ME 243

Mechanics of Solids
Flexure or Bending Stress
Md. Rakib Hossain
Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET
 Flexure/Bending Stress
These are the stresses that cause due to bending moment.
Assumptions:
➢ Beam is subjected to pure bending
➢ A transverse plane ( perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the
beam) remains plane after bending
➢ Beam material is homogeneous and obeys Hooke’s Law
➢ Moduli of elasticity for tension and compression are same
➢ Beam is initially straight and of constant cross-section
➢ Applied loads act in the plane of symmetry
Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 2
 Flexure/Bending Stress

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 3

 Flexure/Bending Stress

The beam of the differential element along

the beam axis (Neutral axis i.e. the axis
which don’t elongate or contract) is ds and
remains unaltered as there is no strain. Now
denoting the radius of curvature of the
beam axis by 𝜌, one can find

ds =  d
1 d
=
 ds
Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 4
 Flexure/Bending Stress
➢ Deformation of a fiber at a distance y from the neutral axis is
dx = yd
➢ Strain is the deformation divided by the original length
dx y
 = , =
ds 
➢Applying Hooke’s Law
Ey
=

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 5
 Flexure/Bending Stress
➢ As pure bending is assumed for the analysis, so there will be no axial
force on the beam. As such the summation of all horizontal forces
acting on the cross-section of the beam will be zero. The force acting
on an elemental area dA is 𝜎𝑑𝐴. Therefore,
E
  dA =   ydA = 0
E
Ay = 0

➢ From the above equation, only y can be zero, it may be concluded that
the distance from the NA to the centroid of cross-sectional area must
be zero. In other words, NA and centroidal axis will be identical.

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 6

 Flexure/Bending Stress
➢ For equilibrium, the internal bending moment due to stress 𝜎 must be
equal to the external bending moment, M. Therefore,
E 2
M =   ydA =  y dA

➢The area moment of inertia,

I =  y 2 dA
E
M= I

➢ This equation is important for the determination of deflection of
beams. Now, bending stress is

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 7

 Flexure/Bending Stress

My
=
I
➢This equation shows that bending stress is directly proportional to the
distance y from the neutral axis and the bending moment.
➢ Now, writing y = c (in reality c = ymax ) the expression of the maximum
bending stress or flexure stress becomes,
Mc
=
I

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 8

 Flexure/Bending Stress
➢ Flexure formula can be also written as
M
=
S
Here, S=I/c is called the section modulus
➢The linear distribution of bending stress is

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 9

 Area/Centroids of Common Shapes

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 10

 508
Problem 27
Determine the minimum height h of the beam as shown in Fig. if the
flexural stress is not to exceed 20 MPa.

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 11

 Problem 28
A box beam is composed of four planks, each 2 in. by 8 in., securely
spiked together to form the section shown in Fig. below. Show that,
I NA = 981.3in.4 If w0 = 300lb / ft , find P to cause a maximum flexural stress
of 1400 psi.

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 12

 Economic Sections
➢ From the flexure formula, it is seen that the bending stress at the
neutral axis, where y=0, is zero and increases linearly outwards. This
means that for a rectangular or circular section a large portion of the
cross section near the middle section is under stressed.
➢ For steel beams or composite beams, instead of adopting the
rectangular shape, the area may be arranged so as to give more area on
the outer fiber and maintaining the same overall depth, and saving a
lot of weight.

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 13

 Economic Sections

Figure: Different cross sections of beams

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 14

 Unsymmetric Beams
➢ Flexural Stress varies directly linearly with distance from the neutral
axis. Thus for a symmetrical section such as wide flange, the
compressive and tensile stresses will be the same. This will be
desirable if the material is both equally strong in tension and
compression.
➢ However, there are materials, such as cast iron, which are strong in
compression than in tension. It is therefore desirable to use a beam
with unsymmetrical cross section giving more area in the
compression part making the stronger fiber located at a greater
distance from the neutral axis than the weaker fiber.

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 15

 Unsymmetric Beams
➢ The proportioning of these sections is such that the ratio of the
distance of the neutral axis from the outermost fibers in tension and in
compression is the same as the ratio of the allowable stresses in tension
and in compression.

yc  c
=
yt  t

Figure: Unsymmetric Beams

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 16

 Problem 29 551

Find the maximum tensile and compressive flexure stresses for the
cantilever beam shown in fig. below.

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 17

 Problem 30
A cast-iron beam 10m long and supported as shown in fig. below. Carries
a uniformly distributed load of intensity 0 (including its own weight).
The allowable stresses are 𝜎𝑡 ≤ 20 𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜎𝑐 ≤ 80 𝑀𝑃𝑎. Determine the
maximum safe value of 0 if x=1.0 m.

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 18

 Practice Problem 24
A 50-mm-diameter bar is used as a simply supported beam of 3m long.
Determine the largest uniformly distributed load that can be applied
over the two-thirds of the beam if the flexural stress is limited to 50 Mpa.

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 19

 Practice Problem 25 513
A rectangular steel beam, 2 in. wide by 3 in. deep, is located as shown in
fig. below. Determine the magnitude and location of the maximum
flexural stress.

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 20

 Practice Problem 26
A square timber beam used as a railroad tie is supported by a uniformly
distributed reaction and carries two uniformly distributed loads each
totaling 48 KN as shown in fig. below. Determine the size of the section
if the maximum stress is limited to 8 Mpa.

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 21

 Practice Problem 27 553

Find the maximum tensile and compressive flexure stresses for the
cantilever beam shown in fig. below.

Answer:
𝜎𝑏𝑐 = 1800 𝑝𝑠𝑖
𝜎𝑏𝑡 = 3600 𝑝𝑠𝑖

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 22

 Practice Problem 28 555

A beam carries a concentrated load W and a total uniformly distributed

load 4W as shown in fig. below. What safe value of W can be applied if
𝜎𝑡 ≤ 60 𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜎𝑐 ≤ 100 𝑀𝑃𝑎? Can a greater load be applied if the
section is inverted? Explain.

Answer: 9600 N

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 23

Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 24
 Thank
you
Md. Rakib Hossain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of ME, BUET 25