FORCES

BY
OYEBISI Solomon, Ph.D
Department of Civil Engineering
College of Engineering
Covenant University

Concepts of Force

Definition of Deformable Body:

Deformable Body is a solid that changes its size and/or shape under applied load/force
or temperature change.

External forces are forces applied on the deformable body such as concentrated
forces/loads, distributed forces/loads and moments. Also, external forces are referred
to as surface forces acting on the surface area elements of a body.

Internal forces are forces that are in the deformable body such as axial forces, shear
forces, torque and bending moments. The concept of strength of materials is
understanding the behaviour of these generated internal forces, and how they keep
the body at equilibrium and from excessive deformation.

Force

Static equilibrium

A structural system is in a state of static equilibrium when the resultant of all forces, as
shown in Fig. 1, and all moments is equal to zero. The word “system” signifies any
isolated part or portion of a machine or structure - including all of it if desired -that we
wish to study.

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A system, under this definition may consist of a particle, several particles, a part of a
rigid body, an entire rigid body, or even several rigid bodies.

Fig. 1 showing the resultant forces on a system

Force

If we assume a system to be motionless or, at most, has constant velocity, then the
system has zero acceleration. Under this condition, the system is said to be in
equilibrium. The phrase static equilibrium is also used to imply that the system is at
rest. For equilibrium, the forces and moments acting on the system balance such that;

ΣFx = 0,
ΣFy = 0,
ΣFz = 0
ΣM = 0

where F refers to forces;

M refers to moment of forces

A force is defined as any cause that tends to alter the state of rest of a body or its
state of uniform motion in a straight line. A force can be defined quantitatively as
the product of the mass of the body, which the force is acting upon, and the
acceleration of the force, as illustrated in Eq. 1.

P = ma (1)
P = applied force,
m = mass of the body (kg),
a = acceleration caused by the force (m/s 2)

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The (SI) units for force are therefore (kgm/s 2), which is designated a Newton (N).
The following multiples are often used:

1 kN = 1 000 N (103), 1 MN = 1 000 000 N (106N), 1GN = 1000000000 (109N)

Force

The force of gravitation acting on a body with the mass (m) is the product of the mass
and the acceleration due to gravity (g), as illustrated in Eq. 2, which has a magnitude
of 9.81 m/s2:

P=mg=Vρg (2)

where P = force (N) ,

m = mass (kg),
g = acceleration due to gravity (9.81m/s 2),
V = volume (m³),
ρ = density (kg/m³)

Therefore, all objects resting on the surface of the Earth are held down or “weighed
down” by a force (often referred to as the weight of the object) which has a magnitude
of 9.81 times the mass of the object acting at the center of the body.

Force, as a vector

Force is a Vector

A force has to be specified in terms of its magnitude and also in terms of its direction,
thus showing as a vector. For example, if a certain force is said to act at a particular
point on a structure, it is necessary, in addition to knowing how big the force is, to
know in which direction it is being applied.
• The force could be vertical, horizontal, or even at an angle; and this
must be taken into account in calculations involving the force. The
point of application must also be specified.
• A vector is illustrated by a line, the length of which is proportional to
the magnitude on a given scale, and an arrow that shows the direction
of the force.

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A force has three characteristics, direction, point of application, and magnitude, for its
determination. A force acting on a body, as indicated in Fig. 2, could be any of the
following:

- compressive
force

- tensile force

- twisting force

Fig. 2 showing various forces acting on a body

Free body diagram (FBD)

The first step in the solution of a problem is sketching a free body diagram. A free-
body diagram is a diagrammatic representation or a sketch of a body in which the body
is shown, completely separated from all surrounding bodies, including supports, by an
imaginary cut; and the diagrammatic representation of each removed body is shown
as a force.

The free-body diagram of a rigid body can be reduced to that of a particle or point
and all forces acting on it.

FBD

To draw a free-body diagram:

Choose the free body to be used, isolate it from any other body and sketch
its outline.

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 Locate all external forces on the free body and clearly mark their
magnitude and direction; and this includes the weight of the free body,
which is applied at the centre of gravity.

Locate and mark unknown external forces and reactions in the free-body
diagram.

Include all dimensions that indicate the location and direction of forces.

FBD (examples)

Ex 1. Draw the free body diagram of the Fig. 3, and determine the number of
unknown forces.

Fig. 3.

Ex 2. An engine is suspended from the boom crane, as shown in Fig. 4. Draw the Free
body diagram showing the forces acting on member AB.

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 Fig. 4.

Resolution of a Force

Consider a ‘force F’ acting at an ‘angle θ’ to the horizontal as shown in Fig. 5; now as

the force is a vector (i.e. it has magnitude and direction), it can be represented as being
equivalent to its component namely FY and FX, respectively. In the analysis and
calculation, it is often convenient to consider the effects of a force in directions other
than that of the force itself, especially along the Cartesian (xx-yy) axes. The force effects
along these axes are called vector components .

- horizontal component of F in x- - vertical component of F in y-

direction direction

Fig. 5 showing resolution of a force

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Examples

Ex 1. Resolve each forces acting on the post into its x and y components. Consider,
upward forces as (+ve), downward forces as (-ve), forces in left direction as negative
(ve), forces in right direction as positive (+ve). Given that, f1 = 300N, Ө1 = 45°, f2 =
450N, and f3 = 600N

Resultant of forces

 The single force which produces the same effect upon a body as two or more
forces acting together is called their resultant.

 The separate forces which can be so combined are called the components.
Finding the resultant of two or more forces is called the composition of forces,
and finding two or more components of a given force are called the resolution
of forces.

Fig. 6 showing resultant of a force

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Forces

 Forces are said to be concurrent when their lines of action can be extended to
meet at a common point; forces that are parallel are, of course, non-concurrent
as shown in Fig.7.

Fig. 7

 Two forces having the same line of action are said to be collinear. Two forces
equal in magnitude, parallel, and in opposite directions constitute a couple, as
shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8

 Forces, all in the same plane, are said to be coplanar; if not in the same plane,
they are called non-coplanar forces .

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Resolution of forces and Resultant

 Finding Two Concurrent Components of a Single Force:

 Finding the Resultant of Two Concurrent Forces:

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  Finding the Resultant of Three or More Concurrent Forces:

Examples

Ex 1. Determine the magnitude and direction of the resultant force for the Fig. 9.
Given: f1 = 250N, f2 = 400N, Ө2 = 30°, f3 = 300N

Fig. 9

force fx fy
F1= 250N -250(4/5) 250 (3/5)
= -200N = 150N
F2 =400N 400(Cos 30) = 400 (Sin 30) =
346N 200N
F3 = 300N 300N 0
∑Fx = 446N ∑Fy = 350N

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 Therefore, Resultant ‘R’ = 567N, Ө = 38.1°

Ex 2. Determine the magnitude and direction measured counterclockwise from the

positive x- axis of the resultant force of the three forces acting on the ring A. Take F1
= 500N and θ =20°.
force fx fy

F1= 500N 500(Cos 70) 500 (Sin 70) =

= 171N 470N

F2 =400N 400(Cos 30) 400 (Sin 30)

= 346N = 200N

F3 = 600N -600(4/5) = - 600(3/5)

480N = 360N

∑Fx = 37N ∑Fy = 1030N

Resultant ‘R’ = 1031N, (1.03kN); Ө = 87.9°

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