Chapter 6:

Internal Forces

Engineering Mechanics: Statics

Chapter Objectives
To

show how to use the method of

sections for determining the internal
loadings in a member.
To generalize this procedure by
formulating equations that can be
plotted so that they describe the
internal shear and moment
throughout a member.

Chapter Outline
Internal

Forces Developed in
Structural Members
Shear and Moment Equations
and Diagrams
Relations between Distributed
Load, Shear and Moment

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
The

design of any structural or

mechanical member requires the
material to be used to be able to
resist the loading acting on the
member
These internal loadings can be
determined by the method of sections

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Consider

the simply supported beam

To determine the internal loadings acting on the
cross section at C, an imaginary section is
passed through the beam, cutting it into two
By doing so, the internal loadings become
external on the FBD

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Since

both segments (AC and CB) were in

equilibrium before the sectioning,
equilibrium of the segment is maintained
by rectangular force components and a
resultant couple moment
Magnitude of the loadings is determined
by the equilibrium equations

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Force

component N, acting normal to the

beam at the cut session and V, acting t
angent to the session are known as
normal
or axial force
and the shear force
Couple moment M is
referred as the bending
moment

 For

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members

3D, a general internal force and couple

moment resultant will act at the section
Ny is the normal force, and V x and Vz are
the shear components
My is the torisonal or
twisting moment, and
Mx and Mz are the
bending moment
components

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
For

most applications, these

resultant loadings will act at the
geometric center or centroid (C) of
the sections cross sectional area
Although the magnitude of each
loading differs at different points
along the axis of the member, the
method of section can be used to
determine the values

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members

Free Body Diagrams

Since

frames and machines are composed

of multi-force members, each of these
members will generally be subjected to
internal shear, normal and bending loadings
Consider the frame with the blue
section passed through to
determine the internal loadings
at points H, G and F

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members

Free Body Diagrams

FBD

of the sectioned frame

At each sectioned member, there is an
unknown normal force, shear force and bending
moment
3 equilibrium equations cannot be used
to find 9 unknowns, thus dismember
the frame and determine
reactions at each connection

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members

Free Body Diagrams

Once

done, each member may be sectioned at

its appropriate point and apply the 3 equilibrium
equations to determine the unknowns
Example
FBD of segment DG can be used to determine
the internal loadings at G
provided the reactions of
the pins are known

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Procedure for Analysis
Support Reactions
Before the member is cut or sectioned,
determine the members support reactions
Equilibrium equations are used to solve for
internal loadings during sectioning of the
members
If the member is part of a frame or
machine, the reactions at its connections
are determined by the methods used in 6.6

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Procedure for Analysis
Free-Body Diagrams
Keep all distributed loadings, couple
moments and forces acting on the
member in their exact locations, then pass
an imaginary section through the member,
perpendicular to its axis at the point the
internal loading is to be determined
After the session is made, draw the FBD of
the segment having the least loads

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Procedure for Analysis
Free-Body Diagrams
Indicate the z, y, z components of the force
and couple moments and the resultant
couple moments on the FBD
If the member is subjected to a coplanar
system of forces, only N, V and M act at the
section
Determine the sense by inspection; if not,
assume the sense of the unknown loadings

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Procedure for Analysis
Equations of Equilibrium
Moments should be summed at the section
about the axes passing through the centroid or
geometric center of the members crosssectional area in order to eliminate the unknown
normal and shear forces and thereby, obtain
direct solutions for the moment components
If the solution yields a negative result, the sense
is opposite that assume of the unknown
loadings

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
The

link on the backhoe

is a two force member
It is subjected to both
bending and axial load
at its center
By making the member
straight, only an axial
force acts within the
member

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Example 7.1
The bar is fixed at its end and is
loaded. Determine the internal
normal
force at points B and C.

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Solution
Support Reactions
FBD of the entire bar
By inspection, only normal force
Ay acts at the fixed support
Ax

= 0 and Az = 0

+ Fy = 0; 8kN NB = 0
NB = 8kN

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Solution
FBD of the sectioned bar
No shear or moment act
on the sections since
they are not required for
equilibrium
Choose segment AB and
DC since they contain the
least number of forces

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Solution
Segment AB
+ Fy = 0; 8kN NB = 0
NB = 8kN
Segment DC
+ Fy = 0; NC 4kN= 0
NC = 4kN

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Example 7.2
The circular shaft is subjected to three
concentrated torques. Determine the
internal
torques at points B and C.

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Solution
Support Reactions
Shaft subjected to only collinear torques
Mx = 0;
-10N.m + 15N.m + 20N.m TD = 0
TD = 25N.m

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Solution
FBD of shaft segments AB and CD

7.1 Internal Forces

Developed in Structural
Members
Solution
Segment AB
Mx = 0;
=0

-10N.m + 15N.m TB
TB = 5N.m

Segment CD
Mx = 0;

TC 25N.m= 0
TC = 25N.m

7.2 Shear and

Beams

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

structural members designed to

support loadings perpendicular to their axes
Beams straight long bars with constant
cross-sectional areas
A simply supported beam is pinned at one end
and roller supported at
the other
A cantilevered beam is
fixed at one end and free
at the other

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and Diagrams
For actual design of a beam, apply
- Internal shear force V and the bending
moment M analysis
- Theory of mechanics of materials
- Appropriate engineering code to determine
beams required cross-sectional area
Variations of V and M obtained by the method
of sections
Graphical variations of V and M are termed as
shear diagram and bending moment diagram

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and Diagrams
Internal shear and bending moment

functions generally discontinuous, or their

slopes will be discontinuous at points
where a distributed load changes or where
concentrated forces or couple moments
are applied
Functions must be applied for each
segment of the beam located between
any two discontinuities of loadings
Internal normal force will not be
considered

