Moment of Inertia, Polar Moment

of Inertia and Principal Axes

Geometrical properties of a cross section:
Length, width, radius, diameter, perimeter, etc.
Area, etc.
First moment of area (= area times its distance from a
reference axis).
Second moment of area (moment of inertia), etc.
Radius of gyration, elastic section modulus, plastic
section modulus, etc.
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 Moment of inertia
Moment of inertia is also termed second moment of area.
C = centre of gravity of the cross section
dA = dx dy
Moment of inertia with respect to x axis:
2 = # 3 $4
Moment of inertia with respect to y axis:
2 =# $4

39
Moment of inertia … cont’d

E.g. Mom. of inertia of a rectangular

section

40
Moment of inertia … cont’d

Moment of inertia about x axis:

7 7
8 8
2 =# 3 5 $3 = 5 3
+ +
dA = b dy 7 7
6+8 6+8
:
9 = ;<=
:)
Similarly for moment of inertia about y axis:
: =
9> = ; <
:)
8
Moment of inertia about x1 axis: 2 = #@ 3 5 $3 = 5ℎ
BC BD
Radius of gyration: A = ; A =
where A = cross-section area.
41
Moment of inertia … cont’d

Parallel-Axis Theorem
It is sometimes
necessary to
determine the
moment of inertia
with respect to an
axis parallel to the
centroidal axis.

42
Moment of inertia … cont’d

If the moment of inertia of an area

with respect to one of the centroidal
axes is known, the moment of inertia
with respect to any axis parallel to this
centroidal axis can be calculated using
the parallel-axis theorem as follows:

2 = E 3 + 5 $4 1st moment of area

about centroidal
axis = 0
= # 3 $4 + 25 # 3$4 + 5 # $4

=Ix =A
Hence: 9 : = 9 + ;) F
9>: = 9> + G) F
43
Moment of inertia … cont’d

E.g. Moment of inertia

Determine the moments of inertia, Ix and Iy, of the L-
shaped cross section; where x and y are centroidal axes.
Divide the cross section into 2
rectangles.
Choose any pair of reference axes,
say x' & y'.
Location of centre of gravity from
the reference axes, x′ and y′:
× @× H I×I×J.I
= = 5.5 mm
× @H I×I
× @× @H I×I× .I
3= = 5.8 mm
× @H I×I
44
Moment of inertia … cont’d

Hence, the moment of inertia:

2 = × 6 × 10 + 60 10 − 5.8 + × 15 × 5 +
75 2.5 − 5.8
= 2531.4 mm4
2 = × 6 × 10 + 60 3 − 5.5 + × 15 × 5 +
75 7.5 − 5.5
= 2261.3 mm4
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Polar Moment of Inertia, Ip
It is also called polar second moment
of area.
It is the moment of inertia about an
axis perpendicular to the plane of the
cross section.
Say point O is the intersection
between the axis and the plane.
The polar mom. of inertia of the section about O is:
2M,O = 2M = # P $4 = # + 3 $4
Hence: 9Q = 9 + 9>

46
Polar moment of inertia … cont’d

Based on parallel axis theorem, polar

mom. of inertia about C is:
2M,R = 2M + 4$
E.g.:
S
For a solid circular section: 2M = A
For a thin-walled circular section: 2M = 2TA U
where: r = radius (for solid circular section);
r = mean radius (for thin-walled circular section);
t = wall thickness (for thin-walled circular
section).
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Product of Inertia
Product of inertia is required for
unsymmetrical sections subjected
to bending.
Product of inertia for an arbitrary cross section is:
2 = # 3$4
Notes: Ixy can be +ve or –ve.
If x and/or y axis is axis of symmetry, then Ixy = 0.
• Parallel axis theorem for product of inertia about x′ and y′
axes: 2 V V = 2 + W54
where a and b are distance between x & x′ and y & y′,
respectively. 48
Transformation of Moment of
Inertia (or rotation of axes)
For unsymmetrical sections subjected to bending, we
need to calculate moment of inertia about a set of axes
having an angle θ with respect to a set of reference axes
x & y.
x′ = x cosθ + y sinθ
y′ = y cosθ – x sinθ
θ = +ve if anticlockwise

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Transformation of moment … cont’d

2 V = # 3′ $4
= # 3 cos \ − sin \ $4
= # 3 cos \ − 2 3 sin \ cos \ + sin \ $4
= 2 cos \ − 2 2 sin \ cos \ + 2 sin \

H_`a b 6_`a b
sin 2\
: :
∴ 9 V= 9 + 9> + 9 − 9> cde )f − 9 > egh )f (3)
) )

50
Transformation of moment … cont’d

In the similar manner, the following can be obtained,

i.e.:
2V= 2 +2 − 2 −2 cos 2\ + 2 sin 2\ (3a)

2 V V = 2 −2 sin 2\ + 2 cos 2\ (4)

Hence: 2 + 2 = 2 V + 2 V = Ip
Polar moment of inertia is always constant.

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Principal Axes

From the transformation of moment of inertia, it

is shown that the magnitude of moment of inertia
varies with the angle of rotation.
Hence, there exist extreme values (maximum &
minimum) of moment inertia known as principal
moment of inertia, and the corresponding axes
are known as principal axes.

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Principal axes … cont’d

To find the value of θ that gives Ix' maximum or

minimum, from Eq. 3:
BCi
=0
b
− 2 −2 sin 2\ − 22 cos 2\ = 0
)9 >
∴ jkh )fQ = −
9 69>

where θp denotes the angle defining one of the

principal axes. The other principal axis is 90o
from θp.
Note: An axis of symmetry is always a principal axis.
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