2.

Shearing Force And Bending

Moment In Beams
 Objectives
At end of this chapter, students able to:
Define beam and identify beam types
Estimate shear force and bending moment
Draw shear and bending-moment diagrams using static
equilibrium applied to sections.
Describe the relationships between applied loads, shear, and
bending moments throughout a beam.
Design non prismatic beams to provide constant strength
throughout these members.
 Introduction
We begin our study of beams (Fig. Below ) which are structural
members subjected to lateral loads, that is, forces or moments having
their vectors perpendicular to the axis of the bar.
Cont…..
In this chapter we discuss shear forces and bending moments
in beams, and we will show how these quantities are related to
each other and to the loads.

Finding the shear forces and bending moments is an essential

step in the design of any beam.

We usually need to know not only the maximum values of these

quantities, but also the manner in which they vary along the
axis.
 Types Of Beams, Loads, And Reactions
Beams are usually described by the manner in which they are
supported. For instance, a beam with a pin support at one end and a
roller support at the other (Fig. 2-1a) is called a simply supported
beam or a simple beam.
The essential feature of a pin support is that it prevents translation
at the end of a beam but does not prevent rotation.
Thus, end A of the beam of Fig. 2-1a cannot move horizontally or
vertically but the axis of the beam can rotate in the plane of the figure.
Consequently, a pin support is capable of developing a force reaction
with both horizontal and vertical components (HA and RA), but it
cannot develop a moment reaction.
 CONT…

Fig. 2-1 :Types of beams: (a) simple beam, (b) cantilever beam, and (c) beam with an
overhang
Cont…….

Fig. 2.1 Common types of beam

 CONT…
At end B of the beam (Fig. 2-1a) the roller support prevents translation
in the vertical direction but not in the horizontal direction; hence this
support can resist a vertical force (RB) but not a horizontal force.

The beam shown in Fig. 2-1b, which is fixed at one end and free at the
other, is called a cantilever beam. At the fixed support the beam can
neither translate nor rotate, whereas at the free end it may do both.

Consequently, both force and moment reactions may exist at the fixed
support.
 CONT…
The third example in the figure is a beam with an overhang
(Fig. 2-1c).

This beam is simply supported at points A and B (that is, it has

a pin support at A and a roller support at B) but it also projects
beyond the support at B.

The overhanging segment BC is similar to a cantilever beam

except that the beam axis may rotate at point B.
 Types of Loads
Several types of loads that act on beams are illustrated in Fig. 2-1 .
When a load is applied over a very small area it may be idealized as
a concentrated load, which is a single force. Examples are the
loads P1, P2, P3, and P4 in the figure 2-1.
When a load is spread along the axis of a beam, it is represented as a
distributed load, such as the load q in part (a) of the figure.
Distributed loads are measured by their intensity, which is
expressed in units of force per unit distance (for example, newtons
per meter or pounds per foot). Distributed load it may be:
uniformly distributed load, or
linearly varying load
 Reactions
Finding the reactions is usually the first step in the analysis of a beam.

Once the reactions are known, the shear forces and bending moments
can be found. If a beam is supported in a statically determinate
manner, all reactions can be found from free-body diagrams and
equations of equilibrium.
As an example, let us determine the reactions of the simple beam AB
of Fig. 2-1a. This beam is loaded by an inclined force P1, a vertical
force P2, and a uniformly distributed load of intensity ( q). We begin by
noting that the beam has three unknown reactions: a horizontal force HA
and vertical force VA at the pin support, and a vertical force VB at the
roller support.
CONT …..
 Cont….
For a planar structure, such as this beam, we know from statics that we
can write three independent equations of equilibrium. Thus, since there
are three unknown reactions and three equations, the beam is statically
determinate. The equation of horizontal equilibrium is:
 Cont….
To find the vertical reactions RA and RB we write equations of moment
equilibrium about points B and A, respectively,
Cantilever beam
As a second example, consider the cantilever beam of Fig. 2-1b. The
loads consist of an inclined force P3 and a linearly varying distributed
load.

The latter is represented by a trapezoidal diagram of load intensity that

varies from q1 to q2.

The reactions at the fixed support are a horizontal force HA, a vertical
force RA, and a couple MA. Equilibrium of forces in the horizontal
direction gives
CONT…
 Cont…
The moment of the upper triangular portion of the load is obtained by
a similar procedure, and the final equation of moment equilibrium.
 Beam with an overhang
The beam with an overhang (Fig. 2-1c) supports a vertical force
P4 and a couple of moment M1.

Since there are no horizontal forces acting on the beam, the

horizontal reaction at the pin support is nonexistent and we do
not need to show it on the free-body diagram.

In arriving at this conclusion, we made use of the equation of

equilibrium for forces in the horizontal direction.

