Dr Janardhan V

Equilibrium of a Particle:
When the resultant of all forces acting on particle is zero
then the particle is said to be in equilibrium.

Polygon Rule: When all the forces acting on particle are

arranged in a tip to tow fashion, if they form a closed
polygon, then the particle is said to be in equilibrium.
Space Diagram: A sketch showing the physical
condition of the problem is called space
diagram.

Free Body Diagram (FBD):

It is a graphical illustration used to visualize the
applied forces, movements and resulting
reactions on the body in a given condition.

It is obtained by replacing all the external forces

and movements acting on the body by the
corresponding reaction forces and movements
on the body.
▪ In a ship-unloading operation, a 3500-lb automobile is
supported by a cable. A worker ties a rope to the cable at A
and pulls on it in order to center the automobile over its
intended position on the dock. At the moment illustrated, the
automobile is stationary, the angle between the cable and the
vertical is 2°, and the angle between the rope and the
horizontal is 30°.What are the tensions in the rope and cable?

Determine the magnitude and direction of the
smallest force F that maintains the 30-kg
package shown in equilibrium. Note that the
force exerted by the rollers on the package is
perpendicular to the incline.
For a new sailboat, a designer wants to determine
the drag force that may be expected at a given
speed. To do so, she places a model of the
proposed hull in a test channel and uses three
cables to keep its bow on the centerline of the
channel. Dynamometer readings indicate that for a
given speed, the tension is 40 lb in cable AB and
60 lb in cable AE. Determine the drag force
exerted on the hull and the tension in cable AC.
Rectangular Components of a Force in Space
The cosines of θ x , θ y , and θ z are known as the direction cosines of the
force F
A tower guy wire is anchored by means of a bolt at A. The tension in the
wire is 2500 N. Determine (a) the components Fx, Fy, and Fz of the force
acting on the bolt and (b) the angles θ x , θ y , and θ z defining the
direction of the force.

For finding the vector AB

A wall section of precast concrete is temporarily held in place
by the cables shown. If the tension is 840 lb in cable AB and
1200 lb in cable AC, determine the magnitude and direction of
the resultant of the forces exerted by cables AB and AC on
stake A.
 Equilibrium of Rigid-Body in Two Dimensions

Where A is any point on the rigid body or system

Equilibrium of Rigid-Body in Three Dimensions

A 200-kg cylinder is hung by means of two cables AB and AC
that are attached to the top of a vertical wall. A horizontal force
P perpendicular to the wall holds the cylinder in the position
shown. Determine the magnitude of P and the tension in each
cable.
 To study the equilibrium of rigid bodies, A deep knowledge of forces and moment is required.

Every force is associated with a point of action and line of action.

Force: External Force, Internal Force

External Force: Forces exerted by other bodies on the rigid body under consideration.

Weight of the body should be considered as external force because it is due to the earth’s pull.

Internal Force: Force that hold together the particles forming the rigid body and the forces holding the
component parts together are also defined as internal forces.

You can what is internal force and what is external force from the previous bending and jumping examples.

The force applied the persons jumping is external force and force exerted by the bent persons to not fall is
internal force.
 Principle of Transmissibility:
Equivalent Forces

The point of application of force does not have any influence as long
as the line of application of force is same.

The principle of transmissibility : The conditions of equilibrium or motion of a rigid body

remain unchanged if a force F acting at a given point of the rigid body is replaced by a force F’
of the same magnitude and same direction, but acting at a different point, provided that the two
forces have the same line of action

Forces acting on a rigid body must be represented by a different kind of vector, known as a
sliding vector
Tension

Compression
Vector Products
To study about the moments a knowledge of vector or cross product is necessary .

The vector product of two vectors P and Q is defined as the

vector V
that satisfies the following conditions.
1. The line of action of V is perpendicular to the plane containing P
and Q .
2. The magnitude of V is the product of the magnitudes of P and Q
and of the sine of the angle θ formed by P and Q.

The magnitude of the vector product V equals the area of the parallelogram formed by P and Q.

If you change Q to Q’ in such a way that the parallelogram changes shape but P
and the area are still the same, then the magnitude of V remains the same.
Moment of F about O

Units: newton-meters (N.m).

