STRESSES IN BEAMS

David Roylance
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA 02139
November 21, 2000
Introduction
Understanding of the stresses induced in beams by bending loads took many years to develop.
Galileo worked on this problem, but the theory as we use it today is usually credited principally
to the great mathematician Leonard Euler (17071783). As will be developed below, beams
develop normal stresses in the lengthwise direction that vary from a maximum in tension at
one surface, to zero at the beams midplane, to a maximum in compression at the opposite
surface. Shear stresses are also induced, although these are often negligible in comparision
with the normal stresses when the length-to-height ratio of the beam is large. The procedures
for calculating these stresses for various loading conditions and beam cross-section shapes are
perhaps the most important methods to be found in introductory Mechanics of Materials, and
will be developed in the sections to follow. This theory requires that the user be able to construct
shear and bending moment diagrams for the beam, as developed for instance in Module 12.
Normal Stresses
A beam subjected to a positive bending moment will tend to develop a concave-upward curva-
ture. Intuitively, this means the material near the top of the beam is placed in compression along
the x direction, with the lower region in tension. At the transition between the compressive and
tensile regions, the stress becomes zero; this is the neutral axis of the beam. If the material
tends to fail in tension, like chalk or glass, it will do so by crack initiation and growth from
the lower tensile surface. If the material is strong in tension but weak in compression, it will
fail at the top compressive surface; this might be observed in a piece of wood by a compressive
buckling of the outer bers.
We seek an expression relating the magnitudes of these axial normal stresses to the shear
and bending moment within the beam, analogously to the shear stresses induced in a circular
shaft by torsion. In fact, the development of the needed relations follows exactly the same direct
approach as that used for torsion:
1. Geometrical statement: We begin by stating that originally transverse planes within the
beam remain planar under bending, but rotate through an angle about points on the
neutral axis as shown in Fig. 1. For small rotations, this angle is given approximately by
1
the x-derivative of the beams vertical deection function v(x)
1
:
u = yv
,x
(1)
where the comma indicates dierentiation with respect to the indicated variable (v
,x

dv/dx). Here y is measured positive upward from the neutral axis, whose location within
the beam has not yet been determined.
Figure 1: Geometry of beam bending.
2. Kinematic equation: The x-direction normal strain
x
is then the gradient of the displace-
ment:

x
=
du
dx
= yv
,xx
(2)
Note that the strains are zero at the neutral axis where y = 0, negative (compressive)
above the axis, and positive (tensile) below. They increase in magnitude linearly with y,
much as the shear strains increased linearly with r in a torsionally loaded circular shaft.
The quantity v
,xx
d
2
v/dx
2
is the spatial rate of change of the slope of the beam deection
curve, the slope of the slope. This is called the curvature of the beam.
3. Constitutive equation: The stresses are obtained directly from Hookes law as

x
= E
x
= yEv
,xx
(3)
This restricts the applicability of this derivation to linear elastic materials. Hence the
axial normal stress, like the strain, increases linearly from zero at the neutral axis to a
maximum at the outer surfaces of the beam.
4. Equilibrium relations: Since there are no axial (x-direction) loads applied externally to the
beam, the total axial force generated by the normal
x
stresses (shown in Fig. 2) must be
zero. This can be expressed as
1
The exact expression for curvature is
d
ds
=
d
2
v/dx
2
[1 + (dv/dx)
2
]
3/2
This gives dv/dx when the squared derivative in the denominator is small compared to 1.
2

F
x
= 0 =
_
A

x
dA =
_
A
yEv
,xx
dA
which requires that
_
A
y dA = 0
The distance y from the neutral axis to the centroid of the cross-sectional area is
y =
_
A
y dA
_
A
dA
Hence y = 0, i.e. the neutral axis is coincident with the centroid of the beam cross-sectional
area. This result is obvious on reection, since the stresses increase at the same linear rate,
above the axis in compression and below the axis in tension. Only if the axis is exactly
at the centroidal position will these stresses balance to give zero net horizontal force and
keep the beam in horizontal equilibrium.
Figure 2: Moment and force equilibrium in the beam.
The normal stresses in compression and tension are balanced to give a zero net horizontal
force, but they also produce a net clockwise moment. This moment must equal the value
of M(x) at that value of x, as seen by taking a moment balance around point O:

