Bending Stress

Cantilever of Galileo

Introduction
When a slender member is subjected
to transverse loading, we say it acts
as a beam. Examples of beam
actions are:
The horizontal members in
buildings.
The leaf springs of an automobile
suspension.
The wings of an airplane.

Introduction
If we sectioned a transversely
loaded member a shear force and a
bending moment would in general
have to act on the cross section in
order to maintain equilibrium.

Our aim is to determine the

distributions of stresses which
have the shear force V and the
bending moment Mb as their
resultant.
We shall also obtain an exact
solution within the theory of elasticity
for the special case of a beam
subjected to pure bending.

Symmetrical Beam Subjected to Pure

Bending
In this moment we shall restrict our analysis
to beams with the next characteristics:
Originally straight beam which is uniform
along its length.
The cross section is symmetrical about
the plane of loading.
The material properties are constant
along the length and symmetrical with
respect to the plane of loading.
Only Constant bending moment (pure
bending).

Plane surfaces perpendicular to the

plane of symmetry of the beam

Symmetrical Beam Subjected to Pure Bending

Internal forces in any cross section are equivalent
to a couple. The moment of the couple is the
section bending moment.
From statics, a couple M consists of two equal
and opposite forces.
The sum of the components of the forces in any
direction is zero.
The moment is the same about any axis
perpendicular to the plane of the couple and
zero about any axis contained in the plane.
These requirements may be applied to the sums
of the components and moments of the statically
indeterminate elementary internal forces.
Fx x dA 0
M y z x dA 0
M z y x dA M

Symmetrical Beam Subjected to Pure Bending

Beam with a plane of symmetry in pure
bending:
member remains symmetric
bends uniformly to form a circular arc
cross-sectional plane passes through arc center
and remains planar
length of top decreases and length of bottom
increases

a neutral surface must exist that is parallel to the

upper and lower surfaces and for which the length
does not change
stresses and strains are negative (compressive)
above the neutral plane and positive (tension)
below it

Symmetrical Beam Subjected to Pure Bending

Consider a beam segment of length L.
After deformation, the length of the neutral
surface remains L. At other sections,
L y

L L y y
x
m

L
c

y
c

or

x m

(strain va ries linearly)

Symmetrical Beam Subjected to Pure Bending

For a linearly elastic material,
y
c

x E x E m
y
m (stress varies linearly)
c

For static equilibrium,

y
Fx 0 x dA m dA
c

0 m y dA
c

First moment with respect to neutral

plane is zero. Therefore, the
neutral surface must pass through
the section centroid.

For static equilibrium,

y

M y x dA y m dA
c

I
M m y 2 dA m
c
c
m

Mc M

I
S

y
Substituti ng x m
c

My
I

Stress and deformation in symmetrical elastic beams

Deformation due to bending moment M is
quantified by the curvature of the neutral surface

1 Mc
m m

c
Ec Ec I
M

EI
1

Although cross sectional planes remain planar

when subjected to bending moments, in-plane
deformations are nonzero,
y x

z x

Expansion above the neutral surface and

contraction below it cause an in-plane curvature,
1
anticlastic curvature

Stress and deformation in symmetrical elastic

beams

Example 1.
SOLUTION:
Based on the cross section geometry,
calculate the location of the section
centroid and moment of inertia.
Y

yA
A

I x I A d 2

Apply the elastic flexural formula to

find the maximum tensile and
compressive stresses.
m

A cast-iron machine part is acted upon

by a 3 kN-m couple. Knowing E = 165
GPa and neglecting the effects of
fillets, determine (a) the maximum
tensile and compressive stresses, (b)
the radius of curvature.

Mc
I

Calculate the curvature

1

M
EI

Example 1.
SOLUTION:
Based on the cross section geometry, calculate
the location of the section centroid and
moment of inertia.
Area, mm 2 y , mm
yA, mm3
1 20 90 1800
50
90 103
2 40 30 1200
20
24 103
3
A 3000
yA 114 10
3

yA 11410
Y

38 mm
3000
A

1 bh3 A d 2
I x I A d 2 12

1 90 203 1800 122 1 30 403 1200 182

12
12

I 868103 mm 86810-9 m 4

Example 1.
Apply the elastic flexural formula to find the
maximum tensile and compressive stresses.
Mc
I
M c A 3 kN m 0.022 m
A

I
868109 mm 4
M cB
3 kN m 0.038 m
B

I
868109 mm 4

A 76.0 MPa

B 131.3 MPa

Calculate the curvature

1

M
EI
3 kN m

165 GPa 86810-9 m 4

20.95 103 m-1

47.7 m

Example 2

Problem. A steel beam 25mm. Wide and 75mm. Deep is pinned to supports
at points A and B, where the suuport B is on rollers and free to move
horizontally. When the ends of the beam area loaded with 5kN loads, find
the maximum bending stress at the mid-span of the beam and also the angle
0 subtended by the cross sections at A and B in the deformed beam.

Example 2

Solution.

1.

Determine the bending moment.

From this diagram we see that
the portion AB is one of constant
bending moment (state of pure
bending).

2.

To calculate the bending stress,

we must locate the axes and
calculate the moment of intertia:

Example 2
The maximum bending stress occurs at the farthest from the neutral
surface. At the mid-span the bending stress at the top of the beam is
found to be:

If we use y=-37.5mm., we obtain a numerically equal compressive

stress at the bottom of the beam.
To obtain the angle change 0 we use the moment-curvature
relation (curvature definition from calculus):

Example 2
Then, the total angle change between A and B is found by
integration:

Example 3.
SOLUTION:
Treating the entire beam as a rigid
body, determine the reaction forces

For the timber beam and loading

shown, draw the shear and bendmoment diagrams and determine the
maximum normal stress due to
bending.

