Table of Contents

1.0 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2

2.0 OBJECTIVE....................................................................................................................................3

3.0 THEORY.........................................................................................................................................3

4.0 MATERIALS..................................................................................................................................6

5.0 PROCEDURE.................................................................................................................................6

6.0 RESULT..........................................................................................................................................7

7.0 DISCUSSION................................................................................................................................12

8.0 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................14

9.0 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Consider a circular shaft that is attached to a fixed support at one end. When a torque, T is
applied to the other end, the shaft with free end rotating through an angle called the angle of
twist, φ.
Torsion is analyzed through the stress and strains in members of a circular cross section
subjected to twisting couples or torques, T. These couples have a common magnitude and
opposite senses. They are vector quantities and can be represented either by curved arrows as
shown in figure below or by couple vectors.

Members in torsion are encountered in many engineering applications. The most common
application is provided by transmission shafts, which are used to transmit power from one point
to another. For example, a shaft is used to transmit power from the engine to the rear wheels of
an automobile. These shafts can be either solid or hollow.
Consider the small square element formed by two adjacent circles and two adjacent
straight lines traced on the surface of a cylinder of radius ρ before any load is applied. As the
shaft is subjected to a torsion load, the element deforms into a rhombus.

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2.0 OBJECTIVE

This experiment is to investigate the relationship between torque, T and the angle of twist, φ of a
circular cross-section specimen and to acknowledge the students about to determine the modulus
of rigidity, G of the materials.

3.0 THEORY

Shearing strain, ɤ is measured by the change in the angles formed by the sides of that
element. It follows that

Lɤ =  ρǿ

Then, ɤ = ρǿ / L

Where

ɤ = shearing strain
ρ = length from the center to any point in the circle of the shaft
ǿ = angle of twist
L = length of shaft
It also follows that the shearing stress strain is maximum on the surface of the shaft,
Where ρ = c .
Therefore,

ɤmax = cǿ / L
where ɤmax = maximum shearing strain
c = radius of the shaft
ǿ = angle of twist
L = length of shaft

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 Now a relationship between the angle of twist, ǿ of a circular shaft and the torque T
exerted on the shaft will be derived. Considering first the case of the shaft length, L and of
uniform cross-section radius, c subjected to a torque. T at its free end. The angle of twist and the
maximum shearing strain are related as

ɤmax = cǿ/L

but in the elastic range, the yield stress is not exceeded anywhere in the shaft. Hooke’s Law

applies, and ɤmax = Ƭmax / G

Then, solving for ǿ, it shows that

ǿ = TL / JG

Where ǿ = angle of twist

T = torque exerted on the shaft
L = length of the shaft
G = Modulus of Rigidity

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4.0 MATERIALS
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 1. Steel, aluminium alloy and nylon rod
2. Torsion bars testing machine
3. Ruler
4. Digital calliper

5.0 PROCEDURE

1. The aluminium alloy rod was clamped in position and the load hanger is put on the cord.
2. The rotation scale and pointer was set 400 mm from the fixed clamp and the pointer is put to
zero.
3. A load of 40 N by 5 N increments was added and the twist of the specimen for each
increment is recorded in a table.
4. After the load was removed, the rotation scale and pointer is moved to 200 mm from the
clamp and the above procedure is repeated.
5. The diameter of the rod was measured and recorded.
6. Now, the specimen was changed for the steel rod and the procedure is repeated for the 400
mm length only.
7. Finally, the Nylon rod was clamped in position and the twist over 400mm and 200mm is
measured when a load up to 40 N by increments of 5 N is applied to the torsion head. The
load was removed and whether full elastic recovery had occurred is noted.

6.0 RESULT

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 6.1 RESULT
Material : Aluminium Alloy
Diameter : 6.47 mm
Hanger Torque (Nmm) Torque (Nmm) Twist of rod
Load (N) Over 400 mm Over 200 mm Over 400 mm (o) Over 200 mm (o)
5 2000 1000 2.0 0.5
10 4000 2000 3.0 1.0
15 6000 3000 5.0 1.5
20 8000 4000 6.0 2.5
25 10000 5000 8.0 3.0
30 12000 6000 9.0 3.5
35 14000 7000 10.0 4.0
40 16000 8000 11.0 5.0

Material : Steel
Diameter : 5.10 mm
Hanger Load (N) Torque (Nmm) Twist over 400 mm (o)
5 2000 0.5
10 4000 1.0
15 6000 1.5
20 8000 2.5
25 10000 3.5
30 12000 4.5
35 14000 5.0
40 16000 6.0

Material : Nylon
Diameter : 6.45 mm
Hanger Torque (Nmm) Torque (Nmm) Twist of rod
Load (N) Over 400 mm Over 200 mm Over 400 mm (o) Over 200 mm (o)
1 400 200 4.5 2.0
2 800 400 9.5 5.0
3 1200 600 14.5 7.5

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 4 1600 800 19.5 10.5
5 2000 1000 24.5 12.5
0 0.000 0.000 0 1.0

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f(x) = 0 x + 0.75
10

8
Angle of twist (°)

4 f(x) = 0 x − 0.21

0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
Torque (Nmm)

over 400 mm Linear (over 400 mm)

over 200 mm Linear (over 200 mm)

