Bending of Curved Beams Strength of Materials Approach

N
M
V
r

cross-section must be
symmetric but does not have
to be rectangular
assume plane sections remain plane and just rotate about the
neutral axis, as for a straight beam, and that the only significant
stress is the hoop stress

N
M
centroid
neutral axis
n
R
R
r
R = radius to centroid
R
n
= radius to neutral axis
r = radius to general fiber in the beam
N, M = normal force and bending moment
computed from centroid

A
B
A
B
P
P
n
R r

( )
1
n
n
R r
R l
e
l r r

= = =

Let = rotation of the

cross-section
Reference: Advanced Mechanics of Materials : Boresi, Schmidt, and
Sidebottom
From Hookes law
1
n
R
Ee E
r



= =


Then the normal force is given by
( )
n
A A A
n m
dA
N dA E R dA
r
E R A A

= =


=

where
m
A
dA
A
r
=

has the dimensions of a length
Similarly, for the moment ( )
( )
( )
1
A
n
A
n n
A A A A
n m
M R r dA
R
E R r dA
r
dA
E R R R dA R dA rdA
r
E R RA A

=

=



= +


=

( )
( )
n m
n m
M E R RA A
N E R A A

=
=
from (1)
(1)
(2)
n
m
M
E R
RA A
=

from (2)
( )
n m
m
m
N E R A E A
MA
E A
RA A

=
=

so solving for E
( )
m
m
MA N
E
A RA A A
=

1
n
n
R
Ee E
r
E R
E
r

= =


=
Recall, the stress is given by
so using expressions for ,
n
E R E
we obtain the hoop stress in the form
( )
( )
m
m
M A rA
N
A Ar RA A

= +

axial
stress
bending
stress
n
r R =
setting the total stress = 0 gives
0 N
( )
0
m m
AM
r
A M N A RA

=
=
+
0 N =
setting the bending stress = 0 and gives
n
m
A
R
A
=
which in general is not at the centroid
location of the
neutral axis
For composite areas
A
1
A
2
1
R 2
R
i
m mi
i i
i
A A
A A
R A
R
A
=
=
=

radii to centroids
areas
Example
P
P
100 mm
30 mm
For a square 50x50 mm cross-section,
find the maximum tensile and
compressive stress if P = 9.5 kN and
plot the total stress across the cross-
section
P = 9500 N
M
N
155 mm
a
c
b
( )
2
ln
m
A b c a
a c
R
c
A b
a
=
+
=

=


a =30 mm
b =50 mm
c =80 mm
so we have
( )( )
2
50 50 2500
80
50ln 49.04
30
80 30
55
2
m
A mm
A mm
R mm
= =

= =


+
= =
2500
51
49.04
n
R mm = =
T C
max tensile stress is at r = 30 mm
( )
( )
( )( ) ( )( )
( )( ) ( )( )
155 9500 2500 30 49.04
9500
2500 2500 30 55 49.04 2500
106.2
m
m
M A rA
N
A Ar RA A
MPa

= +

= +


=
max compressive stress is at r = 80 mm
( )
( )
( )( ) ( )( )
( )( ) ( )( )
155 9500 2500 80 49.04
9500
2500 2500 80 55 49.04 2500
49.3
m
m
M A rA
N
A Ar RA A
MPa

= +

= +


=
>> r= linspace(30, 80, 100);
>> stress = 3.8 + 589*(2500 - 49.04.*r)./(197.2*r);
>> plot(r, stress)
30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
radius, r
s
t
r
e
s
s
Comparison with Airy Stress Function Results
Consider a rectangular beam under pure moment
a
b
r
M
M
thickness = t
R
h
Note:
( )
( )
( )
( )
/ 1
/
2 / 1
2 / 1
/
2 / 1
b a
R h
b a
R h
b a
R h
+
=

+
=

y
2 2 2
2
4
ln ln ln 1
M a b b b r a r b
Nta r a a a a b a a

= + +





From Airy Stress Function
2
2
2 2
1 4 ln
b b b
N
a a a



=





Strength Approach
( )
( )
ln
/ 2
m
b
A t
a
A t b a
R a b

=


=
= +
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
2
ln
ln
2
2 1 ln
1 2 1 1 ln
m
m
M A rA
Ar RA A
b
M b a r
a
a b
b
t r b a b a
a
b r b
M
a a a
r b b b b
t a
a a a a a

=
+












=


+




If we had used the ordinary straight beam formula
instead
( )
( )
3
3 2
2
1
12
6 2 1
1
a b
M r
My
I
t b a
r b
a a M
ta
b
a

