A Combined Stress Experiment Using A Hacksaw

An analytical and experimental study of the combined axial and bending stresses that occur in a typical hand-held hacksaw is described. A commercially available handsaw is loaded statically by tension in the saw blade. The tensile load on the hacksaw blade results in both bending and axial compressive stresses in the backbone of the hacksaw. This study demonstrates the experimental technique of using strain gages to validate an analytical solution, as well as the concept of creating and calibrating a load transducer to measure the applied load. This paper presents details on the analysis, experimental approach, and the results. Introduction: Figure 1 illustrates a typically-constructed hand-held hacksaw. Figure 1: Typical Hacksaw. The head, handle, and backbone make up the frame of the hacksaw. The rigidity of the frame places the blade in tension in order to prevent buckling due to the slenderness of the blade. When a tensile force is applied to the blade, the head and handle portions of the saw see a resulting tension. These forces produce both axial compressive forces and bending forces in the backbone %DFNERQH