REVISION: Structural Calculations – Load, Shear Force and Bending Moment

A box shaped vessel has a length of 100 metres, a beam of 10 metres, and floats at a draught of 2
metres in sea water.

The vessel is split into five equal size holds by four transverse bulkheads. The holds are loaded with
cargo as shown below:

Hold Cargo (t)

Hold 1 650
Hold 2 500
Hold 3 300
Hold 4 600
Hold 5 600

Draw the load, shear force and bending moment diagrams, and hence determine the value, location
and type of the maximum bending moment.

Outline Solution:

The structural rate can be determined from the lightship displacement divided by the length. The
buoyancy rate can be determined from the loaded displacement divided by the length. The cargo
rate can be determined for each hold by dividing the cargo mass by the length of the hold. This
allows the overall load in each hold to be found:

Structure Rate, t/m Cargo Rate, t/m Buoyancy Rate, t/m LOAD
Hold 1 20.5 32.5 47 -6
Hold 2 20.5 25 47 1.5
Hold 3 20.5 15 47 11.5
Hold 4 20.5 30 47 -3.5
Hold 5 20.5 30 47 -3.5
The load values can be used to draw the load diagram:

LOAD
12

11

10

4
Load, t/m

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
-1

-2

-3

-4

-5

-6

-7
Position, metres FOAP

For each hold on the load diagram, the area under the diagram can be determined:

Area
Hold 1 -120
Hold 2 30
Hold 3 230
Hold 4 -70
Hold 5 -70

The cumulative total of these areas to any point gives the shear force at that point:

Position SF
0 0
20 -120
40 -90
60 140
80 70
100 0
The shear force values can be used to draw the shear force diagram:

Shear Force
150

120

90

60

30
Shear Force, t

0
0 20 40 60 80 100

-30

-60

-90

-120

-150
Position, metres FOAP

For each section of the shear force diagram, the area can be determined, either by using the formula
for the area of a triangle of the area of a trapezoid.

Sector Area
0 to 20 -1200
20 to 40 -2100
40 to 47.8 -352.35
47.8 to 60 851.9
60 to 80 2100
80 to 100 700

The cumulative total of these areas to any point gives the bending moment at that point:

Position Bending Moment

0 0
20 -1200
40 -3300
47.8 -3652.35
60 -2800.45
80 -700.45
100 -0.45
The bending moment values can be used to draw the bending moment diagram:

Bending Moment
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
-250

-500

-750

-1000

-1250

-1500
Bending Moment, tm

-1750

-2000

-2250

-2500

-2750

-3000

-3250

-3500

-3750

-4000
Position, metres FOAP