Influence lines Week 8

COURSE CODE: CVE 321

COURSE TITLE: THEORY OF STRUCTURES II

TOPIC: INFLUENCE LINES

WEEK 8-9

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 Influence lines Week 8

INFLUENCE LINES

The initial difficulty with influence lines is in the understanding of what an influence
line really is. Bending Moment & similar diagrams are familiar and generally easily
understood, this diagram give the values of a function at all point in the span when
the load occupies a certain fixed position. In many problems however, the engineer
has to deal with moving loads and therefore occupy any position of the span.
Influence lines are used for this. Influence lines can therefore be defined as the
graph/diagram showing the values/variation of a function at one point of a beam as
a unit load moves along the beam. An influence line represents the variation of the
reaction, shear, moment or deflection at a specific point in a member as a
concentrated force moves over the member. Once this line is constructed, one can tell
at a glance where the moving load should be placed on the structure so that it creates
the greatest influence at the specified point. Furthermore, the magnitude of the
associated reaction, shear, moment or deflection at the point can be calculated from
the ordinates of the influence line diagram. For these reasons, influence lines play an
important part in the design of bridges, industrial crane rails, conveyors and other
structures where loads move across their span.

Although the procedure for constructing an influence line is rather basic, one should
clearly be aware of the difference between constructing an influence line and
constructing a shear or moment diagram. Influence line represent the effect of a
moving load only at a specified point on a member, whereas shear and moment
diagrams represent the effect of fixed loads at all points along the axis of the
member.

Influence line for Bending Moment

To draw an influence line, a given point on the span is selected and a diagram drawn
to show how the value of a function e.g. bending moment varies at this point as a
simple unit force occupies different position on the span. The difference between an
influence line and Bending moment diagram is that the latter shows how the
bending moment at all point on the span varies when the load remain fixed at the
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 Influence lines Week 8

given positions while the influence line at a given point shows how the bending
moment of that point varies as the load occupies different positions on the span.

X
This diagram is the influence line for B.M at
X, the Ordinate at a point y gives the
x
B.M at X when unit load is at y.

L In general, if loads , & occupy

position on the span such that the ordinate
( − ) to the influence line diagram are , &
then the B.M at x due to the three loads
when they are in that particular position is
given by + + .

The effect of a UDL is obtained by taking the area under the influence line covered
by the load and multiplying it by the intensity of loading.

Procedure for Analysis

Two procedures can be used to construct the influence line at a specific point P in a
member for any function (reaction, shear, moment). For both of these procedures we
will choose the moving force to have a dimensionless magnitude of unity.

Tabulate Values

1. Place a unit load at various locations x, along the member and at each location
use statics to determine the value of the function (reaction, shear or moment)
at the specified point.

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 Influence lines Week 8

2. If the influence line for a vertical force reaction at a point on a beam is to be

constructed, consider the reaction to be positive at the point when it acts
upward on the beam.
3. If a shear or moment influence line is to be drawn for a point, take the shear
or moment at the point as positive according to the same sign convention
used for drawing shear and moment diagrams.
4. All statically determinate beams will have influence lines that consist of
straight line segments. After some practice one should be able to minimize
computations and locate the unit load only at points representing the end
points of each line segment.
5. To avoid errors, it is recommended that one first construct a table listing “unit
load at x” versus the corresponding value of the function calculated at the
specific point; that is “reaction R”, “shear V”, or “moment M”. Once the load
has been place at various points along the span of the member, the tabulated
values can be plotted and the influence-line segment constructed.

Influence-line Equations

The influence line can also be constructed by placing the unit load at a variable
position x on the member and then computing the value of R, V or M at the point
as a function of x. In this manner the equations of the various line segments
composing the influence line can be determined and plotted.

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 Influence lines Week 8

EXAMPLE 1

Construct the influence line for the vertical reaction at A of the beam shown.

A B

10m

EXAMPLE 2

Construct the influence line for the vertical reaction at B of the beam shown.

x
B
A

5m 5m

EXAMPLE 3

Construct the influence line for the shear at C of the beam shown.

C
A B

2.5m 7.5m

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