7.2 Shear and

Load

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

applied to a beam act

perpendicular to the beams axis
and hence produce only an internal
shear force and bending moment
For design purpose, the beams
resistance to shear, and particularly
to bending, is more important than
its ability to resist a normal force

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

Sign Convention
To

define a positive and negative shear

force and bending moment acting on the
beam
Positive directions are denoted by an
internal shear force that causes
clockwise rotation of the member on
which it acts and by an internal moment
that causes compression or pushing on
the upper part of the member

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

Sign Convention
A

positive moment
would tend to bend
the member if it were
elastic, concave
upwards
Loadings opposite to
the above are
considered negative

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

Procedure for Analysis

Support Reactions
Determine all the reactive forces and
couple moments acting on the beam
Resolve them into components acting
perpendicular or parallel to the
beams axis

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and
Diagrams
Procedure for Analysis
Shear and Moment Reactions
Specify separate coordinates x having an
origin at the beams left end and extending to
regions of the beams between concentrated
force and/or couple moments or where there
is no continuity of distributed loadings
Section the beam perpendicular to its axis at
each distance x and draw the FBD of one of
the segments

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

Procedure for Analysis

Shear and Moment Reactions

V and M are shown acting in their positive
sense
The shear V is obtained by summing the
forces perpendicular to the beams axis
The moment M is obtained by summing
moments about the sectioned end of the
segment

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and
Diagrams
Procedure for Analysis
Shear and Moment Diagrams
Plot the shear diagram (V versus x) and the
moment diagram (M versus x)
If computed values of the functions describing
V and M are positive, the values are plotted
above the x axis, whereas negative values
are plotted below the x axis
Convenient to plot the shear and the bending
moment diagrams below the FBD of the beam

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

Example 7.7
Draw the shear and bending moments
diagrams for the shaft. The support at A is a
thrust bearing and the support at C is a
journal bearing.

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

Solution
Support Reactions
FBD of the shaft

7.2 Shear and

Solution

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

Fy 0;V 2.5kN
M 0; M 2.5 xkN .m

7.2 Shear and

Solution

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

Fy 0;2.5kN 5kN V 0
V 2.5kN
M 0; M 5kN ( x 2m) 2.5kN ( x) 0
M (10 2.5 x)kN .m

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

Solution
Shear diagram
internal shear force is always
positive within the shaft AB
Just to the right of B, the
shear force changes sign and
remains at constant value
for segment BC
Moment diagram
Starts at zero, increases
linearly to B and therefore
decreases to zero

7.2 Shear and

Moment Equations
and Diagrams

Solution
Graph of shear and
moment diagrams is
discontinuous at points of
concentrated force ie, A, B,
C
All loading discontinuous
are mathematical, arising
from the idealization of a
concentrated force and
couple moment

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Distributed Load
Consider

beam AD subjected to an
arbitrary load w = w(x) and a series of
concentrated forces and moments
Distributed load assumed positive when
loading acts downwards

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Distributed Load
A

FBD diagram for a small

segment of the beam having
a length x is chosen at point
x along the beam which is not
subjected to a concentrated
force or couple moment
Any results obtained will not
apply at points of
concentrated loadings

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Distributed Load
The

internal shear force and

bending moments shown on the
FBD are assumed to act in the
positive sense
Both the shear force and
moment acting on the righthand face must be increased by
a small, finite amount in order to
keep the segment in equilibrium

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Distributed Load
The

distributed loading has been replaced

by a resultant force F = w(x) x that acts
at a fractional distance k (x) from the
right end, where 0 < k <1

Fy 0;V w( x)x (V V ) 0
V w( x)x

M 0;Vx M w( x)x k x ( M M ) 0
M Vx w( x)k (x)

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Distributed Load

dV
w( x)
dx

Slope of the
=
shear diagram
intensity

Negative of
distributed load

dM
V
dx

Slope of

Shear moment diagram

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment

Distributed Load
At

a specified point in a beam, the slope of the

shear diagram is equal to the intensity of the
distributed load
Slope of the moment diagram = shear
If the shear is equal to zero, dM/dx = 0, a point
of zero shear corresponds to a point of
maximum (or possibly minimum) moment
w (x) dx and V dx represent differential area
under the distributed loading and shear
diagrams

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Distributed Load
VBC w( x)dx

Change in =
Area under
shear
shear diagram
M BC Vdx

Change in =
Area under
moment
shear diagram

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Distributed Load
Change

in shear between points B and C is

equal to the negative of the area under the
distributed-loading curve between these
points
Change in moment between B and C is
equal to the area under the shear diagram
within region BC
The equations so not apply at points where
concentrated force or couple moment acts

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Force
FBD

of a small segment
of the beam
Fy 0; V F

Change

in shear is
negative thus the shear
will jump downwards
when F acts downwards
on the beam

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Force
FBD

of a small segment of
the beam located at the
couple moment

M 0; M M O
Change

in moment is
positive or the moment
diagram will jump upwards
MO is clockwise

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Example 7.9
Draw the shear and moment diagrams for
the
beam.

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Solution
Support Reactions
FBD of the beam

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Solution
Shear Diagram
V = +1000 at x = 0
V = 0 at x = 2
Since dV/dx = -w = -500, a straight negative
sloping
line connects the end points

7.3 Relations between

Distributed Load, Shear and
Moment
Solution
Moment Diagram
M = -1000 at x = 0
M = 0 at x = 2
dM/dx = V, positive yet linearly decreasing from
dM/dx = 1000 at x = 0 to dM/dx = 0 at x = 2