MSA University

Faculty of Engineering
Industrial Engineering Department

Lectures Notes on

Stress Analysis
(Shearing Stresses in Beams)

(DES 262: Mechatronics Eng. Students)

(DES 352: Industrial Eng. Students)

(Semester: Spring 2022)

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 Chapter VI
Shearing Stresses in Beams
Objectives:
 Demonstrate how transverse loads on a beam generate shearing stresses.
 Determine the stresses and shear flow on a horizontal section in a beam.

References:

 Ferdinand P. Beer, E. Russell Johnston Jr., John T. DeWolf, David

F. Mazurek, “Mechanics of Materials”, 8th Edition-McGraw-Hill,
2020.
 Hibbeler, R. C – “Mechanics of materials” , Pearson, 10th ed.,
2018.

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6.1 HORIZONTAL SHEARING STRESS IN BEAMS

6.1A Shear on the Horizontal Face of a Beam Element:

 Consider a prismatic beam AB with

a vertical plane of symmetry that
supports various concentrated and
distributed loads.

 At a distance x from end A, we detach

from the beam an element CDD′C′ with
length of Δx extending across the width
of the beam from the upper surface to a
horizontal plane located at a distance y1 from the neutral axis (Fig. 6.6).

 The forces exerted on this element consist of vertical shearing forces V′C and
V′D, a horizontal shearing force ΔH exerted on the lower face of the element,
elementary horizontal normal forces σC.dA and σD.dA,
and possibly a load wΔx.

 The equilibrium equation for horizontal forces is:

Where the integral extends over the shaded area (𝒶) of the section located
above the line y = y1.

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 Solving this equation for ΔH, σ = My ∕ I, to express the normal stresses in
terms of the bending moments at C and D, provides:

The integral in Eq. (6.3) represents the first moment with respect to the
neutral axis of the portion 𝒶 of the cross section of the beam that is located
above the line y = y1 and will be denoted by Q.
On the other hand, since dM/dx=V, the increment (MD - MC) of the bending
moment is:

Substituting into Eq. (6.3), the horizontal shear exerted on the beam element is:

…………………… (6.4)

 The same result is obtained if a free body the lower element C′D′D″C″ is used
instead of the upper element CDD′C′ (Fig. 6.7), since the shearing
forces ΔH and ΔH′ exerted by the
two elements on each other are
equal and opposite. This leads us to
observe that the first moment Q of
the portion 𝒶′ of the cross section located below the line y = y1 (Fig. 6.7) is
equal in magnitude and opposite in sign to the first moment of the portion 𝒶
located above that line.
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 Indeed, the sum of these two moments is equal to the moment of the area of the
entire cross section with respect to its centroidal axis and thus must be zero.
 Also note that Q is maximum for y1 = 0

The horizontal shear per unit length, which will be denoted by q, is obtained
by dividing both members of the Equation of the horizontal shear (H) by ∆x:

…………………… (6.5)

Where:
Q …..is the first moment with respect to the neutral axis of the portion of
the cross section located either above or below the point at which q is
being computed.
I …..is the centroidal moment of inertia of the entire cross-sectional area.

The horizontal shear per unit length q is also called the shear flow.

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6.2 Shearing Stresses in a Beam:
Consider again a beam with a vertical plane of symmetry that is subjected to
various concentrated or distributed loads applied in that plane.

If, through two vertical cuts and one horizontal

cut, an element of length ∆x is detached from
the beam, the magnitude ∆H of the shearing
force exerted on the horizontal face of the
element can be obtained from Eq. (6.4).

The average shearing stress τave on that face of the element is obtained by
dividing ∆H by the area ∆A of the face. Observing that ∆A = t ∆x, where t is
the width of the element at the cut, we write:

Then: …………………… (6.6)

Fig. 6.10 Stress element C’D’D’’C” Fig. 6.11 Beam cross section showing that
showing the shearing stress distribution the shearing stress is zero at the top and
along D’1 D’2 bottom of the beam.

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  Note that since the shearing stresses τxy and τyx exerted on a transverse and
a horizontal plane through D’ are equal, the expression also represents the
average value of τxy along the line D1’ D2’ (Fig. 6.10).

 Observe that τyx = 0 on the upper and lower faces of the beam, since no
forces are exerted on these faces. It follows that τxy = 0 along the upper and
lower edges of the transverse section (Fig. 6.11).

 Also note that while Q is maximum for y = 0, τave may not be maximum
along the neutral axis, since τave depends upon the width t of the section as
well as upon Q.

6.3 Shearing Stresses τxy In Common Beam Types:

Narrow rectangular beam:

Where: t is equal to the width b of the beam and Q is the first

moment with respect to the neutral axis of the shaded area A.

And, then,

Noting that the cross-sectional area of the beam is A = 2bc,

Shearing stress distribution on

transverse section of rectangular
This Equation shows that the distribution of shearing stresses in a beam

transverse section of a rectangular beam is parabolic, and the shearing

stresses are zero at the top and bottom of the cross section.
Making y = 0, the value of the maximum shearing stress in a given section of a narrow
rectangular beam is:

This relationship shows that the maximum value of the shearing stress in a beam of
rectangular cross section is 50% larger than the value V/A obtained by wrongly assuming a
uniform stress distribution across the entire cross section.

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For American Standard (S-beam) and wide-flange (W-beam) beams:

Where: V….. is the vertical shear,

t ….. is the width of the section at the elevation considered,
Q …..is the first moment of the shaded area with respect to the neutral
axis cc’, and
I ….. is the moment of inertia of the entire cross-sectional area about cc’.

Plotting τave against the vertical distance y provides the curve shown.

Note the discontinuities existing in this curve, which reflect the difference
between the values of t corresponding respectively to the flanges ABGD and
A’B’G’D’ and to the web EFF’E’

In practice, one usually assumes that the entire shear load is carried by the web
and that a good approximation of the maximum value of the shearing stress in the
cross section can be obtained by dividing V by the cross-sectional area of the
web:

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Sample Problem 6.1
Beam AB is made of three plates glued together
and is subjected, in its plane of symmetry, to the
loading shown. Knowing that the width of each
glued joint is 20 mm,
Determine: the average shearing stress in each
joint at section n–n of the beam. The location of
the centroid of the section is given in Fig. 1 and
the centroidal moment of inertia is known to be:
I = 8.63 x 10-6 m4.

Solution:
Vertical Shear at Section n–n. As
shown in the free-body diagram in
Fig. 2, the beam and loading are
both symmetric with respect to the
center of the beam.
Thus, we have A = B = 1.5 kN ↑.

Drawing the free-body diagram

of the portion of the beam to the left of section n–n (Fig. 2), we write:

Shearing Stress in Joint a:

Using Fig. 3, pass the section a–a through
the glued joint and separate the cross-
sectional area into two parts.
We choose to determine Q by computing
the first moment with respect to the neutral
axis of the area above section a–a.
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Recalling that the width of the glued joint is t = 0.020 m, the average shearing
stress in the joint:

Shearing Stress in Joint b:

Using Fig. 4, now pass section b–b and

compute Q by using the area below the
section:

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