Comparison of Bending in Beams using Solidworks FEA Simulation

Aim:

To model and perform static structural analysis on various beam designs in Solidworks.

Objective:

• To perform static structural analysis on 3 different beam cross sections.
• To obtain the stress, strain and displacement plots for all 3 beams.
• To determine the best beam design for usage.

Theory:

A beam is a structural element that primarily resists loads applied laterally to the beam's axis. Its mode of deflection is primarily by bending. The loads applied to the beam result in reaction forces at the beam's support points. The total effect of all the forces acting on the beam is to produce shear forces and bending moments within the beam, that in turn induce internal stresses, strains and deflections of the beam. Beams are characterized by their manner of support, profile (shape of cross-section), equilibrium conditions, length, and their material.

Beams are traditionally descriptions of building or civil engineering structural elements, but any structures such as automotive automobile frames, aircraft components, machine frames, and other mechanical or structural systems contain beam structures that are designed to carry lateral loads are analysed in a similar fashion

Setup Explanation:

1. First, the 3 beams are modelled using the following dimensions for the cross sections as shown. Length of all beams is taken as 400 mm and the sketch is extruded as shown.

2. Then, under simulation option click on new study and create a new static structural study.
3. Right click on beam and set material as alloy steel.
4. Create a fixed support at one of the side faces and apply a uniformly distributed force to the top face with a magnitude of 1500 N as shown. This makes the beam cantilever.

5. Create a mesh with the default settings as shown and run the study.

6. Do the same thing for the other two beam designs and save the results.

Results:

1. Beam 1:

2. Beam 2:

3. Beam 3:

Observations:

1. The stress is lowest for beam 1 and highest for beam 3.
2. The displacement is lowest for beam 1 and highest for beam 3.
3. The strain is lowest for beam 1 and highest for beam 3.

Conclusions:

1. The stress, displacement and strain are lowest for beam 1 since it has highest area moment of inertia. Hence, theoretically it is the strongest beam.
2. However, from a practical point of view, beam 1 has very high mass and so beam 2 can be considered. Beam 2 also has FOS greater than 3 and so it is safe to use it. It has much lower weight than beam 1 and hence will be cheaper to make.
3. Beam 3 is also safe; however, it has a twisting moment which increases the stress and lowers the FOS. Mass is also not that low compared to Beam 2 hence we don’t use it.

File Link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-JZoRqVbZILZRHEE2Jq5c2rqjytgUFhR?usp=sharing