Bending of Curved Beams Strength of Materials Approach

N
V

cross-section must be
symmetric but does not have
to be rectangular

assume plane sections remain plane and just rotate about the
neutral axis, as for a straight beam, and that the only significant
stress is the hoop stress

neutral axis

centroid

Let = rotation of the

cross-section

Rn

Rn r

R = radius to centroid
Rn = radius to neutral axis
r = radius to general fiber in the beam

P
A

l ( Rn r )
R

=
= n 1
l
r
r

N, M = normal force and bending moment

=
computed from centroid

e =

Reference: Advanced Mechanics of Materials : Boresi, Schmidt, and

Sidebottom

From Hookes law

Rn
1
r

= Ee = E

Then the normal force is given by

dA
N = dA = E Rn
dA
A
A r A
= E ( Rn Am A )

where

dA
r
A

Am =

Similarly, for the moment

has the dimensions of a length

M = ( R r ) dA
A

= E n 1 ( R r ) dA
r

dA
= E Rn R
R dA Rn dA + rdA
r
A
A
A
A

= E Rn ( RAm A )

M = E Rn ( RAm A )

(1)

N = E ( Rn Am A )

(2)

from (1)

from (2)

E Rn =

M
RAm A

N = ( E Rn ) Am E A
MAm
=
E A
RAm A

so solving for

MAm
N

E =
A ( RAm A ) A

Recall, the stress is given by

Rn
1
r

= Ee = E
=

so using expressions for E Rn , E

E Rn
E
r

we obtain the hoop stress in the form

N M ( A rAm )
= +
A Ar ( RAm A )
axial
stress

bending
stress

N 0
setting the total stress = 0 gives

=0

AM
Am M + N ( A RAm )

N =0
setting the bending stress = 0 and r = Rn

gives

which in general is not at the centroid

A
Rn =
Am

location of the
neutral axis

For composite areas

areas
A2
A1

A = Ai

Am = Ami
R=

radii to centroids

R2

R A
A
i

R1

Example
For a square 50x50 mm cross-section,
find the maximum tensile and
compressive stress if P = 9.5 kN and
plot the total stress across the crosssection

P
P

100 mm
30 mm

P = 9500 N
T

C
N
M

R=

155 mm
a = 30 mm
b = 50 mm
c = 80 mm
so we have

c
A = b (c a)

a+c
2

c
Am = b ln
a
A = ( 50 )( 50 ) = 2500 mm 2
80
Am = 50 ln = 49.04 mm
30
80 + 30
= 55 mm
R=
2

Rn =

2500
= 51 mm
49.04

max tensile stress is at r = 30 mm

N M ( A rAm )
= +
A Ar ( RAm A )

9500 (155 )( 9500 ) 2500 ( 30 )( 49.04 )

=
+
2500 ( 2500 )( 30 ) ( 55 )( 49.04 ) 2500
= 106.2 MPa
max compressive stress is at r = 80 mm

N M ( A rAm )
= +
A Ar ( RAm A )

9500 (155 )( 9500 ) 2500 ( 80 )( 49.04 )

=
+
2500 ( 2500 )( 80 ) ( 55 )( 49.04 ) 2500
= 49.3 MPa

>> r= linspace(30, 80, 100);

>> stress = 3.8 + 589*(2500 - 49.04.*r)./(197.2*r);
>> plot(r, stress)

120
100

stress

80
60
40
20
0
-20
-40
-60
30

35

40

45

50

55

radius, r

60

65

70

75

80

Comparison with Airy Stress Function Results

Consider a rectangular beam under pure moment

thickness = t
b
M

Note:

( b / a + 1)
2 ( b / a 1)
2 R / h + 1)
(
b/a =
( 2 R / h 1)
R/h =

From Airy Stress Function

4M
=
Nta 2

2
a b 2 b b 2 r a

r b

ln + ln
ln + 1
r
a
a
a
a
b

a a

2
2
b 2
b b
N = 1 4 ln
a a
a

Strength Approach
b
Am = t ln
a
A = t (b a )
R = (a + b) / 2

M ( A rAm )
=
Ar ( RAm A )

minus on M since it is opposite to what

we had before

b
M ( b a ) r ln
a

=
(a + b) b

t r (b a )
ln ( b a )
a
2

b r b
2M 1 ln
a a a
=
r b b b b
t a 2 1 2 1 + 1 ln
a a a a a
(a + b)
M
r

If we had used the ordinary straight beam formula

2
My

=
=
instead
1
3
I
t (b a )
12
r b
6 2 + 1
a a
M
= 2
3
ta
b
1
a

Comparison of the ratio of the max bending stresses

R/h

Strength/elasticity Strength/elasticity
Curved beam
Straight beam
formula My/I
formula