Mx, My, and Mz are called rectangular

Components of moment MO

The magnitude of MO measures the tendency of

the force F to make the rigid body rotate about a
fixed axis directed along MO.
Equivalent Forces
Two forces F and F’ are equivalent if, and only if, they are equal (i.e., have the same magnitude and same
direction) and have equal moments about a given point O.
Two-Dimensional Problems
The smallest value of F occurs
when d is maximum.
The moment MOL of F about axis OL is defined as the projection
of the moment MO onto the axis OL. Where O is the origin.

The moment MOL of F about OL measures the tendency of the force F

to impart to the rigid body a rotation about the fixed axis OL
The moment of a force about coordinate axis

Replace unit vectors i (about x-axis) , j (about y-axis), and k (about z-axis) for 𝝀

Moment about an arbitrary axis

The result is independent of the choice of

the point B on the given axis.
rA/B = rA - rB
Two forces F and -F, having the same magnitude, parallel
lines of action, and opposite sense, are said to form a
couple
Addition of Couples
In case of a single force, when we represent force as a force couple, the couple
due to force and force are perpendicular, but in case of a equivalent force couple
generated due to system of forces the resultant force R and couple 𝑴𝑹 𝒐 may not be
perpendicular.
Conditions of equilibrium of a rigid body

Conditions of equilibrium of a rigid body in component form

For the rigid body in equilibrium, the system forces and moments do not generate any translation
and rotational motion.
 For rigid body in equilibrium in addition to the system forces acting on the rigid
bodies one also need to consider the reaction forces acting on it.

One also need to verify whether the system is properly supported or not, to
identify whether the all the unknowns can be solved not

Free Body Diagram (FBD):

It is a graphical illustration used to visualize the applied forces, movements and
resulting reactions on the body in a given condition.

It is obtained by replacing all the external forces and movements acting on the body
by the corresponding reaction forces and movements on the body.
Types of supports
 The three equations can be solved for no more than three unknowns.

The three equations of equilibrium cannot be augmented by additional

equations, any of them can be replaced by another equation.

Completely Constrained system

The rigid body can not move under given loading conditions or any other loading conditions.
Statically determinate Statically indeterminate Partially constrained Improperly constrained
system: system: system System
For a completely More unknowns than Fewer unknowns than Number constraints are
constrained system if the equations. The supports equations. The equal to number of
Number of equations provide more constraints constraints provided unknowns. But
equal to number of than are necessary to keep by these supports are constraints are not
unknowns, and the the truss from moving under not sufficient to keep properly arranged to
unknowns can be the given loads or under any the truss from keep the system in
determined. other loading conditions moving equilibrium. The
reactions must be either
concurrent or parallel
When one surface moves with respect to the other, tangential forces, called friction
forces, develop.

Two types of friction:

Dry friction, sometimes called Coulomb friction, and fluid friction or viscosity.

Dry Friction develops between rigid bodies that are in contact along unlubricated
surfaces.

Fluid friction develops between layers of fluid moving at different velocities.

A general assumption is that tangential forces are due to the irregularities of the
surfaces in contact and, to a certain extent, to molecular attraction.
Laws of friction

Increase the force P, the friction force F also increases, until it reaches a certain
maximum value Fm.

Once block starts sliding after P reaches Fm, The magnitude of Fm to Fk called
kinetic friction force.

Fk is less than Fm because less interpenetration occurs between the irregularities

of the surfaces in contact.
Static friction force

μs is a constant called the coefficient of static

friction.
Kinetic friction force

The applied forces tend to move the body along

μk is a constant called the coefficient of
kinetic friction
The coefficients of friction μs and μk do
not depend upon the area of the
surfaces in contact.
the surface of contact, but are not large enough
to set it in motion. The static-friction force F
can be found by solving the equations of
equilibrium for the body.

Depend strongly on the nature of the

surfaces in contact.
Angle of static friction

Angle of kinetic friction

The value of the angle of inclination corresponding to impending motion is called the
angle of repose.

The angle of repose is equal to the angle of static friction ϕs

As the motion starts and the angle between R and the normal drops to the lower
value ϕk and R is no more vertical.
Unknown forces are N1, N2, N3 and P.

Assuming two rigid bodies as particles, and applying equilibrium

equations (we get a total of 4), the unknown forces can be determined.
Pitch: The distance measured
between two consecutive
threads.

Lead:
The distance
through which the
screw advances in
one turn
 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝐿
𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝜃 = =
𝐶𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 2𝜋𝑟
Frictional force does not depend on the surface area of contact
Journal Bearings and Axle Friction
Thrust Bearings and Disk Friction
External Force: Forces exerted by other bodies on the rigid body under consideration.

