Chapter Four

Internal Loading Developed

in Structural Members
 Outline
 Internal loadings at a specified point

 Shear & moment functions

 Shear & moment diagrams for a beam

 Shear & moment diagrams for a frame

 Moment diagrams constructed by the method of

superposition
4-1 Internal loadings at a specified point
 The internal load at a specified point in a member can be
determined by using the method of sections.

 This consists of:

 N, normal force
 V, shear force
 M, bending
moment
 Sign Convention
+ve Sign

Note:
 positive normal force tends to elongate the segment
 positive shear tends to rotate the segment clockwise
 positive bending moment tends to bend the segment concave upward
 Procedure for Analysis

 The following procedure provides a means for applying the method of

sections to determine the internal normal force, shear force, and
bending moment at a specific location in a structural member.

1. Support Reactions
2. Free-Body Diagram
 Keep all distributed loadings, couple moments, and forces acting on
the member in their exact location.
 pass an imaginary section through the member, perpendicular to its
axis at the point where the internal loading is to be determined.
 After the section is made, draw a free-body diagram of the segment
that has the least number of loads on it.
 At the section indicate the unknown resultants N, V, and M acting in
their positive directions.

3. Apply Equations of Equilibrium

Example 1
Example 2

Determine the internal shear and moment acting in the

cantilever beam shown in figure at sections passing
through points C & D
Example 3
Determine the internal shear and moment acting in section 1 in the
beam as shown in figure
18kN

R A  RB  9kN
 4-2 Shear & Moment Functions
 The design of a beam requires a detailed knowledge of the variations of
the internal shear force V and moment M acting at each point along the
axis of the beam.

 The internal normal force is generally not considered for two reasons:
(1)in most cases the loads applied to a beam act perpendicular to the
beam’s axis and hence produce only an internal shear force and bending
moment
(2)for design purposes the beam’s resistance to shear, and particularly to
bending, is more important than its ability to resist normal force.

 An important exception to this occurs, however, when beams are subjected

to compressive axial forces, since the buckling or instability that may occur
has to be investigated.
 In general, the internal shear & moment functions will be discontinuous
or their slope will discontinuous at points where:
 The type or magnitude of the distributed load changes
 Concentrated forces or couple moments are applied

 Therefore, shear and moment functions must be determined for each

region of the beam located between any two discontinuities of loading.
 Procedure for Analysis
1. Determine the support reactions on the beam
 Resolve all the external forces into components acting perpendicular & parallel to
beam’s axis.

2. Specify separate coordinates x and associated origins, extending into:

 Regions of the beam between concentrated forces and/or couple moments
 Discontinuity of distributed loading

3. Section the beam perpendicular to its axis at each distance x

4. From the free-body diagram of one of the segments, determine the

unknowns V & M

 On the free-body diagram, V & M should be shown acting in their +ve

directions
 V is obtained from
 Fy  0 dM
V
 M is obtained by dx

 Mby
 The results can be checked 0
s noting that: dV
dx  w
Example
Determine the internal shear and moment
Function
Example

Determine the internal shear and moment

Function
 4-3 Shear & Moment Diagrams for a Beam

 If the variations of V & M are plotted, the graphs are termed the
shear diagram and moment diagram
 Consider beam AD in Fig 4.9(a)

 With  , consider the free-body diagram for a small segment of

the beam having a length x, Fig 4.9(b)
 This segment has been chosen at point x along the beam that is not
subjected to a concentrated force or couple, any results obtained will not
apply at points of concentrated loading
 The distributed loading has been replaced by a concentrated force w(x) x
that acts at a fractional distance (x) from the right end where 0<<1
 Applying the eqn of equilibrium, we have:

   Fy  0;
V  w(x)x  (V  V )  0
V  w(x)x
With anti - clockwise moments as  ve :
 M o  0;
Vx  M  w(x)x (x)  (M  M )  0
M  Vx  w(x) (x) 2
⚫ Dividing by x & taking the limit as x , the previous eqns become:
 Integrating eqn 4.1 & 4.above eqns from one point to another between
concentrated forces or couples in which case
 Eqn 4.1 & 4.3 cannot be used at points where a concentrated force
acts
 Similarly, eqn 4.2 & 4.4 cannot be used where a couple moment is
applied
 In order to account for these 2 cases, consider the free-body
diagrams of differential elements of the beam in Fig 4.10(a)
 Fig 4.10

It is seen that force equilibrium requires the change in shear to

be
V  F eqn 4.5
Moment equilibrium requires the change in moment to be:
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
4-4 Shear & Moment Diagrams for a
Frame
 Frame consists of several members that are either fixed
or pinned connected at their ends
 To obtain the shear & moment diagrams:
 Determine the reactions at the frame supports
 Using method of sections, find the axial, shear and
moments acting at the ends of each member
 All loadings are resolved into components acting parallel
&
perpendicular to the member’s axis
 The shear & moment diagrams for each member can then
be drawn as described previously
 If the frame is R.C., the moment diagram is +ve on
the tension side of the frame.
Problem 1
Example 1
Example
Example 2
Example 3
Example

⚫ Draw the shear & moment diagrams for the frame shown in Fig 4.19(
⚫ Assume A is a pin, C a roller & B is a fixed point
⚫ Neglect the thickness of the members
4-5 Moment Diagrams constructed by
the Method of Superposition
Exampl
e
Exampl
e