Bending 6.3-6.

4
Longitudinal Strain
Flexure Formula

Bending Theory
There are a number of assumptions made in order
to develop the Elastic Theory of Bending:
The beam has a constant cross-section
Is made of a flexible, homogenous material with the same E
in tension and compression.
The material is linearly elastic. Stress and Strain are
proportional (material obeys Hookes Law).
The beam material is not stressed past its proportional limit.

Longitudinal Strains in Beams

Approach:
The Longitudinal Strains in beam can be
determined by analyzing the curvature of the
beam and its deformations.
Consider a portion of a beam subjected only to
positive bending.
Assume that the beam is initially straight and is
symmetrical.

Longitudinal Strains in Beams

Under the action of the bending moments, the beam
deflects in the xy plane and its longitudinal axis is bent
into a curvepositive.
mn and pq remain plane and normal to the longitudinal
axis.
This fact is fundamental to beam theory.
Even though a plane cross section in pure bending
remains plane, there still may be deformations in the
plane itself, but they are small and may be neglected.

Longitudinal Strains in Beams

With the beam in positive bending, we know that
the lower part of the beam in is Tension and the
upper part is in compression.
Somewhere between the top and bottom of the
beam is a surface that does not change in
length. This is called the neutral surface of the
beam.

Longitudinal Strains in Beams

The section mnpq intersect in a line through the
center of curvature O, through an angle d, at a
radius of . Figure 6.23
At the neutral surface, dx is unchanged,
therefore d=dx.
All other longitudinal lines between the two
planes either lengthen or shorten, creating
normal strains x.

Longitudinal Strains in Beams

To evaluate these normal strains, consider line
s, a distance y from the neutral surface.
(we are assuming that the x axis lies along the neutral surface of
the undeformed beam. When the beam deflects, the neutral
surface moves with the beam, but the x axis remains in a fixed
position. Yet s in the deflected beam is still located at the same
distance y from the neutral surface).

Therefore the length of ef after bending is:

y
s y d dx dx

Longitudinal Strains in Beams

Since the original length s is dx, it follows that
its elongation is s-dx or ydx/ .
The longitudinal strain is the elongation divided
by the initial length dx.

y
x

This is called the Strain-Curvature Relation.

Longitudinal Strains in Beams

The equation was derived solely from the
geometry (without concern for material).
Strains in a beam in pure bending vary linearly
with distance from the neutral surface regardless
of the shape of the stress-strain curve of the
material.
Longitudinal strains in a beam are accompanied
by transverse strains because of Poissons ratio.

Longitudinal Stresses in Beams

Now we need to find the stresses from the
strains, using a stress-strain curve.
Note there are no accompanying transverse
stresses because beams are free to deform
laterally.

Normal Stresses in Beams

Stresses act over the entire area cross section
of the beam and vary in intensity depending
upon the shape of the stress-strain diagram and
the dimensions. Fig 6.26
For a linearly elastic material, we can use
Hookes law

Normal Stresses in Beams

By substitution we get:
Ey
x E x

This equation shows that the normal stresses

acting on the cross section vary linearly with the
distance from y from the neutral surface. Fig
6.26b.

Normal Stresses in Beams

In general, the resultant of the normal stresses consists
of two stress resultants:
A force acting in the x-direction
A bending couple acting about the z axis.

Since the axial force is zero for a beam in pure bending:

The resultant force in the x direction is zero (this gives us the
location of the neutral axis)
The resultant moment is the bending moment.

Moment-Curvature Relationship
Therefore the neutral axis passes through the
centroid of the cross-sectional area for our given
constraints.
And the moment resulting from the normal
stresses acting over the cross section is equal to
the bending moment.

dM x ydA

Moment-Curvature Relationship
The integral of all such elemental moments over
the entire cross-sectional area is then equal to
the bending moment. Equation 6-11
2
I

y
Recall that
A dA is the moment of inertia.
Then we can express curvature in terms of the
bending moment called the Moment Curvature
Equation.
1 M

EI

Moment-Curvature Relationship
This shows that the curvature is directly
proportional to the bending moment applied and
inversely proportional to EI called the Flexural
Rigidity of the beam.
Flexural Rigidity is a measure of the resistance
of a beam to bending.

Flexure Formula
Now that we have located the neutral axis and derived
the moment curvature relationship we can find the
stresses in terms of bending moment.
If we substitute the equation for curvature into our
equation for normal stress we get

My
x
I

Called the Flexure Formula.

Flexure Formula
Stresses calculated with the flexure formula are
called Bending Stresses or Flexural Stresses.
The maximum tensile and compressive bending
stresses acting at any given cross section occur at
points farthest from the neutral axis.

Mc
max I

Limitation Reminders
The beam is subjected to Pure Bending
The beam has a constant cross-section
Is made of a flexible, homogenous material with the
same E in tension and compression.
The material is linearly elastic. Stress and Strain are
proportional.
The beam material is not stressed past its proportional
limit.