Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 The size and shape of the cross-

section of the piece of material
used

 For timber, usually a rectangle

 For steel, various formed

sections are more efficient

 For concrete, either rectangular,

or often a Tee
A timber and plywood I-beam
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 1/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 What shapes are

possible in the
material? Some hot-rolled steel sections

 What shapes are

efficient for the
purpose?

 Obviously, bigger
is stronger, but less
economical

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 2/28

 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Beams are oriented one way

 Depth around the X-axis is the strong way
 Some lateral stiffness is also needed
 Columns need to be stiff both ways (X and Y)

X X

Y
Timber Cold-formed Timber Hot-rolled Steel
beam steel post steel tube
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 3/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 ‘Stress is proportional to strain’

 Parts further from the centre strain more

 The outer layers receive greatest stress

Unchanged length Most shortened

Most lengthened
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 4/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 The stresses developed resist bending

 Equilibrium happens when the resistance equals

the applied bending moment
MR = Ca
All the compressive C = Ta
a
stresses add up to form a
compressive force C T
Internal
Moment of
Resistance

All the tensile stresses add

up to form a tensile force T
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 5/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Simple solutions for rectangular sections

b
 Doing the maths (in the Notes)
gives the Moment of Inertia

For a rectangular section d

bd 3
I= mm4
12
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 6/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 The bigger the Moment of Inertia, the stiffer the

section

 It is also called Second Moment of Area

 Contains d3, so depth is important

 The bigger the Modulus of Elasticity of the material,

the stiffer the section

 A stiffer section develops its Moment of Resistance

with less curvature

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 7/28

 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Simple solutions for rectangular sections

 b
Doing the maths (in the Notes)
gives the Section Modulus

For a rectangular section d

2
bd
Z mm3
6
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 8/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 The bigger the Section Modulus, the stronger the section

 Contains d2, so depth is important

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 9/28

 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Strength --> Failure of Element

 Stiffness --> Amount of Deflection

depth is important

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 10/28

 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 The area tells how much stuff there is

● used for columns and ties
● directly affects weight and
cost
A = bd
 The radius of gyration is a derivative of I
Y
● used in slenderness ratio
b

rx = d/√12 X d X

ry = b/√12
Y
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 11/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Can be calculated, with a little extra work

 Manufacturers publish tables of properties

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 12/28

 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 12/28

 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Checking Beams
● given the beam section
● check that the stresses & deflection
are within the allowable limits

 Designing Beams
● find the Bending Moment and Shear
Force
● select a suitable section
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 13/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Go back to the bending moment diagrams

 Maximum stress occurs where bending moment is a

maximum

M is maximum here

Bending Moment M
Stress =
Section Modulus
f=
Z
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 14/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

b
 Given the beam size and material d
 Find the maximum Bending Moment
 Use Stress = Moment/Section Modulus
 Compare this stress to the Code allowable stress
M = max BM Z = bd2 / 6
Actual Stress = M / Z
Allowable Stress (from Code)

Actual < Allowable?

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 15/28

 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

50

250
 Given a softwood timber beam 250 x 50mm
 Given maximum Bending Moment = 4kNm
 Given Code allowable stress = 8MPa 4 kNm

Section Modulus Z = bd2 / 6

= 50 x 2502 / 6
= 0.52 x 106 mm3
Actual Stress f=M/Z
= 4 x 103 x 103 / 0.52 x 106
= 7.69 MPa < 8MPa
Actual Stress < Allowable Stress
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 16/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Given the maximum Bending Moment

 Given the Code allowable stress for the material
 Use Section Modulus = Moment / Stress
 Look up a table to find a suitable section

M = max BM
Allowable Stress (from Code) b?

required Z = M / Allowable Stress

d?
a) choose b and d to give
Z >= than required Z or

b) look up Tables of Properties

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 17/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Given the maximum Bending Moment = 4 kNm

 Given the Code allowable stress for b?
structural steel = 165 MPa
d?
required Z = 4 x 10 6 / 165 = 24 x 103
mm3
(steel handbooks give Z values in 103 mm3)
looking up a catalogue of steel purlins we find
C15020 - C-section 150 deep, 2.0mm thickness has a

Z = 27.89 x 103 mm3 (smallest section Z >= reqd Z)

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 18/28

 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Both E and I come into the deflection formula

(Material and Section properties)
 The load, W, and span, L3
 Note that I has a d3 factor

 Span-to-depth ratios (L/d) are often used

as a guide
W

Depth, d

Span, L

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 19/28

 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

W
Central point load

3
8d WL
L

48EI
Total load = W Uniformly Distributed Load
(w per metre length)
3
5WL
L
5d

where W is the TOTAL load
384EI
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 20/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

W Central point load

3
128d WL
L

3EI
Total load = W
Uniformly Distributed Load
(w per metre length)
3
48d
WL
L

where W is the TOTAL load 8EI
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 21/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

Uniformly Distributed Load

Total load = W
3
(w per metre length) WL

L
d
384EI
where W is the TOTAL load
 The deflection is only one-fifth of a
simply supported beam
 Continuous beams are generally stiffer than
simply supported beam
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 22/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Given the beam size and material

 Given the loading conditions
 Use formula for maximum deflection
 Compare this deflection to the Code allowable
deflection

Given load, W, and span, L

Given Modulus of Elasticity, E, and Moment of Inertia, I
Use deflection formula to find deflection
Be careful with units (work in N and mm)
Compare to Code limit (usually given as L/500, L/250 etc)

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 23/28

 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

W = 8kN
 Check the deflection of the steel channel
previously designed for strength L = 4m
 The maximum deflection <= L / 500
Loading Diagram

Section = C15020 E = 200 000 MPa I = 2.119 x 106 mm4

 = (5/384) x WL3/EI mm ( Let us work in N and mm )

 = (5/384) x 8000 x 40003 / (200000 x 2.119 x 106) = 16 mm

Maximum allowable deflection = 4000 / 500 = 8 mm

deflects too much - need to chose stiffer section

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 24/28

 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

65

 Need twice as much I 150

 Could use same section back to back

100% more material
75
 A channel C20020 (200 deep 2mm thick)
has twice the I but only 27% more material 200

design for strength

check for deflection
strategy for heavily loaded beams
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 25/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Given the loading conditions

 Given the Code allowable deflection

 Use deflection formula to find I

 Look up a table to find a suitable section

Given load, W, span, L, and Modulus of Elasticity, E

Use the Code limit — e.g., turn L/500 into millimetres
Use deflection formula to find minimum value of I
Look up tables or use I = bd3/12 and choose b and d
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 26/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

= better sections for beams

 Beams need large I and Z in direction of bending

 Need stiffness in other direction to resist
lateral buckling

Columns usually need large value of r
in both directions
 Some sections useful for both
University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 27/28
 Peter Smith & Mike Rosenman

 Deep beams are economical but subject to

lateral buckling

University of Sydney – Structures SECTIONS 28/28