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For the purposes of drawing shear and moment diagrams, the adopted sign conventions for internal forces and moments are shown below. The internal shear force \( V \) and moment \( M \) in a beam are plotted with positive values when they act in the indicated directions with respect to internal surfaces in the beam. These conventions assume the analysis is conducted on a horizontal beam with positive \( x \) axis pointing to the right.
Below are common support conditions and loading conditions that are used to model beams.
Pin supports allow rotation but not translation; fixed supports restrain both translation and rotation of the beam at that location.
Statically Determinate BeamsShape | Diagram | Equations |
---|---|---|
Rectangle | ![]() | \( \bar{I_{x'}} = \frac{1}{12}b h^3 \) \( \bar{I_{y'}} = \frac{1}{12}b^3 h \) \( I_x = \frac{1}{3}b h^3 \) \( I_y = \frac{1}{3}b^3 h \) \( J_c = \frac{1}{12}bh(b^2+h^2) \) |
Triangle | ![]() | \( \bar{I_{x'}} = \frac{1}{36}bh^3 \) \( I_x = \frac{1}{12}bh^3 \) |
Circle | ![]() | \( \bar{I_x} = \bar{I_y} = \frac{1}{4} \pi r^4 \) \( J_O= \frac{1}{2} \pi r^4 \) |
Semicircle | ![]() | \( I_x = I_y = \frac{1}{8} \pi r^4 \) \( J_O = \frac{1}{4} \pi r^4 \) |
Quarter circle | ![]() | \( I_x = I_y = \frac{1}{16} \pi r^4 \) \( J_O = \frac{1}{8} \pi r^4 \) |
Ellipse | ![]() | \( \bar{I_x} = \frac{1}{4} \pi a b^3 \) \( \bar{I_y} = \frac{1}{4} \pi a^3 b \) \( J_O = \frac{1}{4} \pi ab(a^2+b^2) \) |
Mass moment of inertia | Area moment of inertia | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Other names | First moment of area | Second moment of area | Polar moment of area | |
Description | Determines the torque needed to produce a desired angular rotation about an axis of rotation (resistance to rotation) | Determines the centroid of an area | Determines the moment needed to produce a desired curvature about an axis(resistance to bending) | Determines the torque needed to produce a desired twist a shaft or beam(resistance to torsion) |
Equations | ||||
Units | \( mass*length^2 \) | \( length^3 \) | \( length^4 \) | \( length^4 \) |
Typical Equations | ||||
Courses | TAM 212 | TAM 251 | TAM 210, TAM 251 | TAM 251 |
Heads up! - Extra
Composite beams builds on this content.
Recall that \( \epsilon_x = -\frac{y}{\rho} \) does not depend on the material properties of the beam, and is based only on the assumptions of geometry done so far.