stress than the Rectangular-beam. So, it is the least preferred choice.
3. The I-beam can be considered as the best among all the three beams as it withstands the highest amount of stress compared to the other two and has a considerably low displacement as well. The strain it faces is also the lowest among the others. So, it is the best among the three.