CE 222: STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

SEMESTER II: 2009

Homework #10: Displacement Method of Analysis of

Beams and Frames
Due April 17, 2009

Part I : Direct Stiffness Approach

Prob. #1
Find nodal displacements and draw SFD and BMD. Assume EI to be constant for both spans.

8 kN/m
12 kN/m

5m 6m
Prob. #2
Find nodal displacements and draw SFD and BMD. Support c is fixed while a and b are rollers.
Assume I = 200 × 10 6 mm 4 ; I = 50 × 10 6 mm 4 and E=200 GPa.
ab bc

20 kN/m

a b c
5m 6m

Part II : Moment Distribution Method

Prob. #3
Solve Prob#1 using Moment Distribution Method.

Prob. #4
Solve Prob # 2 using Moment Distribution Method.

Prob.#5
A statically indeterminate beam is shown in the figure, which is fixed at A and propped at B and C.
You are required to draw bending moment diagram for this beam on the diagram due to the
following support settlement:
(a) Fixed support A, vertically 0.01m down
(b) Support B, vertically 0.04 m down
(c) Support C, vertically 0.02 m down
The beam has constant EI with E = 200 GPa and I = 5x106 mm4.
B C D
A

2m 2m 2m

CE:222/Durgesh Rai/S-II-2008-2009/Page 1 OF2

 CE 222: STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
SEMESTER II: 2009

Prob.#6
Draw bending moment diagram for the frame shown. Assume EI is constant for all members.

10kN/m

150 kN
B C

3m
5m
D

6m

HARDY CROSS AND THE "MOMENT DISTRIBUTION METHOD"

Leonard K. Eaton resurrects the reputation of Hardy Cross, developer of the "moment distribution
method" and one of America's most brilliant engineers. The structural calculation of a large reinforced
concrete building in the nineteen fifties was a complicated affair. It is a tribute to the engineering
profession, and to Hardy Cross, that them were so few failures. When architects and engineers had to
figure out what was happening in a statically indeterminate frame, they inevitably turned to what was
generally known as the "moment distribution" or "Hardy Cross" method. Although the Cross method has
been superseded by more powerful procedures such as the Finite Element Method, the "moment
distribution method" made possible the efficient and safe design of many reinforced concrete buildings
during an entire generation.

Read the full article at http://www.nexusjournal.com/Eaton.html or at the course website.

CE:622/Durgesh Rai/S-II 2008-2009/Page 2 OF2