BFC 20903 Mechanics of

Materials
Chapter 5: TRANSVERSE SHEAR
LECTURE BY:
NOOR AZLINA ABDUL HAMID
DEPARTMENT OF STRUCTURE AND MATERIALS
FACULTY OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENT ENGINEERING

Chapter Learning Outcome

Define a shear stress formulae

Define the concept of

shear flow for beams and
thin-walled members
Define of shear centre
BFC 20903 (Mechanics of Materials)
Shahrul Niza Mokhatar
(shahrul@uthm.edu.my

SHEARING STRESS IN BEAMS

The shear V is the result of a

transverse shear-stress distribution
that acts over the beams cross
section.

Boards not bonded together

Boards bonded together

The effect of shear stresses is visualized by considering a

beam being made up of three flat boards stacked on top of
one another without being fastened together and then
loaded in a direction normal to the surface of the boards.
What will happen to the boards ???
1. Boards slide each other and deflect
2. The longitudinal shear stresses between the boards will
prevent from slide and act as a single unit

The lack of such relative sliding and deformation in an actual

solid beam suggests the presence of resisting shear stresses
on longitudinal planes

 The shear stress formula:

VAy '

Ib
VQ

Ib

V = shear force
A = area of cross section of
beam for calculation of
desired shear point
y = distance to the
centroid or particular area
measured from N.A
I = moment of inertia
b = width of the beam
Q = Ay

??
?
??
?

Example
In figure, the beam is made of wood
and subjected to a resultant internal
vertical shear force of V = 3 kN.
a) Determine the shear stress in the
beam at point P
b) Calculate the maximum shear
stress in the beam

Solution (a):

Solution (b):
The maximum shear stress occurs at
N.A.

Shear Flow in Built-up

Members
Built-up members:
Made from several composite parts.
To combine all part, the fasteners
such as nails, bolts, welding or glue
may be used.

Shear Flow:
Measure of the force per unit length

q = shear flow
V = internal resultant shear force
I = moment of inertia
Q = Ay, where A is cross-section area and y is the
distance from N.A to the centroid of A

Example
The figure shows that the
nails having a total shear
strength of 40 N. If the
nails are spaced at 9 cm,
determine the largest
vertical shear that can be
supported so that the
fasteners will not fail.

Solution:

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