M
O
= 0 = M +
_
A

x
y dA
M =
_
A
(yEv
,xx
) y dA = Ev
,xx
_
A
y
2
dA (4)
Figure 3: Moment of inertia for a rectangular section.
3
The quantity
_
y
2
dA is the rectangular moment of inertia with respect to the centroidal
axis, denoted I. For a rectangular cross section of height h and width b as shown in Fig. 3
this is:
I =
_
h/2
h/2
y
2
b dy =
bh
3
12
(5)
Solving Eqn. 4 for v
,xx
, the beam curvature is
v
,xx
=
M
EI
(6)
5. An explicit formula for the stress can be obtained by using this in Eqn. 3:

x
= yE
M
EI
=
My
I
(7)
The nal expression for stress, Eqn. 7, is similar to
z
= Tr/J for twisted circular shafts:
the stress varies linearly from zero at the neutral axis to a maximum at the outer surface, it
varies inversely with the moment of inertia of the cross section, and it is independent of the
materials properties. Just as a designer will favor annular drive shafts to maximize the polar
moment of inertia J, beams are often made with wide anges at the upper and lower surfaces
to increase I.
Example 1
Figure 4: A cantilevered T-beam.
Consider a cantilevered T-beam with dimensions as shown in Fig. 4, carrying a uniform loading of w
N/m. The maximum bending moment occurs at the wall, and is easily found to be M
max
= (wL)(L/2).
The stress is then given by Eqn. 7, which requires that we know the location of the neutral axis (since y
and I are measured from there).
The distance y from the bottom of the beam to the centroidal neutral axis can be found using the
composite area theorem (see Prob. 1). This theorem states that the distance from an arbitrary axis
to the centroid of an area made up of several subareas is the sum of the subareas times the distance to
their individual centroids, divided by the sum of the subareas( i.e. the total area):
y =

i
A
i
y
i

i
A
i
For our example, this is
4
y =
(d/2)(cd) + (d +b/2)(ab)
cd +ab
The moments of inertia of the individual parts of the compound area with respect to their own
centroids are just ab
3
/12 and cd
3
/12. These moments can be referenced to the horizontal axis through
the centroid of the compound area using the parallel axis theorem (see Prob. 3). This theorem states
that the moment of inertia I
z
of an area A, relative to any arbitrary axis z

parallel to an axis through

the centroid but a distance d from it, is the moment of inertia relative to the centroidal axis I
z
plus the
product of the area A and the square of the distance d:
I
z
= I
z
+Ad
2
For our example, this is
I
(1)
=
ab
3
12
+ (ab)
_
d +
b
2
y
_
2
I
(2)
=
cd
3
12
+ (cd)
_
d
2
y
_
2
The moment of inertia of the entire compound area, relative to its centroid, is then the sum of these two
contributions:
I = I
(1)
+I
(2)
The maximum stress is then given by Eqn. 7 using this value of I and y = y/2 (the distance from the
neutral axis to the outer bers), along with the maximum bending moment M
max
. The result of these
substitutions is

x
=
_
3 d
2
c + 6 abd + 3 ab
2
_
wL
2
2 c
2
d
4
+ 8 abcd
3
+ 12 ab
2
cd
2
+ 8 ab
3
cd + 2 a
2
b
4
In practice, each step would likely be reduced to a numerical value rather than working toward an
algebraic solution.
In pure bending (only bending moments applied, no transverse or longitudinal forces), the
only stress is
x
as given by Eqn. 7. All other stresses are zero (
y
=
z
=
xy
=
xz
=
yz
= 0).
However, strains other than
x
are present, due to the Poisson eect. This does not generate
shear strain (
xy
=
xz
=
yz
= 0), but the normal strains are

x
=
1
E
[
x
(
y
+
z
)] =

x
E

y
=
1
E
[
y
(
x
+
z
)] =

x
E

z
=
1
E
[
z
(
x
+
y
)] =

x
E
The strains can also be written in terms of curvatures. From Eqn. 2, the curvature along the
beam is
v
,xx
=

x
y
This is accompanied by a curvature transverse to the beam axis given by
5
v
,zz
=

z
y
=

x
y
= v
,xx
This transverse curvature, shown in Fig. 5, is known as anticlastic curvature; it can be seen by
bending a Pink Pearl type eraser in the ngers.
Figure 5: Anticlastic curvature.
As with tension and torsion structures, bending problems can often be done more easily with
energy methods. Knowing the stress from Eqn. 7, the strain energy due to bending stress U
b
can be found by integrating the strain energy per unit volume U

