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Distributed Forces: Centroids and Centers of Gravity

Introduction
• The earth exerts a gravitational force on each of the particles forming a body. These forces can
be replace by a single equivalent force equal to the weight of the body and applied at the center
of gravity for the body.
• The centroid of an area is analogous to the center of gravity of a body. The concept of the first
moment of an area is used to locate the centroid.
• Determination of the area of a surface of revolution and the volume of a body of revolution are
accomplished with the Theorems of Pappus-Guldinus.
Center of Gravity of a 2D Body
• Center of gravity of a plate

 M y x W =  x W
=  x dW
 M y y W =  y W
=  y dW

perpendicular to BB’ and is

• divided into two equal parts by BB’.Center of gravity of a wire

Centroids and First Moments of Areas and Lines

• Centroid of an area

x W =  x dW
x (At ) =  x (t )dA
x A =  x dA = Q y
= first moment with respect to y
yA =  y dA = Q x
= first moment with respect to x
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area at (-x,-y). Centroid of a line

xW =  x dW
x ( La ) =  x ( a )dL
x L =  x dL
yL =  y dL

First Moments of Areas and Lines

• An area is symmetric with respect to an axis BB’ if for

every point P there exists a point P’ such that PP’ is

• If an area possesses two lines of symmetry, its

centroid lies at their intersection.

• If an area possesses two lines of symmetry, its centroid

lies at their intersection.

• An area is symmetric with respect to a center O if for

every element dA at (x,y) there exists an area dA’ of equal

• The centroid of the area coincides with the center

of symmetry.
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Centroids of Common Shapes of Areas

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Centroids of Common Shapes of Lines

Composite Plates and Areas

• Composite plates
X W =  x W
Y W =  y W

• Composite area
X  A =  xA
Y  A =  yA

x A =  xdA =  x dxdy =  xel dA • Double integration to find the first moment may be avoided by
defining dA as a thin rectangle or strip.
yA =  ydA =  y dxdy =  yel dA

x A =  xel dA
=  x ( ydx)
yA =  yel dA
y
= ( ydx)
2
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x A =  xel dA
a+x
=  (a − x )dy 
2
yA =  yel dA
=  y (a − x )dy 

Distributed Loads on Beams

L • A distributed load is represented by plotting the load per unit

W =  wdx =  dA = A length, w (N/m) . The total load is equal to the area under the load
0 curve.

(OP)W =  xdW • A distributed load can be replace by a concentrated load with a

L
magnitude equal to the area under the load curve and a line of
(OP) A =  xdA = x A action passing through the area centroid.
0

Moment of Inertia
Introduction
• Previously considered distributed forces which were proportional to the area or volume over
which they act.
- The resultant was obtained by summing or integrating over the areas or volumes.
- The moment of the resultant about any axis was determined by computing the first
moments of the areas or volumes about that axis.
• Will now consider forces which are proportional to the area or volume over which they act but
also vary linearly with distance from a given axis.
- It will be shown that the magnitude of the resultant depends on the first moment of the
force distribution with respect to the axis.
- The point of application of the resultant depends on the second moment of the
distribution with respect to the axis.
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• Current chapter will present methods for computing the moments and products of inertia for
areas and masses.

• Example: Consider a beam subjected to pure bending. Internal forces vary

• linearly with distance from the neutral axis which passes through the section centroid.


F = kyA
R = k  y dA = 0  y dA = Qx = first moment
M = k  y dA
2
 y dA = second moment
2

• Example: Consider the net hydrostatic force on a submerged circular gate.

F = pA = yA
R =
Moment of Inertia of an Area by Integration
 y dA
M x =   y 2 dA

• Second moments or moments of inertia of an area with

respect to the x and y axes,
I x =  y 2 dA I y =  x 2 dA

• Evaluation of the integrals is simplified by choosing

d tobe a thin strip parallel to one of the coordinate
axes.

• For a rectangular area,

h
I x =  y 2 dA =  y 2bdy = 13 bh3
0
• The formula for rectangular areas may also be applied
to strips parallel to the axes,

dI x = 13 y 3dx dI y = x 2 dA = x 2 y dx
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Polar Moment of Inertia

• The polar moment of inertia is an important parameter in problems involving torsion of

cylindrical shafts and rotations of slabs.𝐽0 = ∫ 𝑟 2 𝑑𝐴

• The polar moment of inertia is related to the rectangular moments of inertia,

J 0 =  r 2 dA =  (x 2 + y 2 )dA =  x 2 dA +  y 2 dA
= Iy + Ix

Radius of Gyration of an Area

• Consider area A with moment of inertia I . Imagine that the area is

x
concentrated in a thin strip parallel to the x axis with equivalent I .
x

Ix
I x = k x2 A kx =
A
k = radius of gyration with respect to the xaxis
x

• Similarly,
Iy
I y = k y2 A ky =
A
JO
JO = 2
kO A kO =
A
2
kO = k x2 + k y2
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Parallel Axis Theorem

• Consider moment of inertia I of an area A with respect to the axis AA’

I =  y 2 dA

The axis BB’ passes through the area centroid and is called a centroidal axis .
 y dA =  ( y  + d ) dA
2 • Moment of inertia I of a circular area with respect to a
I = 2
T
2tangent to the circle,
=  y  dA + 2d  y dA + d  dA
2