Internal Force: Forces that hold together the particles forming the rigid body and the forces holding
the component parts together are also defined as internal forces.

The focus so far is on equilibrium

of a single rigid body, where all
forces involved were external to
the rigid body.

The present topic deals with

equilibrium of structures made of
several connected parts.
 All the member are
connected by frictionless
pins.

Diagram of a crane Free-body diagram of Free-body diagrams of the

supporting a load the crane; components of the crane
The external forces: Weight W, the two components Ax and Ay of the reaction at A, Tension T by the cable at D.

The forces of action and reaction between

two bodies in contact have the same
magnitude, same line of action, and
opposite sense.
At B by member BE on AD as equal and opposite to the force exerted at the same point by member AD. On
member BE.
The force exerted at E by BE on CF is equal and opposite to the force exerted by CF on BE.

The components of the force exerted at C by CF on AD are shown equal and opposite to the components.
The knowledge of internal and external forces is essential for the analysis of connected bodies or
structures made of several connected bodies.
Categories of engineering structures:
Trusses:
Stationary, fully constrained structures, designed to support loads.
Trusses consist exclusively of straight members connected at joints
located at the ends of each member.
Members of a truss, are two-force members, i.e., members acted
upon by two equal and opposite forces directed along the member. A truss bridge

Frames:
Stationary, fully constrained structures, designed to support loads.

Frames always contain at least one multi-force member, i.e., a

member acted upon by three or more forces that, in general, are not
directed along the member.

A bicycle frame
 Machines
Structures containing moving parts, designed to transmit and modify
forces.
Like frames, always contain at least one multi-force member.

What do we
ANALYSIS OF TRUSSES A hydraulic machine arm
study?
The basic elements of a truss and common methods for analyzing the forces acting in a truss are studied.
Trusses
A truss consists of straight members connected at
joints.

Truss members are connected at their extremities

only.

No member is continuous through a joint.

All loads, must be applied at the various joints and

not to the members themselves.
When a concentrated load is to be applied between two joints or when the truss must support a distributed load,
a floor system must be provided.

The floor transmits the load to the joints through the use of stringers and floor beams
Assumptions in the analysis of trusses

The weights of the truss members can be applied to the joints, with half of the weight of each member
applied to each of the two joints the member connects.

Although the members are actually joined together by means of welded, bolted, or riveted connections, it is
customary to assume that the members are pinned together.

Therefore, the forces acting at each end of a member reduce to a single force and no couple.
 A larger rigid truss built
up from the triangle A rigid truss not made up of
Rigid truss
triangles alone

“rigid” being used here to indicate that the truss will not collapse

Simple truss :

A truss is made up of a framework consisting of many small triangles. A triangle on its own could be considered
a simple truss.
Most trusses are comprised of many triangles, connected by a series of chords.
Note: A simple truss is not necessarily made only of triangles.

The total number of members in a simple truss is m = 2n − 3, n- number of joints in the truss.
Methods for analysis of trusses:
Method of Joints
Method of sections

The entire truss is in equilibrium, each pin must be in equilibrium

If the truss contains n pins, we have 2n equations available, which can be solved for 2n unknowns.

2n = m + 3,
The arrangement of pins and members in a simple truss is such that it is always possible to find a joint
involving only two unknown forces.
Check your solution
Procedure for solving truss problem by method of joints:

Step:1 Draw the FBD of the complete system removing only the supports and
without disturbing the members.

Step:2 Find out the reaction forces of the supports.

Step:3 Isolate each member and draw the FBD of Each member and joint.

Step:4 Apply equilibrium conditions by choosing each joint such that it has
only two unknown forces to be determined.

Step:5 Decide whether the member is tension or compression

 Member AC is said to be
a zero- force member

The forces in opposite members must be equal.

The forces in the two

opposite members
must be equal, and (a)Forces in the members are equal.
the force in the other (b)If the two members are not in a
member must equal straight line, they must be zero-force
members.
Spotting joints that are under the special loading conditions just described will expedite the
analysis of a truss.

Observe the joints C, K and J.

The members CB, KJ and JI can be observed as zero

force members.

The force in members

AC =CE; IK = KL; HJ= JL;

HI=20 KN; GI= IK.

Remark concerning zero-force members:

These members are not useless.

Although the zero-force members do not carry any loads under the loading conditions shown, the same members
would probably carry loads if the loading conditions were changed.

