Strength of material Chapter Five Shear force and bending moment 2013 A.

3. Shear Force and Bending Moment in Beams

3.1 Introduction

A structural member that is designed to resist forces acting laterally to its axis is called a beam. The main
members supporting floors of buildings are examples of beams. Beams are usually called flexural members.

Types of Supports and Their Representation

Supports are classified by the kind of resistance they offer to the forces.
Generally, there are three kinds of supports and they can be summarized in the figures shown below.
A B B B Mc
Rcx
Rbx or
or
● C
●
Rcy
Ray Rby Rby
Rby

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 3.1 Three basic types of idealized supports for planar structural systems.
Simple supports: (a) a pin support resists two force components and (b) a roller or link resists only one
directed force. Fixed support: (c) a fixed support resists two force components and a moment.

Loads Acting On Beams

Loads acting on beams may be of several kinds, as shown in Fig. 3.2. Concentrated loads are forces such as P1
and P2. Distributed loads act over a distance, as shown in Fig. 3.2. Such loads are measured by their intensity,
which is expressed in units of force per unit distance along the axis of the beam. (For example, in Newton per
meter)
A uniformly distributed load has constant intensity q per unit distance. A varying distributed load has an
intensity that changes with distance along the axis; for instance, the linearly varying load of Fig. 3.2b has an
intensity that varies from q1 to q2. Another kind of load is a couple, illustrated by the couple of moment M 1
acting on the beam in Fig.
q 3.2c. In beams theqdistance between
q2 supports is called span.
P1
1 P2 M1
●

(a) (b) (c)

q q

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 3.2 Types of beams and loads acting on them.

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Strength of material Chapter Five Shear force and bending moment 2013 A.Y

Types of Beams

Beams are classified in to several groups, depending primarily on the kind of supports used. If the supports are
at the ends and are either pins or rollers, the beams are simply supported or simple beams as shown in Fig. 3.2a
above. A beam fixed at one end and completely free at the other end is called cantilever beam Fig. 3.2b. If the
beam projects beyond a support, the beam is said to have an overhang Fig. 3.2c. In all the above beam types
(i.e. Fig. 3.2a, b and c) the reactions at the supports can easily be determined from static equilibrium
conditions and they are called statically determinate beams.
If the ends of a beam have fixed supports then the beam becomes a fixed beam, or fixed-ended beam, Fig.
3.2d.
Fig. 3.2e shows a beam fixed at one end and simply supported at the other end and such beams are called
restrained beams or propped cantilevers.
If intermediate supports are provided for a physically continuous member acting as a beam, Fig. 3.2f, the beam
is termed a continuous beam. In all the above beam types (i.e. Fig. 3.2d, e, f) the reactions at the supports can
not be determined using only static equilibrium conditions, and such beams are called statically indeterminate
beams.

3.2 Shear Force and Bending Moment

In general, to maintain a segment of a beam, such as shown in Fig. 3.3b below, there must be an internal
vertical force V at the cut to satisfy the equation ΣFy = 0. This internal force acting at right angles to the axis of
the beam is called the shear or shear force. The second condition of static equilibrium for a planar problem is
ΣMz = 0. This in general, can be satisfied only by developing a couple or an internal resisting moment within
the cross-sectional area of the cut to counteract the moment caused by the external forces. The magnitude of
the internal resisting moment equals the external moment and it is opposite in direction. These moments tend
to bend a beam in the plane of the loads and are usually referred to as bending moments. Because shear forces
and bending moments, like axial forces in bars and twisting couples in shafts, are the resultants of stresses
distributed over the cross section., they are known collectively as stress resultants.
P y
m
A B
x n
x
L
(a) z

P
M (b)
x V

M Mb
V (c)
Rb
Fig. 3.3 stress resultants V and M.
The stress resultants in statically determinate beams can be calculated from equations of static equilibrium. As
an example consider the cantilever beam in Fig. 3.3 above.
From the free body diagram of Fig. 3.3b or c:

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Strength of material Chapter Five Shear force and bending moment 2013 A.Y

F  0
y V  P
M  0 z  M  Px
Where x is the distance from the free end to section mn.
The shear force and bending moment are assumed to be positive when they act on the left-hand part of the
beam in the direction shown in Fig. 3.3b. If the right-hand part is considered (Fig. 3.3c) then the directions of
these same stress resultants are reversed.
Therefore, it can be recognized that the algebraic sign of stress resultants does not depend upon its direction
in space, such as upward or downward, or clockwise or counter clock wise, but rather the sign depends upon
the direction of the stress resultant with respect to the material against which it acts.
To understand the sign convention for shear force and bending moments, consider an element of the beam cut
out between two cross-sections that are small distance apart (Fig. 3.3).

