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Shear and moment diagram

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shear and bending moment diagrams are

analytical tools used in conjunction with structural
analysis to help perform structural design by
determining the value of shear force and bending
moment at a given point of a structural element such
as a beam. These diagrams can be used to easily
determine the type, size, and material of a member
in a structure so that a given set of loads can be
supported without structural failure. Another
application of shear and moment diagrams is that the
deflection of a beam can be easily determined using
either the moment area method or the conjugate
beam method.

Shear and moment diagram for a simply supported beam with a

concentrated load at mid-span.(right)
Contents
◾ 1 Convention
◾ 1.1 Normal convention
◾ 1.2 Alternative drawing convention
◾ 2 Calculating shear force and bending
moment
◾ 2.1 Step 1: Compute the reaction
forces and moments
◾ 2.2 Step 2: Break beam into segments
◾ 2.3 Step 3: Compute shear forces and
moments - first piece
◾ 2.4 Step 4: Compute shear forces and
moments - second piece
◾ 2.5 Step 5: Compute shear forces and
moments - third piece
◾ 2.6 Step 6: Compute shear forces and
moments - fourth piece
◾ 2.7 Step 7: Compute deflections of the
four segments
◾ 2.8 Step 8: Apply boundary conditions
◾ 2.9 Step 9: Solve for Mc and Ra
◾ 2.10 Step 10: Plot bending moment
and shear force diagrams
◾ 2.11 Relationship between shear force
and bending moment

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◾ 3 Relationships between load, shear, and

moment diagrams
◾ 4 Practical considerations
◾ 5 See also
◾ 6 References
◾ 7 Further reading
◾ 8 External links

Convention
Although these conventions are relative and any convention can be used if stated explicitly, practicing engineers have
adopted a standard convention used in design practices.

Normal convention

The normal convention used in most engineering applications is to label a positive shear force one that spins an element
clockwise (up on the left, and down on the right). Likewise the normal convention for a positive bending moment is to
warp the element in a "u" shape manner (Clockwise on the left, and counterclockwise on the right). Another way to
remember this is if the moment is bending the beam into a "smile" then the moment is positive, with compression at the
top of the beam and tension on the bottom.[1]

This convention was selected to simplify the

analysis of beams. Since a horizontal member
is usually analyzed from left to right and
positive in the vertical direction is normally
taken to be up, the positive shear convention
was chosen to be up from the left, and to
make all drawings consistent down from the Normal positive shear force convention (left) and normal bending moment
right. The positive bending convention was
convention (right).
chosen such that a positive shear force would
tend to create a positive moment.

Alternative drawing convention

In structural engineering and in particular concrete design the positive moment is drawn on the tension side of the
member. This convention puts the positive moment below the beam described above. A convention of placing moment
diagram on the tension side allows for frames to be dealt with more easily and clearly. Additionally placing the moment
on the tension side of the member shows the general shape of the deformation and indicates on which side of a concrete
member rebar should be placed, as concrete is weak in tension.[2]

Calculating shear force and bending moment

With the loading diagram drawn the next step is to find the value of the shear force and moment at any given point
along the element. For a horizontal beam one way to perform this is at any point to "chop off" the right end of the beam.

The example below includes a point load, a distributed load, and an applied moment. The supports include both hinged
supports and a fixed end support. The first drawing shows the beam with the applied forces and displacement
constraints. The second drawing is the loading diagram with the reaction values given without the calculations shown or
what most people call a free body diagram. The third drawing is the shear force diagram and the fourth drawing is the

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bending moment diagram. For the bending moment

diagram the normal sign convention was used.
Below the moment diagram are the stepwise
functions for the shear force and bending moment
with the functions expanded to show the effects of
each load on the shear and bending functions.

The example is illustrated using United States

customary units. Point loads are expressed in kips (1
kip = 1000 lbf = 4.45 kN), distributed loads are Loaded beam
expressed in k/ft (1 k/ft = 1 kip/ft = 14.6 kN/m),
moments are expressed in ft-k (1 ft-k = 1 ft-kip =
1.356 kNm), and lengths are in ft (1 ft = 0.3048 m).

Step 1: Compute the reaction forces and moments

The first step obtaining the bending moment and

shear force equations is to determine the reaction
forces. This is done using a free body diagram of the
entire beam.

The beam has three reaction forces, Ra, Rb at the two

supports and Rc at the clamped end. The clamped
end also has a reaction couple Mc. These four
quantities have to be determined using two
equations, the balance of forces in the beam and the
balance of moments in the beam. Four unknowns
cannot be found given two independent equations in
these unknown variables and hence the beam is Free-body diagram of whole beam
statically indeterminate. One way of solving this
problem is to use the principle of linear
superposition and break the problem up into the superposition of a number of statically determinate problems. The extra
boundary conditions at the supports have to be incorporated into the superposed solution so that the deformation of the
entire beam is compatible.