Consequently, only two independent equations of equilibrium

remain—either two moment equations or one moment equation
plus the equation for vertical equilibrium.
Cont…
 Shear Forces And Bending Moments
When a beam is loaded by forces or couples, stresses and
strains are created throughout the interior of the beam. To
determine these stresses and strains, we first must find the
internal forces and internal couples that act on cross sections of
the beam.
As an illustration of how these
internal quantities are found,
consider a cantilever beam AB
loaded by a force P at its
free end (Fig. 2-2a).

Fig. 2-2: Shear force V and bending moment M in a beam

 cont……

From statics, we know that the resultant of the stresses acting on the
cross section can be reduced to a shear force V and a bending
moment M (Fig. 2-2b).
 Cont…..
Shear forces and bending moments, like axial forces in bars and
internal torques in shafts, are the resultants of stresses distributed over
the cross section. Therefore, these quantities are known collectively as
stress resultants.

The stress resultants in statically determinate beams can be calculated

from equations of equilibrium.

where X is the distance from the free end of the beam to the cross section
where V and M are being determined.
 Sign Conventions
Therefore, we must recognize that the algebraic sign of a stress
resultant is determined by how it deforms the material on which
it acts, rather than by its direction in space. In the case of a beam,

A positive shear force acts clockwise against the material (Figs.

2-2b and c) and a negative shear force acts counterclockwise
against the material.

Also, a positive bending moment compresses the upper part of

the beam (Figs. 2-2b and c) and a negative bending moment
compresses the lower part.
 Cont…
To make these conventions clear, both positive and negative shear
forces and bending moments are shown in Fig. 2-3.

Fig. 2-3 Sign conventions for shear force V and bending moment M
 Problem 2.1
Problem 2-1 Calculate the shear force V and bending moment
M at a cross section just to the left of the 1600-lb load acting on
the simple beam AB shown in the figure.
 Problem 2.2
Problem 2-2: Determine the shear force V and bending moment
M at the midpoint C of the simple beam AB shown in the
figure.
 Problem 2-2
Problem2-2: Calculate the shear force V and bending moment M at a
cross section located 0.5 m from the fixed support of the cantilever
beam AB shown in the figure.
Problem 2.4
Problem 2.4: Determine the shear force V and bending
moment M at a cross section located 16 ft from the left-hand
end A of the beam with an overhang shown in the figure.
Shear-force And Bending moment Diagrams
When designing a beam, we usually need to know how the shear
forces and bending moments vary throughout the length of the beam.

Information of this kind is usually provided by graphs in which the

shear force and bending moment are plotted as ordinates and the
distance X along the axis of the beam is plotted as the abscissa. Such
graphs are called shear-force and bending-moment diagrams.
 Cont…….
To provide a clear understanding of these diagrams, we will explain

in detail how they are constructed and interpreted for three basic loading
conditions:

single concentrated load

uniform load

several concentrated loads.

 Concentrated Load
Let us begin with a simple beam AB supporting a concentrated load P
(Fig. 2- 4a). The load P acts at distance a from the left-hand support
and distance b from the right-hand support.

Fig. 2-4 Shear-force and bending-moment diagrams for a simple beam with a concentrated
load
 Cont…
We now cut through the beam at a cross section to the left of the load P

and at distance X from the support at A. Then we draw a free-body diagram of

the left-hand part of the beam (Fig. 2-5b).

From the equations of equilibrium for this free body, we obtain the shear
force V and bending moment M at distance x from the support:

Fig. 2-6 Shear-force and bending-moment diagrams

for a simple beam with a concentrated load
 Cont…
Next, we cut through the beam to the right of the load P and again draw a
free-body diagram of the left hand part of the beam (Fig. 2-6c).
 Cont…..
The equations for the shear forces and bending moments and are
plotted below the sketches of the beam. Figure 2- 6 d is the
shear-force diagram and Fig. 2-6e is the bending-moment
diagram.
As shown in the second diagram, the bending moment in the left-
hand part of the beam increases linearly from zero at the support to
Pab/L at the concentrated load . In the right-hand part, the bending
moment is again a linear function of x, varying from Pab/L at to zero
at the support .
[part
 Uniform Load
A simple beam with a uniformly distributed load of constant
intensity q is shown in Fig. 2-7a. Because the beam and its
loading are symmetric, we see immediately that each of the
reactions (RA and RB) is equal to qL/2. Therefore, the shear force
and bending moment at distance x from the left-hand end are
 Cont……

Fig. 2-7 Shear-force and bending-moment diagrams for a simple beam with a uniform load
 Problem 2.5
Problem 2.5: A beam ABC with an overhang at one end supports a
uniform load of intensity 12 kN/m and a concentrated load of
magnitude 2.4 kN (see figure). Draw the shear-force and bending-
moment diagrams for this beam.
 Problem 2-6
Problem 2- 6 : The cantilever beam shown in the figure supports a
concentrated load and a segment of uniform load. Draw the shear-
force and bending-moment diagrams for this cantilever beam.
Problem 2-7
Problem 2-7: Beam carrying the triangular loading shown in
Fig. below . Draw the shear-force and bending-moment
diagrams for this this beam.