E MCH 407, SPRING 2010

FINAL DESIGN PROJECT

2-D Model of Shear and Moment Beam Theory

Stephen Smith
4/22/2010
E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

ABSTRACT
A model of the shear forces (V) and moments (M) across a beam due to different combinations of

loading was done using Matlab [1]. The results are displayed in shear and moment diagrams by using a

combination of piece-wise functions. The graphs start at the left end of the beam, where x is equal to

zero, and go across the beam in the positive x-direction. Most of piece-wise functions are written as

y(x), however a few had to be written as x(y). The breaks in the piece-wise functions occur when a new

loading is applied to the beam at that x-location. Therefore, the length of each function in the x-

direction is dependent on the specific loading situation of each beam.

INTRODUCTION
The shear force and moment diagrams are governed by the equations [3]:

dV dM d2 v M dθ M
=−w ( x) =V = =
dx dx d x 2 EI dx EI

Here w(x) is the function that once integrated with respect to x gives the function of V that can be

graphed to create the shear force diagram. Once the function V has been obtained, it can be integrated

with respect to x to find the function M which governs the moment diagram. The function M can then

be graphed to generate the moment diagram.

In order to condense the number of possible loading combinations, I made a few simplifications in my

project. They included:

 Only considering a simply supported beam-one that has two supports, with one at

each end of the beam.

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E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

 Only considering one point load, one constant distributed load, one moment, or any

combination of the three.

APPROACH & FORMULATION

Solving for Reaction Forces
The first step in creating the shear and moment diagrams for each different loading combination was to

solve for the reaction forces. To do this I generated the system of equations:

∑ F = F1 + F2 – pload – dload * length = 0

∑ M1 = x1 * F1 + x2 * F2 – pload * xpl – dload * length * xdl +/- moment

In these equations:

 ∑ F = the sum of forces in the y-direction

 F1 = the reaction force at the left end of the beam

 F2 = the reaction force at the right end of the beam

 pload = the value of the point in either pounds (lb) or Newtons (N)

 dload = the value of the distributed load in either lb/ft or N/m

 length = the length of the distributed load

 ∑ M1 = the sum of moments about point one, or the first support whose x-location is

equal to zero due to the simplifications I have made

 x1 = the location of the first support

 x2 = the location of the second support

 xpl = the location of the point load

 xdl = the location of the center of the distributed load

 The +/- for the moment is because you can have two differently oriented moments

with each one have a different sign-a counterclockwise moment is positive and a

clockwise moment is negative

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E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

Once I had generated these equations, I placed them into the linear system of equations Ax = b. In the

simplified case I undertook for this project this was not necessary because x 1 was equal to zero and

therefore it would be very simple to solve for F 2. However, I was setting up the system for a regular

beam scenario when x1 will not always equal zero.

When I was solving the equations by hand I just used simple algebra and solved for the reaction forces,

but when writing the program to solve for the shear and moment diagrams I used the Jacobi method

that I had programmed for the first homework assignment. The A and B matrices had the setup of:

1 1 pload + dload∗length
A= [ x1 x2 ] B= [ pload∗x pl+ dload∗xdl +¿−moment ]
Now, if the simplification is not made that x 1 = 0, the program will still be able to solve for the reaction

forces. The simplification that x1 = 0 was not made in the program to solve for the reaction forces

because now the program is already setup to solve for a non-simplified scenario.

Creating the Shear and Moment Diagrams

Once the reaction forces were solved for, the next step was to create the shear and moment diagrams.

First I created the shear diagram because the moment diagram is dependent upon the shear one. The

governing equations listed at the introduction are basis for creating these diagrams. However, when I

created these diagrams I used knowledge of Beam Theory taught in Strength of Materials rather than

directly using the governing equations. The knowledge taught in Strength of Materials is based off of

the governing equations but does not directly rely on integrating the piece-wise functions.

Therefore there are no direct equations that governed the creation of the shear and moment diagrams

in my program, but rather a set of principles. For the shear diagram there are two main principles that

help create the shear diagram. The first says that the shear diagram shows the progression of forces in

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E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

the x-direction. This means that beginning at the left end of the beam, the diagram plots the applied

forces using piece-wise functions. The diagram starts at x = 0 and progresses until the other end of the

beam is reached. The second principle is that when x = 0, the shear force should be zero and when the

other end of the beam is reached, the shear force should again be zero. These are the principles that I

used in creating the shear diagram.

The principles for the moment diagram are very similar; however actually creating the diagrams can be

more complex. The additional complexity comes from the governing equation that states the equations

for the moment diagram come from integrating the equations for the shear diagram. This means that

higher order profiles will be needed to create the moment diagram.