= =

+




=

minus on M since it is opposite to what
we had before
Comparison of the ratio of the max bending stresses
0.9331 0.9994 5.0
0.8881 0.9986 3.0
0.8313 0.9973 2.0
0.7737 0.9961 1.5
0.6545 0.9970 1.0
0.5262 1.0124 0.75
0.4390 1.0455 0.65
Strength/elasticity
Straight beam
formula My/I
Strength/elasticity
Curved beam
formula
R/h
R
h
y
Compare bending stress distributions at the smallest R/h value
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-0.35
-0.3
-0.25
-0.2
-0.15
-0.1
-0.05
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
r/a
n
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

s
t
r
e
s
s
solid curve Airy stress function (elasticity)
dashed blue Curved Strength formula
dashed red Straight beam formula
R/h = 0.65 (b/a = 7.667)
% beam_compare.m
m=1;
Rhvals =[0.65 0.75 1.0 1.5 2.0 3.0 5.0]; % R/h ratios to consider
for Rh =Rhvals
ba =(1+2*Rh)/(2*Rh -1); %corresponding b/a values
ra=linspace(1, ba, 100); % r/a values
N=(ba^2-1)^2 -4*ba^2*(log(ba))^2;
% Airy function flexure stress expression
pa =4*(-(ba./ra).^2.*log(ba)+(ba)^2.*log(ra./ba) - log(ra) +(ba)^2 -1)./N;
% Curved beam strength expression for flexure stress
ps =2*((ba-1)-ra.*log(ba))./(ra.*(ba-1).*(2.*(ba-1) -(ba+1).*log(ba)));
% Straight beam flexure formula My/I
pb =6*(2*ra-(ba+1))./((ba-1)^3);
%obtain ratio of max stresses Curved beam Strength formula/Airy
ratio1(m) =max(abs(ps))/max(abs(pa));
%obtain ratio of max stresses: Straight beam strength formula/Airy
ratio2(m) =max(abs(pb))/max(abs(pa));
m=m+1;
end
% Now plot stress distributions for smallest R/h value
Rh=0.65
ba =(1+2*Rh)/(2*Rh -1); %corresponding b/a values
ra=linspace(1, ba, 100);
N=(ba^2-1)^2 -4*ba^2*(log(ba))^2;
pa =4*(-(ba./ra).^2.*log(ba)+(ba)^2.*log(ra./ba) - log(ra) +(ba)^2 -1)./N;
ps =2*((ba-1)-ra.*log(ba))./(ra.*(ba-1).*(2.*(ba-1) -(ba+1).*log(ba)));
pb =6*(2*ra-(ba+1))./((ba-1)^3);
plot(ra, pa)
hold on
plot(ra, ps, '--b')
plot(ra, pb, '--r')
xlabel('r/a')
ylabel( 'normalized stress')
hold off
Comparison with Bickfords expression (pure bending)
( )
2
1
1/
kM My
A ky I
k R

=
+
=
R
r
centroid
y
y
First note that
0
A
ydA =

Here, y is distance from the centroid

so
( )
2
2
1
1 /
1
0
1 / 1 / 1 /
A A A
y y R
I ydA y dA
dA I
y R y R R y R R
+
= + = + =
+ + +

1
2
2
1 /
1 /
A
A
ydA
I
y R
y dA
I
y R
=
+
=
+

2
1
I
I
R
=
R r y =
or r y R = +
m
A A
dA dA
RA R R
r y R
= =
+

( )
( )
1
A A A A
m
y R
y dA
A dA dA dA R
y R y R y R
I
RA
R
+
= = = +
+ + +
= +

1
/ I R
Thus,
( )
1 2
/
m
R RA A I I R = =
( )
2
1
1/
kM My
A ky I
k R

=
+
=
Now, start with Bickfords expression
( )
( )
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
2
2
2
2
2
3
2
2 2
2 2
2
2 2
2 2
2
2 2
2 3
2
2
2
1
/
/
yR
M
AR y R I
y R I yAR
M
y R ARI
y R I y R AR
AR
M
y R ARI y R ARI
I AR R
M
ARI y R I
I AR R
M
y R I ARI
A y R I AR R
M
y R AI R

= +

+


+ +
=

+


+ + +
=

+ +


+
=

+


+
=

+


+ +
=
+


same terms added in and subtracted out
( ) ( )
( )
2 3
2
2
2
/
/
A y R I AR R
M
y R AI R

+ +
=
+


but
2
2
/
m
RA A I R = so
( )
2 3
2
/
m
A I AR R = +
and we find
y R r + =
( )
m
m
A rA
r RA A A

which agrees with our previous expression
from Bickfords expression
( )
2
1
1/
kM My
A ky I
k R

=
+
=
it is easy to see, as ,
R
0 k
and 2
2
2
1 /
A A
y dA
I y dA I
y R
= =
+

and we recover the straight beam flexure expression
My
I