These members are needed to support the weight of the truss and to maintain the truss in the desired shape.
The method of joints is most effective when we want to determine the forces in all the members of a truss.

If, we need to determine the force in only one member or in a very few members, the method of sections is more
efficient.

a line that divides the truss into two

completely separate parts but does
not intersect more than three
members.

We choose the portion of the truss as a free body where a total of only three unknown forces act
upon it

We can obtain the desired force by solving the equations of equilibrium for this portion of the
truss.
 E G
G I K
E

D F F
F
H J
 Recollect the case of friction on a body sliding an inclined plane.

Each and every particle of the body holds some mass. Each particle holds some
weight due to gravity.

The attraction of the earth on a rigid body should be represented by a large

number of small forces distributed over the entire body.

But all the single forces can be replaced by single equivalent force W acting at
some point on the body.

The knowledge of centre of

gravity and centroid is
essential for this equivalent
W
force representation of a body.
 ? For bodies having random

? shapes where at which

location the distributed
loads of the elements can
be replaced

W W
?

The specific point at which the distributed load (in particular the elements of an
object’s weight) can be replaced by a single equivalent force is called the centre of
gravity.
Always fix the reference axes first to find the location of centre of gravity.

Taking moments about the y and z axis.

Increasing the number of elements while simultaneously decreasing the size, assume
each element becomes a particle of weight dW, then

𝑥ҧ and 𝑦ത are the coordinates of center of gravity of the body w.r.to the
reference axis.
Note: The center of gravity G of a wire is usually not located on the wire.
Substituting
 For infinitesimally small
elements of weight ∆𝑤

𝑥ҧ and 𝑦ത are the coordinates of center of gravity of the homogeneous plate, it is also
called Centroid of Area.
If the plate is not having uniform thickness, 𝑥ҧ and 𝑦ത are called the centroid of area but
not the center of gravity.

The centroid of area and centre of gravity are not same for the bodies of nonuniform
thickness.
The centroid is a parameter related to the shape of the object.
For a homogeneous wire of uniform cross section

Center of Gravity of the wire

coincides with centroid of line as
long as the wire is uniform in cross
section.
The position vector of a point P relative to a point O is 𝑟𝑃 and a scalar associated with P is s, then the
product 𝑟𝑃 s is called the first moment of point P about O and the parameter ‘s’ is called the strength
of the point P.

The first moment of area of the element of area dA about y-axis

The first moment of area of the element of area A about y-axis

If the body is uniform the coordinates of Centre of Gravity and centroid are both same, if it is not uniform
ഥ 𝒚
𝒙, ഥ, 𝒛ത are 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲, however they are still the 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞.

is called the first moment of volume w.r.to the yz plane.

are called the first moment of volumes w.r.to the zx and xy planes.
When a volume V possesses a plane of symmetry, the first moment of V with respect to that plane
is zero, and the centroid of the volume is located in the plane of symmetry.

If a volume possesses two planes of symmetry, the centroid of the volume is located on the line of
intersection of the two planes.

If a volume possesses three planes of symmetry that intersect at a well-defined point the point of
intersection of the three planes coincides with the centroid of the volume.

The locations of the centroids of spheres, ellipsoids, cubes, rectangular parallelepipeds, etc. can be
easily determined with the help of planes of symmetry.
For unsymmetrical volumes or volumes possessing only one or two planes of symmetry, we can
determine the location of the centroid by integration.

Determination Centroid by integration method: Centroid of a Lines and Curves

When a line is defined by an algebraic equation, the centroid can be determine by

The differential length dL can be replaced with one of the following expressions, depending upon the
independent coordinates, x, y, or θ used to define the expression.
Determination Centroid by integration method: Centroid of an Area

If the element of area dA is a small rectangle of sides dx and dy, each of these
integrals requires a double integration w.r.to x and y.

If we use polar coordinates for which dA is a small element with sides dr and r dθ
double integration is required w.r.to r and θ

By choosing dA to be a thin rectangle or strip, or it can be a thin sector or pie shaped element it is possible to
determine the centroid by single integration.
 dy

dy /2
Locate the centroid of right angled triangular area using
integration method
Locate the centroid of triangular area using integration
method
Locate the centroid of quarter circular area using integration method
Method- 2
Method- 3
1
2
Method -2 with horizontal element
Derivations of these are also important and
were derived in the class, please follow the
class notes for derivations.
 Centroid of composite wire

Center of gravity of the composite member

Centroid of composite Area

Centroid of composite Volume