From the free-body diagram of the entire beam we have the two balance equations

Summing the forces, we have

and summing the moments around the free end (A) we have

We can solve these equations for Rb and Rc in terms of Ra and Mc :

and

If we sum moments about the first support from the left of the beam we have

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If we plug in the expressions for Rb and Rc we get the trivial identity 0 = 0 which indicates that this equation is not
independent of the previous two. Similarly, if we take moments around the second support, we have

Once again we find that this equation is not independent of the first two equations. We could also try to compute
moments around the clamped end of the beam to get

This equation also turns out not to be linearly independent from the other two equations. Therefore, the beam is
statically indeterminate and we will have to find the bending moments in segments of the beam as functions of Ra and
Mc.

Step 2: Break beam into segments

After the reaction forces are found, you then break the beam into pieces. The location and number of external forces on
the member determine the number and location of these pieces. The first piece always starts from one end and ends
anywhere before the first external force.

Step 3: Compute shear forces and moments - first piece

Let V1 and M1 be the shear force and bending moment in a cross-

section of the first beam segment, respectively. As the section of the
beam moves towards the point of application of the external force
the magnitudes of the shear force and moment may change. This
makes the shear force and bending moment a function of the
position of cross-section (in this example x).

By summing the forces along this segment and summing the

moments, the equations for the shear force and bending moment are
obtained. These equations are: Free-body diagram of segment 1

and

Therefore,

Step 4: Compute shear forces and moments - second piece

Taking the second segment, ending anywhere before the second internal force, we have

and

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Therefore,

Free-body diagram of segment 2

Notice that because the shear force is in terms of x, the moment equation is squared. This is due to the fact that the
moment is the integral of the shear force. The tricky part of this moment is the distributed force. Since the force changes
with the length of the segment, the force will be multiplied by the distance after 10 ft. i.e. (x-10) the moment location is
defined in the middle of the distributed force, which is also changing. This is where (x+10)/2 is derived from.

Alternatively, we can take moments about the cross-section to get

Again, in this case,

Step 5: Compute shear forces and moments - third piece

Taking the third segment, and summing forces, we have

and summing moments about the cross-section, we get

Free-body diagram of segment 3

Therefore,

and

Notice that the distributed force can now be considered one force of 15 kips acting in the middle of where it is
positioned.

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Step 6: Compute shear forces and moments - fourth piece

Taking the fourth and final segment, a balance of forces gives

and a balance of moments around the cross-section leads to

Free-body diagram of segment 4

Solving for V4 and M4, we have

and

By plotting each of these equations on their intended intervals, you get the bending moment and shear force diagrams
for this beam. In particular, at the clamped end of the beam, x = 50 and we have

Step 7: Compute deflections of the four segments

We now use the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory to compute the deflections of the four segments. The differential equation
that relates the beam deflection (w) to the bending moment (M) is

where E is the Young's modulus and I is the area moment of inertia of the beam cross-section.

Substituting the expressions for M1, M2, M3, M4 into the beam equation and solving for the deflection gives us

Step 8: Apply boundary conditions

Now we will apply displacement boundary conditions for the four segments to determine the integration constants.

For the fourth segment of the beam, we consider the boundary conditions at the clamped end where w4 = dw/dx = 0 at x

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= 50. Solving for C7 and C8 gives

Therefore, we can express w4 as

Now, w4 = w3 at x = 37.5 (the point of application of the external couple). Also, the slopes of the deflection curves at
this point are the same, i.e., dw4/dx = dw3/dx. Using these boundary conditions and solving for C5 and C6, we get

Substitution of these constants into the expression for w3 gives us

Similarly, at the support between segments 2 and 3 where x = 25, w3 = w2 and dw3/dx = dw2/dx. Using these and solving
for C3 and C4 gives

Therefore,

At the support between segments 1 and 2, x = 10 and w1 = w2 and dw1/dx = dw2/dx. These boundary conditions give us

Therefore,

Step 9: Solve for Mc and Ra

Because w2 = 0 at x = 25, we can solve for Mc in terms of Ra to get

Also, since w1 = 0 at x = 10, expressing the deflection in terms of Ra (after eliminating Mc) and solving for Ra, gives

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Step 10: Plot bending moment and shear force diagrams

We can now calculate the reactions Rb and Rc, the

bending moments M1, M2, M3, M4, and the shear
forces V1, V2, V3, V4. These expressions can then be
plotted as a function of length for each segment.

