Course Progress

Lesson 1. Symmetrical Bending

Lesson 2. Unsymmetrical Bending

Lesson 3. Deflections due to bending

Lesson 4. Calculation of section properties

Lesson 5. Problems on unsymmetrical bending of

beams
Lesson 6. Determination of shear center for an Unsymmetrical
section
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 Topic 10: Shear Center

• If the cross section of the beam does not have a plane of symmetry, the
displacements of the beam get increasingly complicated.

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 Need for finding location of shear centre

• In unsymmetrical sections, if the external applied forces act

through the centroid of the section, then in addition to bending,
twisting is also produced.
• To avoid twisting, and cause only bending, it is necessary for the
forces to act through the particular point, which may not coincide
with the centroid.
• The position of the this point is a function only of the geometry
of the beam section. It is termed as shear center.

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 What is shear centre??

Shear center is defined as the point on the beam section where load is applied and
no twisting is produced.
 At shear center, resultant of internal forces passes.
 On symmetrical sections, shear center is the center of gravity of that section.
 Such sections in which there is a sliding problem, we place loads at the shear
center.

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 Case1: The displacement consists of both translation down and anticlockwise twist.
Case2: The displacement consists of both translation down and clockwise twist.
Somewhere in-between these two extremes we would expect a point that we could
apply the load and produce only a twisting .This point is called “shear center” .

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 Properties of shear centre

• The shear center lays on the axis of symmetry.

• Thus for twice symmetrical section the shear centre is the point of
symmetry axes intersection.
• If the cross section is composed of segments converging in a
single point, this point is the shear centre.
• The transverse force applied at the shear centre does not lead to
the torsion in thin walled-beam.
• The shear centre is the centre of rotation for a section of thin
walled beam subjected to pure shear.
• The shear center is a position of shear flows resultant force, if the
thin-walled beam is subjected to pure shear.

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 Effect of loading at shear center

• The flexural formula σ=My/I is valid only if the transverse loads

which give rise to bending act in a plane of symmetry of beam
cross section.
• In this type of loading there is obviously no torsion of the beam.
• In more general cases the beam cross section will have no axis of
symmetry and the problem of where to apply the load so that the
action is entirely bending with no torsion arises .

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 Advantages of loading the beam at the shear center

• The path of any deflection is more obvious.

• The beam translates only straight downward. The standard
deflection formulas can be used to calculate the amount of
deflection.
• The flexural formula can be used to calculate the stress in the
beam.

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 Shear Center for Axis Symmetry

• Every elastic beam cross-section has a point through which

transverse forces may be applied so as to produce bending only,
with no torsion of the beam. The point is called the “shear center”
of the beam.
• The shear center for any transverse section of the beam is the point
of intersection of the bending axis and the lane of the transverse
section. Shear center is also called center of twist.

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 Classification on the basis of symmetry

• Double symmetrical section

• Single symmetrical section
• Unsymmetrical section

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 Topic 10: Shear Center
The shear center is having
practical significance in the
study of behavior of beams with
section comprising of thin parts,
such as channels, angles, I-
sections, which are having less
resistance to torsion but high
resistance to flexure.
To prevent twisting of any
beam cross-section, the load
must be applied through the
shear centre.
It is not necessary, in Sixth lesson summary
general, for the shear centre to
lie on the principal axis, and it
may be located outside the Shear Center
cross section of the beam.

© Kalasalingam academy of research and education AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES – II (AER18R372)

 References:
1. Alok Gupta (2004) , “Advanced strength of materials’’, Umesh Publications,
First Edition.
2. LS Srinath, “Advanced Mechanics of solids”, 15th edition, Tata McGraw Hill

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 Thank You!

© Kalasalingam academy of research and education AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES – II (AER18R372)