MECHANICS OF MATERIALS

LECTURE 4

DEFLECTION OF BEAMS

Mechanical & Maintenance Engineering Dept. FBC/USL/STN-MECHANICS OF MATERIALS-MENG 312

 DEFLECTION OF BEAMS

 When a beam carries transverse loads over its length, the axis of the beam deflects.
The deflection in the flexure elements of the beam/machine elements must be
within the permissible limit so as to prevent misalignment and to maintain
dimensional accuracy.

 It is evident, therefore, that methods are required to accurately predict the

deflection of members under lateral loads since it is this form of loading which will
generally produce the greatest deflections of beams, struts and other structural
types of members.

Why calculate deflections?

1. To prevent cracking of attached brittle materials

2. To make sure the structure does not deflect severely and to “appear” safe for its
occupants
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Fig. 1
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(b)

(a)

(d)
(c) Fig. 2
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Methods to compute deflections in beam

Several methods exist for computing the deflection of beams, some of which
includes;

i. Double integration method (without the use of singularity functions)

ii. Macaulay’s Method (with the use of singularity functions)

iii.Moment area method

iv. Method of superposition

v. Conjugate beam method

vi. Castigliano’s theorem

vii.Work/Energy methods
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Relation between slope, deflection, radius of curvature and bending moment

Fig. 3 shows a beam simply supported at its ends and carrying a point load W and a
uniformly distributed load w as shown. Under the action of these transverse loads, the
beam is deflected and its axis is bent as shown by ACDB. The radius of curvature of the
beam at one section may be different from the radius of curvature at the other section.

As the bending moment along the length of the beam changes, its radius of curvature
also changes as is obvious from the formula M/I=E/R .

Consider a very small length marked by points C and D and for this very small length radius of curvature,
R may be assumed as constant. Enlarged view of the length CD is shown in Fig. 3(b ), where R is the radius
of curvature, O is the centre of curvature. CG is the tangent to the curve CD at the point C and DF is the
tangent to the curve at the point D.
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Fig. 3
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Then Angle subtended by length or CD at the centre of curvature

So

When then segment CD can be approximated by a straight Line CD having components and along x-axis
and y-axis respectively.

Or in the limits

Differentiating both the sides of equation (1) will give

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So,

From equation 1;
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Substituting equation (3) into (4) gives

Since is the slope at a point in the beam and it is a very small quantity then will be much smaller than and
therefore can be neglected in comparison to 1.
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But from the bending formula

This differential equation gives the relationship between the moment of resistance at a
particular section and the Cartesian co-ordinates of the point in the bent beam.
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Direct integration method

The following 4-step procedure to solving deflection of beam problems by double

integration method involves:

Step 1: Write down boundary conditions (Slope boundary conditions and displacement
boundary conditions), analyze the problem to be solved and draw the loading conditions
of the beams.

Step 2: Write governing equations for

Step 3: Solve governing equations by integration which results in expressions for the
slope and deflection with unknown integration constants.

Step 4: Apply boundary conditions to determine the integration constants.

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The determination of beam slopes and deflections by simple integration method requires
knowledge of certain conditions for various loading systems in order that the constants
of integration in step 4 can be evaluated. They are as follows:

1) Deflections at supports are assumed zero unless otherwise stated.

2) Slopes at built-in supports are assumed zero unless otherwise stated.

3) Slope at the centre of symmetrically loaded and supported beams is zero.

4) Bending moments at the free ends of a beam (i.e. those not built-in) are zero.
Simply supported beam with concentrated load at the centre
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A B

A beam AB of length L is simply supported at the ends A and B and carries a load W at
its centre C, as shown in the above. By symmetry the reactions at A and B will be
equal i.e.,
Now consider a section X-X at a distance of from the end A.

Integrating equations (i) twice gives:

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As the beam is symmetrically loaded about its centre, slope at the centre of the beam will be zero.

At the free ends the deflection is zero.

