CHAPTER 4
Bending of Straight Beams 1
Amir Radzi Ab. Ghani
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,UiTM
Oct 2013
* Notes extracted from Beer, Johnston, DeWolf and Mazurek ‘Mechanics of Materials’, McGraw
Hill Inc.
Pure Bending
Pure Bending:
Prismatic members
subjected to equal
and opposite
couples acting in
the same
longitudinal plane
Other Loading Types
• Eccentric Loading: Axial loading which
does not pass through section centroid
produces internal forces equivalent to an
axial force and a couple
• Transverse Loading: Concentrated or
distributed transverse load produces
internal forces equivalent to a shear
force and a couple
• Principle of Superposition: The normal
stress due to pure bending may be
combined with the normal stress due to
axial loading and shear stress due to
shear loading to find the complete state
of stress.
Symmetric Member in Pure Bending
Symmetric Member in Pure Bending
Bending Deformation
Strain due to Bending
Stress due to Bending
Beam Section Properties
Example 4.1
Beams under Loads
• Beams - structural members supporting loads
at various points along the member
• Transverse loadings of beams are classified as
concentrated loads or distributed loads
• Applied loads result in internal forces consisting
of a shear force (from the shear stress
distribution) and a bending couple (from the
normal stress distribution)
• Normal stress is often the critical design criteria
My Mc M
x m
I I S
Requires determination of the location and
magnitude of largest bending moment
Classification of Beam Supports
Shear and Bending Moment Diagrams
• Determination of maximum normal and
shearing stresses requires identification of
maximum internal shear force and bending
couple.
• Shear force and bending couple at a point are
determined by passing a section through the
beam and applying an equilibrium analysis on
the beam portions on either side of the
section.
• Sign conventions for shear forces V and V’
and bending couples M and M’
Example 4.2
Example 4.3 SOLUTION:
• Treating the entire beam as a rigid
body, determine the reaction forces
• Section the beam at points near
supports and load application
points. Apply equilibrium analyses
on resulting free-bodies to
determine internal shear forces and
For the timber beam and loading bending couples
shown, draw the shear and bend-
moment diagrams and determine the
maximum normal stress due to • Identify the maximum shear and
bending. bending-moment from plots of their
distributions.
• Apply the elastic flexure formulas to
determine the corresponding
maximum normal stress.
SOLUTION:
• Treating the entire beam as a rigid body, determine
the reaction forces
from Fy 0 M B : RB 46 kN RD 14 kN
• Section the beam and apply equilibrium analyses
on resulting free-bodies
Fy 0 20 kN V1 0 V1 20 kN
M1 0 20 kN 0 m M1 0 M1 0
Fy 0 20 kN V2 0 V2 20 kN
M2 0 20 kN 2.5 m M 2 0 M 2 50 kN m
V3 26 kN M 3 50 kN m
V4 26 kN M 4 28 kN m
V5 14 kN M 5 28 kN m
V6 14 kN M6 0
• Identify the maximum shear and bending-
moment from plots of their distributions.
Vm 26 kN M m M B 50 kN m
• Apply the elastic flexure formulas to
determine the corresponding
maximum normal stress.
S 16 b h 2 16 0.080 m 0.250 m 2
833.33 10 6 m3
MB 50 103 N m
m
S 833.33 10 6 m3
m 60.0 106 Pa
Example 4.4 SOLUTION:
• Replace the 45 kN load with an
equivalent force-couple system at D.
Find the reactions at B by considering
the beam as a rigid body.
• Section the beam at points near the
support and load application points.
Apply equilibrium analyses on
The structure shown is constructed of a
resulting free-bodies to determine
W 250x167 rolled-steel beam. (a) Draw
internal shear forces and bending
the shear and bending-moment
couples.
diagrams for the beam and the given
loading. (b) determine normal stress in
sections just to the right and left of point • Apply the elastic flexure formulas to
D. determine the maximum normal
stress to the left and right of point D.
SOLUTION:
• Replace the 45 kN load with equivalent force-
couple system at D. Find reactions at B.
• Section the beam and apply equilibrium
analyses on resulting free-bodies.
From A to C :
F 0 45x V 0
y V 45 x kN
M 0 45x x M 0
1
1
2 M 22.5 x 2 kNm
From C to D :
F 0
y 108 V 0 V 108 kN
M 0 2 108x 1.2 M 0 M 129.6 108 x kNm
From D to B :
V 153 kN M 305.1 153x kNm
• Apply the elastic flexure formulas to
determine the maximum normal stress to
the left and right of point D.
From Appendix C for a W250x167 rolled
steel shape, S = 2.08x10-3 m3 about the X-X
axis.
To the left of D :
M 226.8 103 Nm
m m 109 MPa
S 2.08 10 -3 m 3
To the right of D :
M 199.8 103 Nm
m m 96 MPa
S 2.08 10-3 m 3
Transverse Shear
Transverse Shear
The Shear Formula
Example 4.5
Example 4.6