0.65

1.0455

0.4390

0.75

1.0124

0.5262

1.0

0.9970

0.6545

1.5

0.9961

0.7737

2.0

0.9973

0.8313

3.0

0.9986

0.8881

5.0

0.9994

0.9331

Compare bending stress distributions at the smallest R/h value

R/h = 0.65 (b/a = 7.667)
0.15
0.1
0.05

normalized stress

0
-0.05
-0.1
-0.15
-0.2
-0.25
-0.3
-0.35

r/a

solid curve Airy stress function (elasticity)

dashed blue Curved Strength formula
dashed red Straight beam formula

% beam_compare.m
m=1;
Rhvals = [0.65 0.75 1.0 1.5 2.0 3.0 5.0]; % R/h ratios to consider
for Rh = Rhvals
ba = (1+2*Rh)/(2*Rh -1); %corresponding b/a values
ra= linspace(1, ba, 100); % r/a values
N=(ba^2-1)^2 -4*ba^2*(log(ba))^2;
% Airy function flexure stress expression
pa =4*(-(ba./ra).^2.*log(ba)+(ba)^2.*log(ra./ba) - log(ra) +(ba)^2 -1)./N;
% Curved beam strength expression for flexure stress
ps = 2*((ba-1)-ra.*log(ba))./(ra.*(ba-1).*(2.*(ba-1) -(ba+1).*log(ba)));
% Straight beam flexure formula My/I
pb = 6*(2*ra-(ba+1))./((ba-1)^3);
%obtain ratio of max stresses Curved beam Strength formula/Airy
ratio1(m) = max(abs(ps))/max(abs(pa));
%obtain ratio of max stresses: Straight beam strength formula/Airy
ratio2(m) = max(abs(pb))/max(abs(pa));
m=m+1;
end
% Now plot stress distributions for smallest R/h value
Rh=0.65
ba = (1+2*Rh)/(2*Rh -1); %corresponding b/a values
ra= linspace(1, ba, 100);
N=(ba^2-1)^2 -4*ba^2*(log(ba))^2;
pa =4*(-(ba./ra).^2.*log(ba)+(ba)^2.*log(ra./ba) - log(ra) +(ba)^2 -1)./N;
ps = 2*((ba-1)-ra.*log(ba))./(ra.*(ba-1).*(2.*(ba-1) -(ba+1).*log(ba)));
pb = 6*(2*ra-(ba+1))./((ba-1)^3);
plot(ra, pa)
hold on
plot(ra, ps, '--b')
plot(ra, pb, '--r')
xlabel('r/a')
ylabel( 'normalized stress')
hold off

Comparison with Bickfords expression (pure bending)

kM
My
=

A (1 + ky ) I 2

k = 1/ R

Here, y is distance from the centroid

centroid

R r = y
or r = y + R

First note that

ydA = 0
A

so

y (1 + y / R )
I
ydA
1
y 2 dA
dA =
+
= I1 + 2 = 0
1+ y / R
1+ y / R R A 1+ y / R
R
A

I1 =

I2
R

ydA
1+ y / R
A

I1 =

y 2 dA
I2 =
1+ y / R
A

dA
dA
= R
y+R
r
A
A

RAm = R

( y + R ) dA = y dA + R dA

y
+
R
y
+
R
y+R
(
)
A
A
A

A = dA =
A

I1
+ RAm
R

Thus,

I1 / R

R ( RAm A ) = I1 = I 2 / R

kM

My

Now, start with Bickfords expression =

A (1 + ky ) I 2
k = 1/ R
1
yR
+
= M

+
AR
y
R
I
(
)
2

( y + R ) I 2 + yAR 2
= M
same terms added in and subtracted out
+
y
R
ARI
(
)
2

( y + R ) I 2 + ( y + R ) AR 2

AR 3
= M

+
+
y
R
ARI
y
R
ARI
(
)
(
)
2
2

I 2 + AR 2

R2
= M

+
ARI
y
R
I
(
)
2
2

I 2 + AR 2
R2
=M

+
y
R
I
ARI
(
)
2
2

A ( y + R ) ( I 2 + AR 2 ) / R 3

=M
2
( y + R ) AI 2 / R

A ( y + R ) ( I 2 + AR 2 ) / R 3

=M
2
( y + R ) AI 2 / R

but

RAm A = I 2 / R 2

so

y+R=r
Am = ( I 2 + AR 2 ) / R 3

and we find

A rAm
=

r
RA
A
A

(
)
m

which agrees with our previous expression

from Bickfords expression

kM
My
=

A (1 + ky ) I 2

k = 1/ R
it is easy to see, as R ,
and

k 0

y 2 dA
I2 =
y 2 dA = I
1+ y / R
A
A

and we recover the straight beam flexure expression

My
I