Figure 1 : Graph Angle of Twist against Torque for Aluminium

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 7

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f(x) = 0 x − 0.61

5
Angle of twist (°)

0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000

Torque (Nmm)

Figure 2 : Graph Angle of Twist against Torque for Steel

30

25
f(x) = 0.01 x − 0.24
20
Angle of twist (°)

15

f(x) = 0.01 x + 0.31

10

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Torque (Nmm)

over 400 mm Linear (over 400 mm)

over 200 mm Linear (over 200 mm)

Figure 3 : Graph Angle of Twist against Torque for Nylon

6.2 SAMPLE CALCULATION

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Torque , τ =r × F
Where :
r : the displacement vector (a vector from the point from which torque is
measured to the point where force is applied).
F : the magnitude of the force

Sample Calculation for the first reading

Aluminium
Torque Over 400 mm = (400 mm) x (5 N)
= 2000 Nmm
Torque Over 200 mm = (200 mm) x (5 N)
= 1000 Nmm

Steel
Torque = (400 mm) x (5 N)
= 2000 Nmm
Nylon
Torque Over 400 mm = (400 mm) x (1 N)
= 400 Nmm
Torque Over 400 mm = (200 mm) x (1 N)
= 200 Nmm

Sample Calculation for the first reading

Aluminium
Polar Moment of inertia, J = (Π x 6.474)/32
= 172.035
G Over 400 mm = L/mJ
= [400 / (0.007 x 172.035)] x 180/Π
= 19031N/mm2
G Over 200 mm = 200 / (0.006 x 172.035) x 180/Π

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 = 11101N/mm2
Average G = (19031+11101)/2 = 15 066 N/mm2
Steel
Polar Moment of inertia, J = (Π x 5.104)/32
= 66.4172
G Over 400 mm = [400 / (0.004 x 66.4172)] x 180/Π
= 86266 N/mm2
Nylon
Polar Moment of inertia, J = (Π x 6.454)/32
= 169.9178
G Over 400 mm = L/mJ
= 400 / (0.0123 x 169.9178) x 180/Π
= 10965N/mm2
G Over 200 mm = 200 / (0.0122 x 169.9178) x 180/Π
= 5527N/mm2
Average G = (10965+5527)/2 = 8246 N/mm2
7.0 DISCUSSION

Throughout this experiment, it was obtained that the equation that can relate torque, angle of
twist and modulus of rigidity as shown below:
TL
Modulus of Rigidity ,G=
J∅
Where :
T : Torque exerted on the shaft
L : Length of the shaft
J : Polar moment of inertia
Ø : angle of twist
Based on the result obtained in this experiment, as refer to Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure
3, it showed that angle of twist is directly proportional to torque apply toward the materials.
Besides that, it also obtained that modulus of rigidity is inversely proportional to angle of twist
but directly proportional to torque. All of the result obtained could be correct as the relationship

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showed follows the equation given above. The linear graph obtained also showed that the
materials do exhibiting purely elastic behaviour.
The calculation of modulus of rigidity, G is shown in Sample Calculation. From the
calculation, the value of modulus of rigidity, G for aluminium alloy, steel and nylon are 15 066
N/mm2, 86266 N/mm2 and 8246 N/mm2 respectively while the value of Gtheoretical for aluminium
alloy, steel and nylon is 26200.00 N/mm2, 79000.00 N/mm2, 75000.00 N/mm2 respectively.
By comparing the results obtained from the experiment, it is found that the experiment
does not verify the torque or twist formula. This is because the results obtained are not same with
the theory due to the occurrence of errors when conducting the experiment.
The modulus of rigidity, G obtained from the experiment has percentage error. This is
due to several reasons such as parallax error during the taking of measurements for the length of
the rod and also during the measuring of the rotation of rod using the arc shaped scale. Arc
shaped scale is very small and hence, the probability to have parallax error is very high. As a
precaution, the observer’s eyes should be perpendicular to the scale while taking the readings.
Another reason is because the specimen that used is not exactly 100% pure and might
contain impurities in it. Besides that, specimen malformation may also occur. For example, a 5N
load and a 5N load does not exactly equal to 10N.
Lastly, the environment also plays a factor that causes the readings to be less accurate.
The experiment was done in a room which is 27 oC in temperature. This temperature might be
different with the room temperature of the theoretical experiment value. Although temperature
only plays a small part, it will definitely cause the experimental result to be less accurate due to
the expansion and shrink of the specimen.

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8.0 CONCLUSION

From the experimental result, we can conclude that the relationship between torque, T
and the angle of twist, Φ of a circular cross section specimen or material is proved to be directly
proportional to each another and twist Φ, also proportional to the length of the shaft, L. The
relationship between torque and angle of twist obey the equation below:-

Φ = TL / GJ

This equation is a convenient method to determine the modulus of rigidity (G) of any materials.

From the experiment, values of G for each material are;

Value of G (modulus of rigidity)

Material
N/mm 2

Aluminum 15 066

Steel 86266

8246 13
Nylon
9.0 REFERENCES

 Ferdinand P. Beer, E. Russell Johnston, Jr., John T. DeWolf, 2002, Mechanics of

Materials, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, New York.
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young's_modulus
 J.M. Smith et. al, 2005, Introduction To Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, The
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, New York.
 http://labrpt.blogspot.com/2012/02/determination-of-torsion-in-rod.html

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