Maximum deflection occurs at the centre of the beam at

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Maximum slope occurs at the ends
A simply supported beam with a uniformly distributed load
over its length

A B

Total vertical load on the beam =

By symmetry, reactions at A and B will be equal i.e.,

Consider a section X-X at a distance of from the end A

Bending moment on the section,
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Integrating twice will give;

Since the be.am is symmetrically loaded about its centre, slope at the centre of the beam will be zero. At the
end the deflection is zero.
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In this case, maximum deflection occurs at the centre of the beam i.e., at Putting this
value in equation

Maximum slope occurs at the support i.e at

A cantilever with a concentrated load at the
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free end

A B

A cantilever AB of length, free at end A and fixed at end B carries a concentrated load
W at the free end as shown in the. At the end B, there will be a reaction, and a fixing
couple.
Consider a section X-X at a distance of from the end A.
Bending moment at X-X,
(i)
Integrating equation (i) twice will give
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The deflection and slope are zero at the fixed end of the cantilever, i.e.

Maximum deflection occurs at the free end ;

Maximum slope occurs at the free end

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Cantilever with uniformly distributed load

A cantilever AB of length L fixed at end B and free at the end A carries a uniformly
distributed load w per unit length. There is reaction,
Consider a section X-X at a distance of x from the end A.

B.M. at the section X-X,

Integrating equation twice will give

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The slope and deflection is zero at the fixed end of the beam

Maximum deflection occurs at the free end i.e.

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Maximum slope also occurs at the free end;

Macaulay’s method
 The method followed so far for the determination of slopes and deflections in a beam is laborious

 when we consider each portion of the beam (between two adjacent loads) separately, making equation
for the bending moment for particular portion and integrating the expressions and finding out the
constants of integration for each portion and then finding out slope deflection at a particular section
lying in that portion of the beam.

 The method devised by Macaulay gives one continuous expression for the bending moment which
applies for all the portions of the beam and the constants of integration determined by using boundary
conditions are also applicable for all portions of the beam.

 By using this method slope or deflection at any section throughout the length of the beam is
determined by a single expression.
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X
x

Macaulay's method can be briefly outlined as follows:

Consider a section X-X, in the last portion of the beam starting from one end, and at a
distance of x from the starting end. In the example shown, last portion is DE.

1) Make an equation for the bending moment at the section X-X in the last portion of the
beam. In the example shown,

B.M. at the section X-X,

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2) Integrate the expression for the bending moment and the brackets as shown above
will be integrated as a whole, such as

Where A and B are constants of integration.

3) Boundary conditions are used to determine the constants A and B, subject to the
conditions that all terms for which the quantity inside a bracket is negative are omitted.
As an example at the end A, deflection This boundary condition can be used to
determine one of the two constants. The terms all become negative and are to be
omitted.
4) Once the constants A and B are determined, they are applicable for all the portions of
the beam.
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Macaulay’s method for u.d.1.s

If a beam carries a uniformly distributed load over the complete span as shown in Fig 7
the B.M. equation is:

2 2
𝒅 𝒚 𝑾𝒙
𝑬𝑰 2
= 𝑹 𝑨 𝒙 − − 𝑾 1 [ 𝒙 − 𝒂] − 𝑾 2 [ 𝒙 − 𝒃]
𝒅 𝒙 3
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The U.D.L term applies across the complete span and does not require the special
treatment associated with the Macaulay terms. If, however, the u.d.l starts at B as
shown in Fig. 8 the B.M. equation is modified and the u.d.1. term becomes a Macaulay
term and is written inside square brackets

Integrating
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Substitution of end conditions will then yield the values of the constants A and B in the
normal way and hence the required values of slope or deflection.

Macaulay's method for beams with u.d.l applied over part of the beam

Consider the beam loading case shown

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In solving problems of this loading type it is required to extended the u.d.l to the end of
the beam. The Macaulay method requires that this continuation of the u.d.1. be shown
on the loading diagram and the required loading condition can therefore only be
achieved by introducing an equal and opposite u.d.1. over the last part of the beam to
cancel the unwanted continuation of the initial distributed load. This procedure is
shown in Fig. b.

The correct B.M. equation for any general section XX is then given by

This type of approach can be adopted for any beam loading cases in which u.d.1.s are
stopped or added to.
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EXERCISES
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EXAMPLE 2.0
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