Relationship between shear force and

bending moment
Free-body diagram
It is important to note the relationship between the
two diagrams. The moment diagram is a visual
representation of the area under the shear force
diagram. That is, the moment is the integral of the
shear force. If the shear force is constant over an
interval, the moment equation will be in terms of x.
If the shear force is linear over an interval, the
moment equation will be quadratic. Shear force diagram

Another note on the shear moment diagrams is that

they show where external force and moments are
applied. With no external forces, the piecewise
functions should attach and show no discontinuity.
The discontinuities on the graphs are the exact
magnitude of either the external force or external
moments that are applied. For example, at x = 10 on Bending moment diagram
the shear force diagram, there is a gap between the
two equations. This gap goes from -10 to 15.3. The
length of this gap is 25.3, the exact magnitude of the external force at that point. At section 3 on the moment diagram,
there is a discontinuity of 50. This is from the applied moment of 50 on the structure. The maximum and minimum
vales on the graphs represent the max forces and moments that this beam will have under these circumstances.

Relationships between load, shear, and moment diagrams

Since this method can easily become unnecessarily complicated with relatively simple problems, it can be quite helpful
to understand different relations between the loading, shear, and moment diagram. The first of these is the relationship
between a distributed load on the loading diagram and the shear diagram. Since a distributed load varies the shear load
according to its magnitude it can be derived that the slope of the shear diagram is equal to the magnitude of the
distributed load. The relationship between distributed load and shear force magnitude is:[3]

Some direct results of this is that a shear diagram will have a point change in magnitude if a point load is applied to a
member, and a linearly varying shear magnitude as a result of a constant distributed load. Similarly it can be shown that
the slope of the moment diagram at a given point is equal to the magnitude of the shear diagram at that distance. The
relationship between distributed shear force and bending moment is:[4]

A direct result of this is that at every point the shear diagram crosses zero the moment diagram will have a local
maximum or minimum. Also if the shear diagram is zero over a length of the member, the moment diagram will have a
constant value over that length. By calculus it can be shown that a point load will lead to a linearly varying moment
diagram, and a constant distributed load will lead to a quadratic moment diagram.

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Practical considerations
In practical applications the entire stepwise function is rarely written out. The only parts of the stepwise function that
would be written out are the moment equations in a nonlinear portion of the moment diagram; this occurs whenever a
distributed load is applied to the member. For constant portions the value of the shear and/or moment diagram is written
right on the diagram, and for linearly varying portions of a member the beginning value, end value, and slope or the
portion of the member are all that are required.[5]

See also
◾ Bending
◾ Euler-Bernoulli beam theory
◾ Bending moment
◾ Singularity function#Example beam calculation

References
1. ^ Livermore, Carol; Henrik Schmidt, James Williams Jr., and Simona Socrate. "2.001 Mechanics & Materials I, Fall
2006." (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mechanical-engineering/2-001-mechanics-materials-i-fall-2006). Lecture 5: MIT
OpenCourseWare: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
2. ^ "Moment Diagram Sign Convention Poll" (http://eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=292028). Eng Tips Forum. Retrieved
25 October 2013.
3. ^ Emweb.unl.edu (http://emweb.unl.edu/negahban/em325/10a-shear-and-bending-moment/Shear%20stress%20in%
20beams.htm)
4. ^ Beer, Ferdinand P.; E. Russell Johnston; John T. DeWolf (2004). Mechanics of Materials. McGraw-Hill. pp. 322–323.
ISBN 0-07-298090-7.
5. ^ Hibbeler, R.C (1985). Structural Analysis. Macmillan. pp. 146–148.

Further reading
◾ Cheng, Fa-Hwa. "Shear Forces and Bending Moments in Beams" Statics and Strength of Materials. New York:
Glencoe, McGraw-Hill, 1997. Print.
◾ Spotts, Merhyle Franklin, Terry E. Shoup, and Lee Emrey. Hornberger. "Shear and Bending Moment Diagrams."
Design of Machine Elements. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004. Print.

External links
◾ FREE Online Shear Force and Bending Moment Diagram (SFD & BMD) Calculator.
(http://bendingmomentdiagram.com/free-calculator) (Note: only free up to 3 point loads.)
◾ To draw the shear and moment diagrams by writing the shear and moment equations.
(http://www.mathalino.com/reviewer/mechanics-and-strength-of-materials/shear-and-moment-diagrams)
◾ Online Calculator for Shear Force and Bending Moment. (http://civilengineer.webinfolist.com/mech/bmcalc.htm)
◾ To draw the shear and moment diagrams by the relationship between load, shear, and moment.
(http://www.mathalino.com/reviewer/mechanics-and-strength-of-materials/relation-between-load-shear-and-
moment)

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