Experimental and numerical investigations of the response of a cantilever beam use ABAQUS software

Coursework Title: Experimental and numerical investigations of the response of a cantilever beam
This report assesses your studies on the use of ABAQUS and the learned knowledge in Experimental Method. A dimensional analysis should be performed for the cantilever beam used in experimental lab, based on which you can derive a relationship(s) between a particular response (e.g. strain vs load, displacement vs load, or displacement/velocity vs time in dynamic measurement) of the model and the corresponding response of the prototype. Based on FE simulations of the model and prototype cantilever beams, you can verify this (these) relationship(s). Further explanation will be given in lecture. This coursework is an individual coursework with shared experimental data. It will contribute to 28% of the total assessment of Research Method unit. A roughly six-A4-page report (Times 12 font with 1.5 line space) excluding the front cover and Appendix should be submitted to GB/B15 coursework box (RM-Experimental Method-MED or RM-Experimental Method-Structure)

Title of the report: Experimental and numerical investigations of the response of a cantilever beam.
Contents (with instructions):
1. Experimental set-up and results
(i) Briefly describing the experimental set-up including instruments (e.g. strain gauges, LVDT etc.), supporting conditions, material parameters and geometric dimensions; Try to find the best way to present them (e.g. use table, graph, but you need to give table/figure number/title and properly refer to them in the text.
(ii) Show all experimentally measured results. You only need to present calibrated results using the most efficient way (e.g. graphs, but you need to clearly show the label/unit of each axis and give notation for each curve if there are more than one curves in a graph).
(iii) Make brief discussion about the experimental observations and measured results and realize uncertainties and possible errors.

Note:
In order to help you to start FE numerical simulation early before you complete the experimental lab in Week-8, following information of the cantilever beam can be used in your initial numerical modeling, Beam.

Beam length: 400 mm; beam width: 50mm; beam thickness: 1mm;
Beam material: spring steel which has nominal Young’s modulus of 193 GPa, Poisson’s ratio of 0.3
and yield stress of 965MPa;
The vertical loads will be applied at the tip of the cantilever beam and the maximum load will be less than 1kg force, which can ensure that no plastic yield happens in the beam.
2. Numerical simulations and discussion
(i) Simulate the tested cantilever beam using ABAQUS and compare the numerical results with experimental result in a comprehensive way (you decide what you should simulate and compare).
(ii) You need to clearly describe your numerical model including geometric dimensions, supporting conditions, loading and material model and parameters, meshes, elements, etc., and justify that your model properly represents the prototype problem.
(iii) Conduct mesh sensitivity analysis.
(iv)  Make discussion based on the comparison between numerical and experimental results.
3. Dimensional analysis and numerical model test
(i) Do a dimensional analysis for the elastic response of a cantilever beam under the same loading condition as that in the numerical/experimental test of the prototype.
(ii) Design a small scaled model and do numerical (ABAQUS) simulation on this model
(iii) Use the numerical simulation results from model and prototype to show the validity of the scaling law.

4. Concluding remarks
(i) Conclude your findings and make comments.