=
2
/2E over the specimen
volume:
U
b
=
_
V
U

dV =
_
L
_
A

2
x
2E
dAdL
=
_
L
_
A
1
2E
_
My
I
_
2
dAdL =
_
L
M
2
2EI
2
_
A
y
2
dAdL
Since
_
A
y
2
dA = I, this becomes
U
b
=
_
L
M
2
dL
2EI
(8)
If the bending moment is constant along the beam (denitely not the usual case), this becomes
U =
M
2
L
2EI
This is another analog to the expression for uniaxial tension, U = P
2
L/2AE.
Buckling
Long slender columns placed in compression are prone to fail by buckling, in which the column
develops a kink somewhere along its length and quickly collapses unless the load is relaxed. This
is actually a bending phenomenon, driven by the bending moment that develops if and when
when the beam undergoes a transverse deection. Consider a beam loaded in axial compression
and pinned at both ends as shown in Fig. 6. Now let the beam be made to deect transversely
by an amount v, perhaps by an adventitious sideward load or even an irregularity in the beams
cross section. Positions along the beam will experience a moment given by
6
M(x) = Pv(x) (9)
The beams own stiness will act to restore the deection and recover a straight shape, but the
eect of the bending moment is to deect the beam more. Its a battle over which inuence wins
out. If the tendency of the bending moment to increase the deection dominates over the ability
of the beams elastic stiness to resist bending, the beam will become unstable, continuing to
bend at an accelerating rate until it fails.
Figure 6: Imminent buckling in a beam.
The bending moment is related to the beam curvature by Eqn. 6, so combining this with
Eqn. 9 gives
v
,xx
=
P
EI
v (10)
Of course, this governing equation is satised identically if v = 0, i.e. the beam is straight. We
wish to look beyond this trivial solution, and ask if the beam could adopt a bent shape that
would also satisfy the governing equation; this would imply that the stiness is insucient to
restore the unbent shape, so that the beam is beginning to buckle. Equation 10 will be satised
by functions that are proportional to their own second derivatives. Trigonometric functions have
this property, so candidate solutions will be of the form
v = c
1
sin
_
P
EI
x +c
2
cos
_
P
EI
x
It is obvious that c
2
must be zero, since the deection must go to zero at x = 0 and L. Further,
the sine term must go to zero at these two positions as well, which requires that the length L
be exactly equal to a multiple of the half wavelength of the sine function:
_
P
EI
L = n, n = 1, 2, 3,
The lowest value of P leading to the deformed shape corresponds to n = 1; the critical buckling
load P
cr
is then:
P
cr
=

2
EI
L
2
(11)
Note the dependency on L
2
, so the buckling load drops with the square of the length.
This strong dependency on length shows why crossbracing is so important in preventing
buckling. If a brace is added at the beams midpoint as shown in Fig. 7 to eliminate deection
7
there, the buckling shape is forced to adopt a wavelength of L rather than 2L. This is equivalent
to making the beam half as long, which increases the critical buckling load by a factor of four.
Figure 7: Eect of lateral support and end conditions on beam buckling.
Similar reasoning can be used to assess the result of having dierent support conditions. If
for instance the beam is cantilevered at one end but unsupported at the other, its buckling shape
will be a quarter sine wave. This is equivalent to making the beam twice as long as the case
with both ends pinned, so the buckling load will go down by a factor of four. Cantilevering both
ends forces a full-wave shape, with the same buckling load as the pinned beam with a midpoint
support.
Shear stresses
Transverse loads bend beams by inducing axial tensile and compressive normal strains in the
beams x-direction, as discussed above. In addition, they cause shear eects that tend to slide
vertical planes tangentially to one another as depicted in Fig. 8, much like sliding playing cards
past one another. The stresses
xy
associated with this shearing eect add up to the vertical shear
force we have been calling V , and we now seek to understand how these stresses are distributed
over the beams cross section. The shear stress on vertical planes must be accompanied by an
equal stress on horizontal planes since
xy
=
yx
, and these horizontal shearing stresses must
become zero at the upper and lower surfaces of the beam unless a traction is applied there to
balance them. Hence they must reach a maximum somewhere within the beam.
The variation of this horizontal shear stress with vertical position y can be determined by
examining a free body of width dx cut from the beam a distance y above neutral axis as shown
in Fig. 9. The moment on the left vertical face is M(x), and on the right face it has increased
to M + dM. Since the horizontal normal stresses are directly proportional to the moment
(
x
= My/I), any increment in moment dM over the distance dx produces an imbalance in the
horizontal force arising from the normal stresses. This imbalance must be compensated by a
shear stress
xy
on the horizontal plane at y. The horizontal force balance is written as