Section the beam at points near

supports and load application points.
Apply equilibrium analyses on
resulting free-bodies to determine
internal shear forces and bending
couples
Identify the maximum shear and
bending-moment from plots of their
distributions.
Apply the elastic flexure formulas to
determine the corresponding
maximum normal stress.

Example 3.
Identify the maximum shear and bendingmoment 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.

SOLUTION:
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
W10x112 rolled-steel beam. (a) Draw
internal shear forces and bending
the shear and bending-moment diagrams
couples.
for the beam and the given loading. (b)
determine normal stress in sections just
Apply the elastic flexure formulas to
to the right and left of point D.
determine the maximum normal
stress to the left and right of point D.

Example 4.
Apply the elastic flexure formulas to
determine the maximum normal stress to
the left and right of point D.

To the left of D :
M 2016kip in

S
126in 3
To the right of D :

m 16.0 ksi

M 1776kip in

S
126in 3

m 14.1ksi

Stresses in Symmetrical Elastic Beams

Transmitting Both Shear Force and Bending
Moment

Pure bending is a relatively uncommon

type of loading for a beam. Instead it is
more common for a shear force to be
present.

The presence of the shear force means

that the bending moment varies along the
beam (i.e. symmetry arguments are no
longer applicable).

In Engineering applications we make the

assumption that the bending-stress
equation is valid even when a shear
force is present.

Shear Stresses in Beams

Transverse loading applied to a beam
results in normal and shearing stresses in
transverse sections.
Distribution of normal and shearing
stresses satisfies
Fx x dA 0
Fy xy dA V
Fz xz dA 0

M x y xz z xy dA 0
M y z x dA 0
M z y x 0

When shearing stresses are exerted on the

vertical faces of an element, equal stresses
must be exerted on the horizontal faces
Longitudinal shearing stresses must exist
in any member subjected to transverse
loading.

Shear Stresses in Beams

Consider prismatic beam
For equilibrium of beam element
Fx 0 H D D dA
A

M D MC
y dA
I
A

Note,
Q y dA
A

M D MC

dM
x V x
dx

Substituting,
VQ
x
I
H VQ
q

shear flow
x
I
H

Shear Stresses in Beams

Shear flow,
q

H VQ

shear flow
x
I

where
Q y dA
A

first moment of area above y1

I

2
y dA

A A'

second moment of full cross section

Same result found for lower area

H VQ

q
x
I
Q Q 0
q

first moment with respect

to neutral axis
H H

Example 5
SOLUTION:

Determine the horizontal force per

unit length or shear flow q on the
lower surface of the upper plank.
Calculate the corresponding shear
force in each nail.
A beam is made of three planks,
nailed together. Knowing that the
spacing between nails is 25 mm and
that the vertical shear in the beam is
V = 500 N, determine the shear force
in each nail.

Example 5.
SOLUTION:
Determine the horizontal force per
unit length or shear flow q on the
lower surface of the upper plank.

Q Ay
0.020 m 0.100 m 0.060 m
120 106 m3
I

1 0.020 m 0.100 m 3
12
1 0.100 m 0.020 m 3
2[12

0.020 m 0.100 m 0.060 m 2 ]

16.20 10

VQ (500 N)(120 106 m3 )

q

I
16.20 10-6 m 4
3704 N
m

Calculate the corresponding shear

force in each nail for a nail spacing of
25 mm.
F (0.025 m)q (0.025 m)(3704 N m

F 92.6 N

Determination of the Shearing Stress in a Beam

The average shearing stress on the horizontal
face of the element is obtained by dividing the
shearing force on the element by the area of
the face.
H q x VQ x

A A
I t x
VQ

It

ave

On the upper and lower surfaces of the beam,

yx= 0. It follows that xy= 0 on the upper and
lower edges of the transverse sections.
If the width of the beam is comparable or large
relative to its depth, the shearing stresses at D1
and D2 are significantly higher than at D.

Shearing Stresses xy in Common Types of Beams

For a narrow rectangular beam,
VQ 3 V
xy

Ib 2 A

max

y 2
c 2

3V
2A

For American Standard (S-beam)

and wide-flange (W-beam) beams
VQ
It
V
max
Aweb

ave

Distribution of
Stresses in a Narrow Rectangular Beam
Consider a narrow rectangular cantilever beam
subjected to load P at its free end:
3 P
y 2
xy
1 2

2 A c

Pxy
I

Shearing stresses are independent of the distance

from the point of application of the load.

Normal strains and normal stresses are unaffected by

the shearing stresses.
From Saint-Venants principle, effects of the load
application mode are negligible except in immediate
vicinity of load application points.
Stress/strain deviations for distributed loads are
negligible for typical beam sections of interest.

Example 6.

SOLUTION:
Develop shear and bending moment
diagrams. Identify the maximums.

Determine the beam depth based on

allowable normal stress.
A timber beam is to support the three
concentrated loads shown. Knowing
that for the grade of timber used,
all 1800 psi

all 120 psi

determine the minimum required depth

d of the beam.

Determine the beam depth based on

allowable shear stress.
Required beam depth is equal to the
larger of the two depths found.

Example 6.
SOLUTION:
Develop shear and bending moment
diagrams. Identify the maximums.
Vmax 3 kips
M max 7.5 kip ft 90 kip in

Example 6.
Determine the beam depth based on allowable
normal stress.
all

M max
S

1800 psi

90 103 lb in.

0.5833 in. d 2

d 9.26 in.
1 bd3
I 12
I
S 16 b d 2
c

16 3.5 in. d 2
0.5833 in. d 2

Determine the beam depth based on allowable

shear stress.
3 Vmax
2 A
3 3000 lb
120 psi
2 3.5in. d
d 10.71in.

all

Required beam depth is equal to the larger of the two.

d 10.71in.