Contents

1. Stress In Bars Of Small Initial Curvature.

2. Application To The Design Of A Piston Ring
3. Stresses In Bars Of Large Initial Curvature.
4. Rectangular Cross-section
5. Trapezoidal Cross-section.
6. Circular Cross Section
7. Deflection Of Curved Beams (direct Method)
8. Deflection From Strain Energy ( Castigliano's Theorem)
9. Page Comments

Curved Beams
An analysis of stresses and strains in curved beams

Stress In Bars Of Small Initial Curvature.

Where the radius of curvature is large compared to the dimensions of the cross section, the analysis of
stress is similar to that for pure bending.
Let be the initial ( unstrained) radius of curvature of the neutral surface and the radius of
curvature under the action of a pure bending moment .
Then the strain in a element at a distance from the neutral axis is given by:

Strain =

Since = length along the neutral axis

If is neglected in comparison with and noting from that

Then strain,

(1)
Neglecting lateral stress, the normal stress, strain
Substituting in equation (1)

(2)
Total normal stress = 0, i.e.

(3)
which shows that the neutral axis passes through the centroid of the section.

Moment of resistance,

from equation (3)

(4)
Combining equations (2) and (4),

the strain energy of a short length (measured along the neutral surface) under the action og
bending moment is:
From equation (3)

(5)

Application To The Design Of A Piston Ring

Suppose it is required to design a split ring so that its outside surface will be circular in both the stressed
and unstressed conditions and the radial pressure exerted will be uniform. If is the uniform pressure
on the outside then the bending moment at is given by:

approx
where is the depth of the ring in the axial direction integrating

(6)

But = a constant for a given condition

i.e. = constant when and

Which is the required variation of thickness. Using equation (6). The maximum bending stress at
any section

which has it's greatest value when i.e.

From which,

which determines the initial radius when values for and are assumed.

Stresses In Bars Of Large Initial Curvature.

When the radius of curvature is of the same order as the dimensions of the cross section, it is no longer
possible to neglect in comparison to and it will be found that the neutral axis does not pass through
the centroid. Further the stress is NOT proportional to the distance from the neutral axis
where is the strain, is the distance from the neutral axis as before and is the initial radius of
the neutral surface.

For pure bending the Total normal force on the cross section = .

(7)

Moment of resistance,

(8)

But

Where is the distance between the neutral axis and the principle axis which is through the centroid (
is positive when the neutral axis is on the same side of the centroid as the centre of curvature)

Substituting in equation (8)

Rearranging,

In this equation is positive measured outwards, a positive bending moment being one that tends to
increase the curvature.
Rectangular Cross-section

From equation (7),

Let = the distance from the centroid. Also the mean radius of curvature and

Then,

i.e.
Hence,

Giving,

As is small compared to and , it is difficult to calculate with sufficient accuracy from this
equation and the expansion of the log term into a convenient series is of advantage.

Then,

Example - Example 1
Problem

A curved bar, initially unstressed, of square cross section, has sides and a mean radius of curvature
of

If a bending moment of is applied to the bar tending to straighten it, find the stresses at
the outer and inner faces.

and

Workings

But

and
At the inside face,

Thus, Tension

At the outside face,

compression

The actual stress distribution is shown in the diagram.

Solution

Tension
Compression
Trapezoidal Cross-section.

By Moments,

By putting and equation (7) becomes

i.e. or,
(9)

From which,

(10)

And since,

can be evaluated from equations (9) and (10).

Example: 1

Example -
Problem

Workings

Solution
Circular Cross Section

The analysis follows the same method as was used in the previous section on Trapezoidal cross sections.

Hence,

And

To evaluate the above expand:

And

Deflection Of Curved Beams (direct Method)

If the length of an initially curved beam is acted upon by a bending moment it follows from
equation (4) that:

But is the change of angle subtended by at the centre of curvature and consequently is the
angle through which the tangent at one end of the element rotates relative to the tangent at the other
end.

i.e.

The diagram shows a loaded bar which is fixed in direction at and it is required to find the deflection
at the other end .

Due to the action of on at only, the length is rotated through an angle .

moves to ', where
The vertical deflection of

The horizontal deflection of

Due to the bending of all the elements along

The vertical deflection at

And the horizontal deflection =

Example: 1

[imperial]

Example - Example 3
Problem

A steel tube having an outside diameter of and a bore of is bent into a quadrant of
radius. One end is rigidly attached to a horizontal base plate to which the tangent at that end is
perpendicular.

If the free end supports a load of , determine the vertical and horizontal deflection of the free
end.
Workings

and

Vertical deflection =

Horizontal deflection =

Solution

Vertical deflection is
Horizontal deflection is

Deflection From Strain Energy ( Castigliano's Theorem)

Theorem:
If is the total strain energy of any structure due to the application of external loads,
at in the direction and to the couples then the deflections at

in the directions are and and the angular rotations of the

couples are , at their applied points.

Proof for concentrated loads:
If the displacements (in the directions of the loads) produced by gradually applied loads
are then,
Let alone be increased by
then, = increase in external work done

(11)

Where,

(12)
are increases in
But if the loads were applied gradually from zero, the total strain energy,

Subtracting equation (11) and neglecting the products of small quantities,

Subtracting equation (12), or

Similarly for and and the proof can be extended to incorporate couples.
It is important to stress that is the total strain energy, expressed in terms of loads and not
including statically determinate reactions and the partial derivative with respect to each load in
turn (treating the others as constant) gives the deflection at the load points in the direction of the
load.
The following principles should be observed in applying the theorem

1) In finding the deflection of curved beams and similar problems, only strain energy due
to

bending need normally be taken into account (i.e. )

2) Treat all loads as variables initially carry out the partial differentiation and integration

and only putting in numerical values at the final stage.

3) If the deflection is to be found at a point where, or in a direction there is no load, a

load

may be put in where required and given a value of zero in the final reckoning (i.e.

)
Generally it will be found that the strain energy method requires less thought in application than
the direct method, it being only necessary to obtain an expression for the bending moment; also
there is no difficulty over the question of sign as the strain energy is bound to be positive and
deflection is positive in the direction of the load. The only disadvantage occurs when a case such
as mentioned in note 3 above has to be dealt with in which case the direct method will probably
be shorter.

Example - Example 4
Problem

Obtain an expression for the vertical displacement of in the above diagram. If and
find the displacement when . and

Workings

The bending moments in the various sections can be written as follows:-

(at ' from )

 Constant

(at from )

(at from )

The displacement of the load at vertically

An allowance could be made for the linear extension of

Which is clearly negligible compared to the deflection due to bending.

Beams

There are 12 components in this category.

Strain Energy
Strain energy due to bending and deflection calculated using Calculus
Macaulay Method
Describes the Macaulay Method for calculating the deflection of Beams

Moments of Area
The calculation of deflections using Moments of Area

Deflection Coefficients
This section covers deflection coefficients including deflection due to shear and the use of the graphical
methods

Cantilever Beams
Formulae for the shear and deflection of Cantilever Beams under a selection of differing loadings

Built in Beams II
Shear and Deflection formulae for Built in and Continuous Beams

Simple Supported Beams

Stress and deflection formulae for simple supported beams

Built in Beams
The bending of Built in Beams, which are fixed at both ends.

Multiple Continuous Beams

The deflection of Continuous Beams with more than one span.
Elastic Foundations
The deflection of beams where the foundations are not rigid.

Portal Frames
Bending Moments for Portal Frames

Shear Stress in Beams

An analysis of Shear Stress in Beams of various cross sections.

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