ENGR 300 MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
ENGINEERING DESIGN PROBLEM
“COMPLETE BEAM DESIGN WITH NUMERICAL VERIFICATION”
Due 1 May @ 4 PM.
(Design project is not accepted late.)
Value: 100 points
1. Problem: You have started your first job at the prestigious architecture and structural
engineering firm of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Your superiors have given you your first
assignment which is expected to take you only a few days. However, they will be observing the
quality of your work on this assignment in order to assess your value and determine your future
assignments. You are to choose the appropriate beam for the following loading situation and
prove your choice is correct.
 kips/ft
 kips
 kips/ft
 ft
4 ft
4 ft
18- ft
ft
To impress your superiors, perform a complete beam design by selecting the most efficient Wide
Flange (W) beam and the most efficient Standard Flange (S) beam; showing the worst case
stresses in each beam. Write a brief report that thoroughly justifies your selection and
demonstrates your analysis techniques.
6 ft
a. Structural members will be selected from AISC standard shapes listed in the text and
available in SolidWorks Toolbox. Material must be A36 Steel as listed in the text.
b. Factor of Safety for the structure must be 2.0 with respect to yielding in tension or
compression and 2.5 with respect to yielding in shear.
2. Objective:
Perform a complete prismatic beam design as described in the ENGR300 course by performing
the following steps.
1. Draw clear and accurate shear and moment diagrams of the beam with maximums
labeled and non-linear curves identified
2. Tentatively select a W and S beam based on maximum normal stress.
3. Check the tentatively selected beams for maximum shear
4. Identify the locations on the beam where the shear and moment could possibly
combine to exceed the allowable stresses.
5. Find the principal stresses at the web/flange junction using Mohr’s Circle.
6. Perform a structural analysis simulation using SolidWorks. Probe the stress at these
locations and verify your analytical solution is correct through simulation.
Matthew R. Stein
02/09/16
3. Assumptions:
a. Assume the flange and web shapes with dimensions of tf ,tw,bf, etc. as listed in the
Beam Shape Table.
b. Assume the material strength in tension is equal to its strength in compression.
c. Use the closest match to the beam table found in the SolidWorks Toolbox.
4. Approach: Produce a report which makes a clear and concise case for the beams you have
chosen and convinces the reader that you have performed the analysis correctly.
5. Design Report Requirements and Format: Approximately 20% of the grade will be on
the professional look, quality and persuasiveness of your report. Additional guidance on the
content of the report follows:
a. Cover Page: List title of project, your name, course, and instructor. Graphics are a nice
touch.
b. General Approach: A numbered or bulleted list describing the steps you employed to
reach a conclusion. Items should include specifics from your search, For example “I
produced a shear-moment diagram and found the maximum moment to be 178 kip-ft”,
but should not include the equations or deriving formulas. The latter must be included in
the analysis section. Adjust the level of detail to make the number of steps about ten.
c. Analysis: Analysis must include shear and moment diagrams, combined loading and
Mohr's circle to determine principal stresses. Figures may be generated by hand on
engineering paper and scanned into your report MSWord document in a clear and
readable format. Scans of sloppy, illegible or incomplete work are unconvincing. A
more professional effect can be achieved by producing the figures in Word Shapes, or on
SolidWorks, and formatting equations using Equation Editor. In all cases the body of the
report must contain the appropriate figures. The reader must not be made to search
through appendices to discover the main findings of the analysis.
Add to this report the results of your numerical simulation in SolidWorks. Show the
dimensioned models and the probed output of the stress analysis. Showing the model
without showing the results of the simulation is unconvincing. The simulation results
must agree with your hand-generated analysis. Showing a theoretical result and then a
simulation that does not agree with that result is unconvincing.
d. Results and Discussion: Describe how the beam you selected is both within the factor of
safety and also the lightest available that is within that factor of safety. A convincing
way of demonstrating this is to show the next lightest beam would exceed the allowable
stress under the same loading. Report the actual factor of safety as the yield stress
divided by the actual maximum stress in both compression and shear. Compare the S
beam to the “W” beam, which is more efficient?
e. Appendix A: Original shear and Moment Diagrams full sheets scanned.
f.
Appendix B: Complete Design Calculations and Mohr's Circle for both Beam sheets
scanned.
Matthew R. Stein
02/09/16
g. Appendix C: SolidWorks file containing models and simulation studies submitted via
Bridges.
h. Include the Project Checklist sheet below as the last page of the report, include name.
Matthew R. Stein
02/09/16
ENGR 300 – Mechanics of Materials
Engineering Design Project
Project Checksheet
Name(s):
_______________________
_______________________
Project Report Format:
Component
Requirements
1. Cover Sheet
2.Table of Contents
3.Abstract
4.Problem Statement
Included and accurate
Included and accurate
Not required
Included, paraphrased from this
assignment sheet
Describe how you approached
this problem
Correct shear/moment diagrams
5. Approach
6. Analysis I
Solution Methodology
(Description of the method or
Program)
6. Analysis - II
6. Analysis - III
6. Analysis - IV
6. Analysis - V
6. Analysis - VI
7.Results and discussion
8. References
9. Appendices
10. Submission
11. Bonuses
Matthew R. Stein
Tentative beam selection from
tables, check for shear. List
other candidate beams and
explain selection.
Selection of location of
combined loading
Calculated  and  at max
location for each beam.
Correct Mohr's circles
SolidWorks simulation
produces results, results are
presented in the report and the
results agree with theory
Discuss selected beam and lists
resulting factors of safety.
Demonstrate beam is most
efficient.
Not Required.
Included as required, hand
calculations are neat and
legible, SolidWorks file
submitted and simulation runs.
Submitted MSWord document
and SolidWorks Part file to
Bridges on time. This page is
included as the last page of the
report with student’s name
completed on top.
Submission by 4PM April 24th
Total
Maximum
Points
3
1
Points
Awarded
3
10
10
5
5
15
10
20
8
5
5
+5
100
02/09/16
Matthew R. Stein
02/09/16