Third Edition

CHAPTER MECHANICS OF

9 MATERIALS
Ferdinand P. Beer
E. Russell Johnston, Jr.
John T. DeWolf

Lecture Notes:
Deflection of Beams

J. Walt Oler
Texas Tech University

© 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition
Third
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS Beer • Johnston • DeWolf

Deflection of Beams
Deformation of a Beam Under Transverse Loading
Equation of the Elastic Curve
Direct Determination of the Elastic Curve From the Load Distribution
Using Singularity Functions to Determine the Slope and Deflection of a Beam
Method of Superposition
Moment-Area Theorems
Application to Cantilever Beams and Beams With Symmetric Loading

© 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9-2

Edition
Third
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS Beer • Johnston • DeWolf

Deformation of a Beam Under Transverse Loading

• Relationship between bending moment and
curvature for pure bending remains valid for
general transverse loadings.
1 M ( x)

 EI

• Cantilever beam subjected to concentrated

load at the free end,
1 Px

 EI

• Curvature varies linearly with x

1
• At the free end A, ρ  0, ρA  
A

1 EI
• At the support B,  0,  B 
B PL

© 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9-3

Edition
Third
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS Beer • Johnston • DeWolf

Deformation of a Beam Under Transverse Loading

• Overhanging beam
• Reactions at A and C
• Bending moment diagram
• Curvature is zero at points where the bending
moment is zero, i.e., at each end and at E.
1 M ( x)

 EI
• Beam is concave upwards where the bending
moment is positive and concave downwards
where it is negative.
• Maximum curvature occurs where the moment
magnitude is a maximum.
• An equation for the beam shape or elastic curve
is required to determine maximum deflection
and slope.
© 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9-4
Edition
Third
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS Beer • Johnston • DeWolf

Equation of the Elastic Curve

• From elementary calculus, simplified for beam
parameters,
d2y
1 dx 2 d2y
 
   dy  2 3 2 dx 2
1    
  dx  

• Substituting and integrating,

1 d2y
EI  EI  M x
 dx 2

x
dy
 M  x dx  C1
dx 
EI   EI
0
x x
EI y   dx  M  x  dx  C1x  C2
0 0

© 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9-5

Edition
Third
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS Beer • Johnston • DeWolf

Equation of the Elastic Curve

• Constants are determined from boundary
conditions
x x
EI y   dx  M  x  dx  C1x  C2
0 0

• Three cases for statically determinant beams,

– Simply supported beam
y A  0, yB  0

– Overhanging beam
y A  0, yB  0
– Cantilever beam
y A  0,  A  0

• More complicated loadings require multiple

integrals and application of requirement for
continuity of displacement and slope.
© 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9-6
Edition
Third
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS Beer • Johnston • DeWolf

Direct Determination of the Elastic Curve From the

Load Distribution
• For a beam subjected to a distributed load,
dM d 2M dV
 V x 2
   w x 
dx dx dx

• Equation for beam displacement becomes

d 2M d4y
2
 EI 4
  w x 
dx dx

• Integrating four times yields

EI y  x     dx  dx  dx  w x dx

 16 C1x3  12 C2 x 2  C3 x  C4

• Constants are determined from boundary

conditions.

© 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9-7

Edition
Third
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS Beer • Johnston • DeWolf

Method of Superposition

Principle of Superposition:
• Deformations of beams subjected to • Procedure is facilitated by tables of
combinations of loadings may be solutions for common types of
obtained as the linear combination of loadings and supports.
the deformations from the individual
loadings

© 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9-8

Edition
Third
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS Beer • Johnston • DeWolf

Moment-Area Theorems
• Geometric properties of the elastic curve can
be used to determine deflection and slope.

• Consider a beam subjected to arbitrary loading,

d d 2 y M
 2
dx dx EI
D xD
M
 d  x EI dx
C C

xD
M
 D  C   dx
xC
EI
• First Moment-Area Theorem:
 D C  area under (M/EI) diagram between
C and D.

© 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9-9

Edition
Third
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS Beer • Johnston • DeWolf

Moment-Area Theorems
• Tangents to the elastic curve at P and P’ intercept a
segment of length dt on the vertical through C.
M
dt  x1d  x1 dx
EI
xD
M
tC D   x1
xC
EI
dx = tangential deviation of C
with respect to D

• Second Moment-Area Theorem:

The tangential deviation of C with respect to D
is equal to the first moment with respect to a
vertical axis through C of the area under the
(M/EI) diagram between C and D.

© 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 - 10

Edition
Third
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS Beer • Johnston • DeWolf

Application to Cantilever Beams and Beams With

Symmetric Loadings
• Cantilever beam - Select tangent at A as the
reference.

with θ A  0,
D  D A

yD  t D A

• Simply supported, symmetrically loaded

beam - select tangent at C as the reference.

with θC  0,
B  B C
yB  t B C

© 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 - 11