V V
M M M M
+ -

V V
Fig. 3.3 Sign conventions for shear force V and bending moment M.
The deformations of an element caused by both positive and negative shear forces and bending moments are
shown in Fig. 3.5 below.
V V
+ - M M M M
-
+
V V

(a) (b)
Fig. 3.5 Deformations of an element caused by: (a) shear forces, and b) bending moments.
As can be seen on the figure above positive shear force tends to deform the element by causing the right-hand
face to move downward with respect to the left hand face, and a positive bending moment elongates the lower
part of the beam and compresses the upper part.
Because the signs for V and M are related to deformations of the material, these sign conventions are called
deformation sign conventions, like it was the case for axial forces (tension is positive, compression is
negative). A different kind of sign convention, called a static sign convention, is used in equations of static
equilibrium. When using a static sign convention, forces are taken as positive when they act in the positive
direction of a coordinate axis.
There are two types of sign convention used in mechanics: deformation sign conventions are used for stress
resultants and static sign conventions are used in equations of static equilibrium. The former are based upon
how the material is deformed, and the latter are based upon directions in space.
Generally, shear force at a section is equal numerically and is opposite in direction to the sum of all the
vertical forces, including the vertical reaction components, either to the right or left of the section. Similarly,
bending moment at a section is equal to the sum of all the moments caused by all the forces (including
reactions) as well as applied couples, either to the right or left of the section.

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Strength of material Chapter Five Shear force and bending moment 2013 A.Y

Relationships between load, shear force, and bending moment

When a beam is subjected to a variety of loads, the approach of cutting the beam and determining shear and
moment at a section by statics, as done before. A convenient alternative procedure employs the load, shear,
and bending-moment relations.
Consider the free body diagram of an element dx length cut from a loaded beam (fig 3.6a). On the left hand
face of the element are shown the shear force V and bending moment M, acting in their positive directions (fig
3.6b). In general, V and M are functions of the distance x measured along the axis of the beam.
If the increments in V and M are denoted by dV and dM, respectively, then the corresponding stress resultants
on the right hand face are V+ dV and M + dM.
The load acting on the top surface of the element may be a distributed load, a concentrated load, or a couple.
As an example assume first that the load is distributed with intensity q.
q
q
V
M M+dM
● ●
A B V+dV
dx
dx
x
(a) (b)
Fig.3.6 Beam and an element isolated from it
Assuming down ward load as positive, from equilibrium of forces in the vertical direction,
(V  dV )  qdx  V  0
dV
  q (3.1)
dx
Which states that at any section in the beam, the slope of the shear curve is equal to –q. (For example, if there
is no load on part of the beam (q=o), then dV/dx = 0 and the shear force is constant in that part of the beam .If
q is a constant over part of the beam (uniform load), then dV/dx is constant also & the shear force changes
linearly in that part of the beam.)
Integration of Eg. (3.1) between points A and B on the beam axis yields
B B

 dV   qdx
A A
B
V A  VB    qdx (3.2a)
A

Or V A  VB  area of load diagram between A and B  (3.2b)

Note that eqn. (3.1) is not valid at the point of application of a concentrated load. Similarly, eqn (3.2) can not
be used when concentrated loads are applied between A and B, as the intensity of load q is undefined for a
concentrated load.
For equilibrium of the beam element in fig 3.6b, the sum of moments about the left hand face must also be
zero.
Taking moments as positive when counter clockwise,
 dx 
 M  qdx   V  dV dx  M  dM  0
 2

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Strength of material Chapter Five Shear force and bending moment 2013 A.Y

Discarding products of differentials because they are negligible compared to the other terms, the above eqn.
reduces to
dM
 V (3.3)
dx
This relationship indicates that the slope of the moment curve is equal to the shear force, V. Clearly, the
maximum value of the moment occurs at the point where V (and hence dM/dx) is zero. Integrating eqn 3.3
between A and B, yields
B B

 dM   Vdx
A A
B
M A  M B   Vdx (3.3a)
A

Or M A  M B  area of shear force diagram between A and B  (3.3b)

3.3 Shear Force and Bending Moment Diagrams

The shear forces V and bending moments M in a beam are functions of the distance x measured along
the longitudinal axis. When designing a beam, it is desirable to know the values of V and M at all
cross sections. A convenient way to provide this information is to draw graphs showing how V and
M vary with x. to plot such a graph, we take the abscissa as the position of the cross-section (that is,
the distance x), and we take the ordinate as the corresponding value of either the shear force or the
bending moment. These graphs are called shear-force and bending moment diagrams. A point in the
bending moment diagram where the bending moment changes sign (or becomes zero) is called a
point of inflection or a point of contra flexure.

S.F. and B.M. diagrams for beams carrying concentrated loads only
In order to illustrate the procedure to be adopted for the determination of S.F. and B.M. values for
more complicated load conditions, consider the simply supported beam shown in Fig. carrying
concentrated loads only. (The term simply supported means that the beam can be assumed to rest
on knife-edges or roller supports and is free to bend at the supports without any restraint.)

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Strength of material Chapter Five Shear force and bending moment 2013 A.Y

S.F. and B.M. diagrams for uniformly distributed loads

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Strength of material Chapter Five Shear force and bending moment 2013 A.Y

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Strength of material Chapter Five Shear force and bending moment 2013 A.Y

S.F. and B.M. diagrams for combined concentrated and uniformly

distributed loads

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