xy
b dx =
_
A

dM
I
dA

8
Figure 8: Shearing displacements in beam bending.
Figure 9: Shear and bending moment in a dierential length of beam.
where b is the width of the beam at y, is a dummy height variable ranging from y to the outer
surface of the beam, and A

is the cross-sectional area between the plane at y and the outer

surface. Using dM = V dx from Eqn. 8 of Module 12, this becomes

xy
=
V
Ib
_
A

dA

=
V Q
Ib
(12)
where here Q(y) =
_
A
dA

= A

is the rst moment of the area above y about the neutral

axis.
The parameter Q(y) is notorious for confusing persons new to beam theory. To determine it
for a given height y relative to the neutral axis, begin by sketching the beam cross section, and
draw a horizontal line line at the position y at which Q is sought (Fig. 10 shows a rectangular
beam of of constant width b and height h for illustration). Note the area A

between this line

and the outer surface (indicated by cross-hatching in Fig. 10). Now compute the distance from
the neutral axis to the centroid of A

. The parameter Q(y) is the product of A

and ; this is
the rst moment of the area A

with respect to the centroidal axis. For the rectangular beam,

it is
9
Figure 10: Section of a rectangular beam.
Q = A

=
_
b
_
h
2
y
__ _
y +
1
2
_
h
2
y
__
=
b
2
_
h
2
4
y
2
_
Note that Q(y), and therefore
xy
(y) as well, is parabolic, being maximum at the neutral axis
(y = 0) and zero at the outer surface (y = h/2). Using I = bh
3
/12 for the rectangular beam,
the maximum shear stress as given by Eqn. 12 is

xy,max
=
xy
|
y=0
=
3V
2bh
(Keep in mind than the above two expressions for Q and
xy,max
are for rectangular cross section
only; sections of other shapes will have dierent results.) These shear stresses are most important
in beams that are short relative to their height, since the bending moment usually increases with
length and the shear force does not (see Prob. 11). One standard test for interlaminar shear
strength
2
is to place a short beam in bending and observe the load at which cracks develop along
the midplane.
Example 2
Since the normal stress is maximum where the horizontal shear stress is zero (at the outer bers), and
the shear stress is maximum where the normal stress is zero (at the neutral axis), it is often possible to
consider them one at a time. However, the juncture of the web and the ange in I and T beams is often
a location of special interest, since here both stresses can take on substantial values.
Consider the T beam seen previously in Example 1, and examine the location at point A shown in
Fig. 11, in the web immediately below the ange. Here the width b in Eqn. 12 is the dimension labeled
c; since the beam is thin here the shear stress
xy
will tend to be large, but it will drop dramatically
in the ange as the width jumps to the larger value a. The normal stress at point A is computed from