The first principle for the moment diagram again states that the moment diagram shows the progression

of moments across the beam. Therefore, piece-wise functions are again used in much the same manner

as they were in the shear diagram. Also in the same fashion, when x = 0 the net moment is equal to zero

and then when the other end of the beam is reach, the net moment is again equal to zero. The values of

the net moment in between each end of the beam are determined by using the definition of an integral

(area under the curve). Since we are integrating the shear equations, our moments are equal to the

area under the curve of the shear diagram. Therefore, when there is a positive area in the shear

diagram the net moment value is increasing and when there is a negative area in the shear diagram the

net moment value is decreasing. This is how I created the moment diagrams; I calculated the area under

each section of the piece-wise shear diagram and summed them at each critical x-value, where a new

load is applied, and created the moment diagram.

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E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

Upon completion of my input code, I conducted test runs for all of the different possible loading

combinations that I accounted for in my program. Below I have shown some of these combinations and

the resulting shear and moment diagrams output from the program.

** For all diagrams shown, the units on the y-axis are not given because they are different for each line.

Since I did not list the units on the graph, I created an output which gives the units. It informs the user

that for the blue line the units are “either pounds or Newtons” and for the red line the units are “either

ft-lb or N-m”.

8’ 200 lb
200 lb/ft

4’ 4’

20’

feet

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E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

300 lb

4’ 4’
500 lb/ft

8’

20’

feet

8’
100 lb/ft

8’

400 ft-lb

20’

feet

5’ 9’ 6’

300 ft-lb

feet

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E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

400 lb
4’ 4’
500lb/ft
18’

30’ 300
ft-lb

feet

Another possible use of the program is to view the forces on a beam as a loading condition increases.

There are two possible ways to do this, either to display all the shear and moment diagrams on the same

diagram, or to create a separate diagram for each value of the loading condition. I chose to do the latter

of these two options and below and I show the progression of the shear and moment diagrams for a

specific loading scenario where the only thing changing is the value of each load.
Pload
Dload

2’ 2’ 4’ 2’

Moment

20’

Case 1:

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E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

Pload = 100 lb

Dload= 100 lb/ft

Moment = 100 ft-lb

feet

Case 2:

Pload =200 lb

Dload= 200 lb/ft

Moment = 200 ft-lb

feet

Case 3:

Pload =300 lb

Dload= 300 lb/ft

Moment = 300 ft-lb

feet

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E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

Case 4:

Pload =400 lb

Dload= 400 lb/ft

Moment =400 ft-lb

feet

Besides a graph such as the ones that are displayed here, the program also outputs:

 A legend that informs the user that the blue line is for the shear diagram and the red line is for

the moment diagram

 The units for the x-axis are either feet or meters

 The units for the y-axis in the shear diagram, either pounds or Newtons, and for the moment,

either ft-lb or N-m

 The reaction forces for each end of the beam

While running the program on a computer with 2 GB of RAM, one simulation took from 5 to 10 seconds

and required 1 GB of the RAM to run the program. This was the time from when the user hit return

after entering the last parameter for the beam until the graph was displayed on the screen.

CONCLUSIONS
Using the governing equations and principles learned in Strength of Materials, the shear and moment

diagrams for the simplified loading scenarios were successfully generated using Matlab.

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E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

Using Matlab’s logical statements, the program was able to accept user inputted data and determine

which piece-wise functions needed to be graphed. The logical statements were not only used to

differentiate loading scenarios, but also between which x-values the loadings would occur. If the loads

were not in the correct order, the function would not be piece-wise continuous.

When a progression of forces was looked at, it became apparent that the different values of loading did

not change the shear and moment diagrams, only the location of the forces in relation to each other. In

the four cases, the diagrams look the exact same, except with increasing values for each diagram in the

progression.

ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS
If I were to do additional work on this program, I would implement loops so that all possible loading

combinations could be accounted for. The loops would be needed when multiple of the same type of

loading occurs. I would also work on the program to remove the simplification that the beam needs to

be supported at each end. The beams could then be supported with different supports at different

locations. This would provide a program that is capable of solving all possible loading scenarios for

beams.

If enough time and resources existed, I would also change the program so it could accept beams that

were not simply supported. The governing equations required for this are listed as the third and fourth

equations where I give the governing equations in the report. This would require use of Matlab’s

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E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

integration abilities because there is not a method based of the governing equations that can be used

like I did for program I wrote for simply supported beams.

Another analysis I could implement with additional time would be to take the shear and moment

diagrams and then use a Finite Element program such as ANSYS to model the stresses that the forces

would create in the beam.

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E MCH 407, SPRING 2010 Final Design Project Stephen Smith

REFERENCES & CITATIONS

1. MATLAB Version 7.6.0.324 (R2009a)
2. E MCH 213 Course Material
3. Mechanics of Materials, Seventh Edition, R.C. Hibbeler

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