THE UNIVERSITY OF MINDANAO

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS EDUCATION

PROCESS IN DESIGNING
THE SHEAR FOR
WOODEN BEAM
ASSIGNMENT #3

Discuss the process in designing the shear for a wooden beam.

Refer to the book Simplified engineering for architects and builders.

AR324 | 8273
STEEL AND TIMBER DESIGN

AR. RYAN ABELLA

COURSE FACILITATOR

JOHN CARLO LOSOLOSO

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURE

FEBRUARY 2022
 THE DESIGN PROCESS OF SHEAR FOR WOODEN BEAM

1. SHEAR STRESS IN BEAMS

In the case of simple direct shear, shear loads in beams are not evenly
distributed over the beam's cross section. Measurements of tested beams and
derivations assuming the equilibrium of beam segments under combined shear and
bending operations have resulted in the following equation for shear stress in a beam.

fv=VQ/lb
where;
V = shear force at the beam section
Q = moment about the neutral axis of the portion of the cross section
area bet. The edge of the section and the point where stress is being
computed
I = moment of inertia of the section
b = width of the section where stress is being computed

2. THE SHAPE OF BEAMS AND CROSS SECTIONS

3. THE GENERAL SHEAR STRESS FORMULA

fv=VQ/lb

4. THE BEAM SHEAR RULE

It is said that fv=1.5V/A is the maximum shear stress for the rectangular
sections often used for wood beams.
where;
fv = maximum unit horizontal shear stress, in psi
V = total vertical shear force at the section, in lb
A = cross sectional area of the beam, in in2
b = width of the section where stress is being computed

Wood has a poor shear resistance, and when it fails, the ends of the beam will
break horizontally. This is frequently an issue with short-span beams with a low
bending moment but a high shear force that are heavily loaded. It is common in wood
design to refer to this stress as horizontal shear, as the allowed shear stress is defined
in Table 5.1, since the failure mechanism includes horizontal splitting.
5. THE BEARING OF THE BEAMS
Bearing occurs at the beam ends when a beam sits on a support or when a
concentrated load is placed on top of a beam inside the span. Compression
perpendicular to the grain creates stress at the bearing contact region, which is given
in Table 5.1 as a permissible value (Fc).
Although the table's design values can be safely used, the maximum
permissible amount of stress may create some indentation in the wood member's edge
when the bearing length is short.
If the appearance of such a situation is undesirable, it is best to reduce stress.
Excessive deformation can also result in significant vertical movement, which might
have a negative impact on the system's construction.

6. FINDING THE WOOD DEFLECTION

Deflections are most common in rafters and joists, where span-to-depth ratios
are frequently pushed to their limits in wood constructions. Long-term high rates of
bending stress, on the other hand, might result in sag, which can be unpleasant to the
eye or cause structural issues.
In general, it is preferable to be conservative when it comes to deflections of
wood constructions. If you push the limits, you'll almost likely have sagging floors and
roofs, as well as floors that bounce a lot. This may make for a strong argument for the
use of steel beams or even glued-laminated beams in under certain conditions. The
equation is used to represent the deflection of a beam that is evenly loaded.
7. BENDING DESIGN EVALUATION
The flexure formula is used in the design of a wood beam for bending strength.
The design form of this equation is S = M/fb,
where;
M = maximum bending moment
Fb = allowable bending stress
S = required beam section modulus

Shear, deflection, end bearing, lateral buckling, and bending stress must all be
considered while designing beams. However, a common practice is to first identify the
size of the beam that must be bent before looking into any other possibilities. An
example of such a technique is as follows.
• Calculate the bending moment.
• Choose a wood species and a lumber grade that will be utilized.
• Calculate the fundamental bending stress that is permissible based on
Table 5.1.
• Consider making any necessary changes to the design stress value that
will be utilized.
• Find the needed section modulus using the flexure formula's permissible
bending stress.
• From Table A.8, choose a beam size.
• Apart from bending, look into any other issues that could be of interest.