I = I + Ad 2 I T =axis
Parallel I+ Ad = 14  r +  r
theorem
2 4
( 2 )r 2
= 54  r 4

• Moment of inertia of a triangle with respect to a centroidal axis,

I AA = I BB + Ad 2

I BB = I AA − Ad 2 = 12
1 bh3 − 1 bh 1 h
2 3
( )2
= 1 bh3
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Moments of Inertia of Composite Areas

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Product of Inertia

• Product of Inertia:
I xy =  xy dA

• When the x axis, the y axis, or both are

an axis of symmetry, the product of
inertia is zero.
• Parallel axis theorem for products of inertia:
I xy = I xy + xyA

Principal Axes and Principal Moments of Inertia

x = x cos + y sin 
Note: y  = y cos − x sin 

Given I x =  y 2 dA I y =  x 2 dA
I xy =  xy dA
• The change of axes yields
we wish to determine moments and product of inertia with respect to new axes x’ and y’.
Ix + I y Ix − I y
I x = + cos 2 − I xy sin 2
2 2
Ix + I y Ix − I y
I y = − cos 2 + I xy sin 2
2 2
Ix − I y
I xy = sin 2 + I xy cos 2
2

• The equations for I and I are the parametric equations for a circle,
x’ x’y’

(I x − I ave )2 + I x2y = R 2
Ix + I y  Ix − I y 
I ave = R =   + I xy
2
2  2 
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Principal Axes and Principal Moments of Inertia

• The equations for𝐼𝑦′ and𝐼𝑥 ′ 𝑦′ lead to the same circle.

(I x − I ave )2 + I x2y = R 2
Ix + Iy  Ix − I y  2
I ave = R =   + I xy
2  2 

• At the points A and B, I = 0 and I is a maximum and minimum, respectively.

x’y’ x’

I max, min = I ave  R

2 I xy
tan 2 m = −
Ix − I y
o
• The equation for 𝜃𝑚 defines two angles, 90 apart which correspond to the principal axes of the
area about O.
• I and I are the principal moments of inertia of the area about O.
max min

Mohr’s Circle for Moments and Products of Inertia

• The moments and product of inertia for an area are plotted as shown and used to
construct Mohr’s circle,
Ix + I y  Ix − I y 
I ave = R=   + I xy
2
2  2 

• Mohr’s circle may be used to graphically or analytically determine the

moments and product of inertia for any other rectangular axes
including the principal axes and principal moments and products of
inertia.

Moment of Inertia of a Mass

• Angular acceleration about the axis AA’ of the small mass m due
2
to the application of a couple is proportional to r m.
2
r m = moment of inertia of the mass m with respect to
the axis AA’
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• For a body of mass m the resistance to rotation about

theaxis AA’ is

I = r12 m + r22 m + r32 m + 

=  r 2 dm = mass moment of inertia

• The radius of gyration for a concentrated mass with equivalent

Mass moment of inertia is
I
I = k 2m k=
m

• Moment of inertia with respect to the y coordinate axis is

(
I y =  r 2 dm =  z 2 + x 2 dm )
• Similarly, for the moment of inertia with respect to the x and z axes,
Ix =  (y + z )dm
2 2

Iz =  (x + y )dm
2 2

• In SI units, )
I =  r 2 dm = kg  m 2(
In U.S. customary units, I = (slug  ft ) =  ft ft  = (lb  ft  s )
2  lb  s 2 2  2
Parallel Axis Theorem
 

• For the rectangular axes with origin at O and parallel centroidal axes,

( )  
I x =  y 2 + z 2 dm =  ( y  + y )2 + ( z  + z )2 dm
=  (y  2 + z  2 )dm + 2 y  y dm + 2 z  z dm + (y 2 + z 2 ) dm

• Generalizing for any axis AA’ and a parallel centroidal axis,

Moments of Inertia of Thin Plates I = I + md 2
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• For a thin plate of uniform thickness t and homogeneous material of density ,

• the mass moment of inertia with respect to axis AA’ contained in the plate is

I AA =  r 2 dm = t  r 2 dA
=  t I AA,area

• Similarly, for perpendicular axis BB’ which is also contained in the plate,

I BB =  t I BB,area

• For the axis CC’ which is perpendicular to the plate,

I CC  =  t J C ,area =  t (I AA,area + I BB,area )
= I AA + I BB

• For the principal centroidal axes on a rectangular plate,

I AA =  t I AA,area =  t (121 a3b) = 121 ma2
I BB =  t I BB,area =  t (1
12 ab =3
) 1
12 mb2

I CC = I AA,mass + I BB,mass = 121 m a 2 + b2( )

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• For centroidal axes on a circular plate,

( )
I AA = I BB =  t I AA,area =  t 14  r 4 = 14 mr 2

I CC  = I AA + I BB = 12 mr 2

Moments of Inertia of a 3D Body by Integration

• Moment of inertia of a homogeneous body is obtained from double or

triple integrations of the form

I =   r 2 dV

• For bodies with two planes of symmetry, the moment of inertia may be
obtained from a single integration by choosing thin slabs perpendicular to
the planes of symmetry for dm.

• For bodies with two planes of symmetry, the moment of inertia may be
obtained from a single integration by choosing thin slabs perpendicular to
the planes of symmetry for dm.

Moments of Inertia of Common Geometric Shapes