FEA analysis for Comparison of bending in beams using Solidworks

AIM

To design and simulate the FEA analysis for the bending in beam of various cross section such as Rectangular, I and C cross section of beam.

INPUT FOR SIMULATION

INPUT	VALUE
Material	Alloy steel
Mess size	6mm
Load	1500 N
Length of beam	400 mm
Beam cross section	Rectangular, I and C

GIVEN

The dimension of the beam cross section as shown in the figure below

Case1. Rectangular section beam

Case2. I - section beam

Case3. C section beam

BODY OF CONTENT

Introduction

In applied mechanics, bending (also known as flexure) characterizes the behavior of a slender structural element subjected to an external load applied perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the element.

The structural element is assumed to be such that at least one of its dimensions is a small fraction, typically 1/10 or less, of the other two. When the length is considerably longer than the width and the thickness, the element is called a beam. For example, a closet rod sagging under the weight of clothes on clothes hangers is an example of a beam experiencing bending. On the other hand, a shell is a structure of any geometric form where the length and the width are of the same order of magnitude but the thickness of the structure (known as the 'wall') is considerably smaller. A large diameter, but thin-walled, short tube supported at its ends and loaded laterally is an example of a shell experiencing bending.

STEPS FOR DESIGNING

Before starting drawing make sure that the unit system is in mm.

Case1. Rectangular section beam

1. Firstly, draw the sketch and provide the dimension according to mention in the figure below. Make sure that the design is closed.

2. Now go to the extrusion feature and give the extrude dimension of 400mm.

3. Now the final design of the rectangular section beam is shown in the figure below.

Case2. I - section beam

1. Firstly, draw the sketch and provide the dimension according to mention in the figure below. Make sure that the design is closed.

2. Now go to the extrusion feature and give the extrude dimension of 400mm.

3. Now the final design of the I section beam is shown in the figure below.

Case3. C section beam

1. Firstly, draw the sketch and provide the dimension according to mention in the figure below. Make sure that the design is closed.

2. Now go to the extrusion feature and give the extrude dimension of 400mm.

3. Now the final design of the I section beam is shown in the figure below.

STEPS FOR FEA SIMULATION

For doing FEA analysis in Solidworks make sure that the simulation is enable in Add ins of the Solidworks.

The process for simulation is same for all 3 different cross section of beam. I will discuss the steps of FEA analysis for only one cross section of beam.

1. Firstly, click on simulation option after that go to the new study option as mention in figure with the red colour.

2. Now the select the type of analysis which you want to do like static, dynamic etc as shown in figure after that click on ok button. Here I am going to study for static analysis.

3. Now you will enter in the window which you have selected for the analysis as shown in the figure below.

Now the option which we have to provide for doing analysis is highlighted with the red colour box in figure below. Both red colour box represent the same option.

4. Now right click on I option and select the apply material option as shown in the figure below.

5. After that one dialog box will appear, choose the material from the dialog box as per your requirement and click on apply button. Here I used alloy steel for the material. When you click on the apply option the colour of your design will change.

6. now right click on fixture option and select the type of fixture which you want in your design as shown in the figure below. Here I am using fixed geometry to fix the one face of the beam in order to make it as a cantilever beam and click on ok button.

7. Now go to the external load option and select the load type which you want to apply on your design. Here I used the force option for 1500N force which is applied on the face of the beam as shown in the figure below.

8. In order to do meshing of the design we need to select the mesh option and click on create mesh. After that there is two way to do meshing one is automatic and second is manually. Here I used for manual method and provide the size of mesh as 2 mm as shown in figure. Smaller the mesh size will give you more accurate result.

9. The figure represent the meshing of the beam

10. Now right click on the part and click on run option. The name may vary according to your design but to run the simulation we need to follow this step. When you click on run button it starts the simulation.

11. After completing the simulation the result will be displayed on the screen.

RESULTS

Case1. Rectangular section beam

Stress diagram

Displacement diagram

Strain diagram

Case2. I - section beam

Stress diagram

Displacement diagram

Strain diagram

Case3. C section beam

Stress diagram

Displacement diagram

Strain diagram

COMPARISON OF STRESS, STRAIN AND DISPLACEMENT

Case1. Rectangular section beam

Case2. I section beam

Case3. C section beam

Comparison of Rectangular, I And C Section of The Beam

Here the simulation done by the help of Von Mises criteria and the yield stress of the material alloy steel is 620.42 MPa and the result obtain are mention below

1. Max. and Min. Stress table

Beam Cross section	Max value (MPa)	Min value (MPa)
Rectangular	13.428	0
I	30.598	0
C	60.330	0.011

2. Max. and Min. Displacement Table

Beam Cross section	Max value (mm)	Min value (mm)
Rectangular	0.031	0
I	0.086	0
C	0.304	0

3. Max. and Min. Strain Table

Beam Cross section	Max value	Min value
Rectangular	4.222e-05	4.690e-10
I	9.846e-05	1.976e-09
C	1.970e-04	3.244e-08

4. Mass Table

Beam Cross section	Mass (Kg)
Rectangular	11.088
I	2.36446
C	3.22926

CONCLUSION

1. When we compare the bending stress generated after the analysis of beam by the help of Von Mises criteria, the maximum stress generated in C cross section of the beam.
2. When we compare the displacement generated after the analysis of beam by the help of Von Mises criteria, the maximum displacement is generated in C cross section of the beam.
3. Similarly the maximum strain also developed in C cross section of the beam.

So, from above results it is clear that C cross section of the beam is not good in any respect except mass.

4. When we compare the rectangular and I section beam, the lowest stress, strain and displacement are generated in rectangular cross section of the beam. But the mass of the rectangular cross section is very much greater than the mass of I section beam.

So, from above we conclude that the I section beam is very much significant.

REFRENCES

1. Lecture of skilllync.com
2. wikkipedia