x
= My/I, using y = d y. This value will be almost as large as the outer-ber stress if the ange
thickness b is small compared with the web height d. The Mohrs circle for the stress state at point A
would then have appreciable contributions from both
x
and
xy
, and can result in a principal stress
larger than at either the outer bers or the neutral axis.
This problem provides a good review of the governing relations for normal and shear stresses in beams,
and is also a natural application for symbolic-manipulation computer methods. Using Maple software,
we might begin by computing the location of the centroidal axis:
2
Apparent Horizontal Shear Strength of Reinforced Plastics by Short Beam Method, ASTM D2344, Amer-
ican Society for Testing and Materials.
10
Figure 11: Section of T beam.
> ybar := ((d/2)*c*d) + ( (d+(b/2) )*a*b )/( c*d + a*b );
Here the > symbol is the Maple prompt, and the ; is needed by Maple to end the command. The
maximum shear force and bending moment (present at the wall) are dened in terms of the distributed
load and the beam length as
> V := w*L;
> M := -(w*L)*(L/2);
For plotting purposes, it will be convenient to have a height variable Y measured from the bottom of the
section. The relations for normal stress, shear stress, and the rst principal stress are functions of Y;
these are dened using the Maple procedure command:
> sigx := proc (Y) -M*(Y-ybar)/Iz end;
> tauxy := proc (Y) V*Q(Y)/(Iz*B(Y) ) end;
> sigp1 := proc (Y) (sigx(Y)/2) + sqrt( (sigx(Y)/2)^2 + (tauxy(Y))^2 ) end;
The moment of inertia Iz is computed as
> I1 := (a*b^3)/12 + a*b* (d+(b/2)-ybar)^2;
> I2 := (c*d^3)/12 + c*d* ((d/2)-ybar)^2;
> Iz := I1+I2;
The beam width B is dened to take the appropriate value depending on whether the variable Y is in the
web or the ange:
> B:= proc (Y) if Y<d then B:=c else B:=a fi end;
The command fi (if spelled backwards) is used to end an if-then loop. The function Q(Y) is dened
for the web and the ange separately:
> Q:= proc (Y) if Y<d then
> int( (yy-ybar)*c,yy=Y..d) + int( (yy-ybar)*a,yy=d..(d+b) )
> else
> int( (yy-ybar)*a,yy=Y.. (d+b) )
> fi end;
Here int is the Maple command for integration, and yy is used as the dummy height variable. The
numerical values of the various parameters are dened as
> a:=3: b:=1/4: c:=1/4: d:=3-b: L:=8: w:=100:
11
Figure 12: Stresses at the web-ange junction in a short cantilevered T beam subjected to
uniform loading.
Finally, the stresses can be graphed using the Maple plot command
> plot({sigx,tauxy,sigp1},Y=0..3,sigx=-500..2500);
The resulting plot is shown in Fig. 12.
Example 3
In the previous example, we were interested in the variation of stress as a function of height in a beam of
irregular cross section. Another common design or analysis problem is that of the variation of stress not
only as a function of height but also of distance along the span dimension of the beam. The shear and
bending moments V (x) and M(x) vary along this dimension, and so naturally do the stresses
x
(x, y)
and
xy
(x, y) that depend on them according to Eqns. 7 and 12.
Figure 13: (a) Beam in four-point bending. (b) Free-body diagram.
Consider a short beam of rectangular cross section subjected to four-point loading as seen in Fig. 13.
The loading, shear, and bending moment functions are:
12
q(x) = Px
1
Px a
1
Px 2a
1
+Px 3a
1
V (x) =
_
q(x) dx = Px
0
+Px a
0
+Px 2a
0
Px 3a
0
M(x) =
_
V (x) dx = Px
1
Px a
1
Px 2a
1
+Px 3a
1
The shear and normal stresses can be determined as functions of x and y directly from these functions,
as well as such parameters as the principal stress. Since
y
is zero everywhere, the principal stress is

p1
=

x
2
+
_
_

x
2
_
2
+
2
xy
One way to visualize the x-y variation of
p1
is by means of a 3D surface plot, which can be prepared
easily by Maple. For the numerical values P = 100, a = h = 10, b = 3 , we could use the expressions
(Maple responses removed for brevity):
> # use Heaviside for singularity functions
> readlib(Heaviside);
> sfn := proc(x,a,n) (x-a)^n * Heaviside(x-a) end;
> # define shear and bending moment functions
> V:=(x)-> -P*sfn(x,0,0)+P*sfn(x,a,0)+P*sfn(x,2*a,0)-P*sfn(x,3*a,0);
> M:=(x)-> P*sfn(x,0,1)-P*sfn(x,a,1)-P*sfn(x,2*a,1)+P*sfn(x,3*a,1);
> # define shear stress function
> tau:=V(x)*Q/(Iz*b);
> Q:=(b/2)*( (h^2/4) -y^2);
> Iz:=b*h^3/12;
> # define normal stress function
> sig:=M(x)*y/Iz;
> # define principal stress
> sigp:= (sig/2) + sqrt( (sig/2)^2 + tau^2 );
> # define numerical parameters
> P:=100;a:=10;h:=10;b:=3;
> # make plot
> plot3d(sigp,x=0..3*a,y=-h/2 .. h/2);
The resulting plot is shown in Fig. 14. The dominance of the parabolic shear stress is evident near the
beam ends, since here the shear force is at its maximum value but the bending moment is small (plot the
shear and bending moment diagrams to conrm this). In the central part of the beam, where a < x < 2a,
the shear force vanishes and the principal stress is governed only by the normal stress
x
, which varies
linearly from the beams neutral axis. The rst principal stress is zero in the compressive lower part
of this section, since here the normal stress
x
is negative and the right edge of the Mohrs circle must
pass through the zero value of the other normal stress
y
. Working through the plot of Fig. 14 is a good
review of the beam stress formulas.
Problems
1. Derive the composite area theorem for determining the centroid of a compound area.
y =

i
A
i
y
i

i
A
i
13
Figure 14: Variation of principal stress
p1
in four-point bending.
Prob. 2
2. (a)(d) Locate the centroids of the areas shown.
3. Derive the parallel-axis theorem for moments of inertia of a plane area:
I
x
= I
xg
+Ay
2
I
y
= I
yg
+Ax
2
Prob. 3
4. (a)(d) Determine the moment of inertia relative to the horizontal centroidal axis of the
areas shown.
14
Prob. 4
5. Show that the moment of inertia transforms with respect to axis rotations exactly as does
the stress:
I
x
= I
x
cos
2
+I
y
sin
2
2I
xy
sin cos
where I
x
and I
y
are the moments of inertia relative to the x and y axes respectively and
I
xy
is the product of inertia dened as
I
xy
=
_
A
xy dA
6. (a)(h) Determine the maxiumum normal stress
x
in the beams shown here, using the
values (as needed) L = 25 in, a = 5 in, w = 10 lb/in, P = 150 lb. Assume a rectangular
cross-section of width b = 1 in and height h = 2 in.
Prob. 6
7. Justify the statement in ASTM test D790, Standard Test Methods for Flexural Properties
of Unreinforced and Reinforced Plastics and Electrical Insulating Materials, which reads:
When a beam of homogeneous, elastic material is tested in exure as a simple
beam supported at two points and loaded at the midpoint, the maximum stress
in the outer bers occurs at midspan. This stress may be calculated for any
point on the load-deection curve by the following equation:
15
S = 3PL/2bd
2
where S = stress in the outer bers at midspan, MPa; P = load at a given point
on the load-deection curve; L = support span, mm; b = width of beam tested,
mm; and d = depth of beam tested, mm.
8. Justify the statement in ASTM test D790, Standard Test Methods for Flexural Properties
of Unreinforced and Reinforced Plastics and Electrical Insulating Materials, which reads:
The tangent modulus of elasticity, often called the modulus of elasticity, is
the ratio, within the elastic limit of stress to corresponding strain and shall be
expressed in megapascals. It is calculated by drawing a tangent to the steepest
initial straight-line portion of the load-deection curve and using [the expres-
sion:]
E
b
= L
3
m/4bd
3
where E
b
= modulus of elasticity in bending, MPa; L = support span, mm;
d = depth of beam tested, mm; and m = slope of the tangent to the initial
straight-line portion of the load-deection curve, N/mm of deection.
9. A rectangular beam is to be milled from circular stock as shown. What should be the
ratio of height to width (b/h) to as to minimize the stresses when the beam is put into
bending?
Prob. 9
10. (a)(h) Determine the maxiumum shear
xy
in the beams of Prob. 6, , using the values (as
needed) L = 25 in, a = 5 in, w = 10 lb/in, P = 150 lb. Assume a rectangular cross-section
of width b = 1 in and height h = 2 in.
11. Show that the ratio of maximum shearing stress to maximum normal stress in a beam
subjected to 3-point bending is

=
h
2L
Hence the importance of shear stress increases as the beam becomes shorter in comparison
with its height.
16
Prob. 11
12. Read the ASTM test D4475, Standard Test Method for Apparent Horizontal Shear
Strength of Pultruded Reinforced Plastic Rods By The Short-Beam Method, and jus-
tify the expression given there for the apparent shear strength:
S = 0.849P/d
2
where S = apparent shear strength, N/m
2
, (or psi); P = breaking load, N, (or lbf); and
d = diameter of specimen, m (or in.).
13. For the T beam shown here, with dimensions L = 3, a = 0.05, b = 0.005, c = 0.005, d = 0.7
(all in m) and a loading distribution of w = 5000 N/m, determine the principal and
maximum shearing stress at point A.
Prob. 13
14. Determine the maximum normal stress in a cantilevered beam of circular cross section
whose radius varies linearly from 4r
0
to r
0
in a distance L, loaded with a force P at the
free end.
Prob. 14
15. A carbon steel column has a length L = 1 m and a circular cross section of diameter d = 20
mm. Determine the critical buckling load P
c
for the case of (a) both ends pinned, (b) one
end cantilevered, (c) both ends pinned but supported laterally at the midpoint.
17
Prob. 15
16. A carbon steel column has a length L = 1 m and a circular cross section. Determine
the diameter d at which the column has an equal probablity of buckling or yielding in
compression.
18