CHAPTER 10

Summary Virtual Work Method

This method permits the engineer to compute a single component of deflection with each application of the method.
Based on the principle of the conservation of energy, virtual work assumes loads are applied slowly so that neither kinetic nor heat energy is produced. To compute a component of deflection by the method of virtual work, we apply a force (also termed the dummy load) to the structure at the point of, as well as in the direction of, the desired displacement. The force and its associated reactions are called the Q system. If a slope or angle change is required, the force is a moment. With the dummy load in place the actual loadscalled the P systemare applied to the structure. As the structure deforms under the actual loads, external virtual work WQ is done by the dummy loads as they move through the real displacements produced by the P system. Simultaneously an equivalent quantity of virtual strain energy UQ is stored in the structure. That is, WQ = UQ Although virtual work can be applied to all types of structures including trusses, beams, frames, slabs, and shells, here we limit the application of the method to three of the most common types of planar structures: trusses, beams, and frames. We also neglect the effects of shear since its contribution to the deflections of slender beams and frames is negligible. The effect of shear on deflections is only significant in short, heavily loaded deep beams or beams with a low modulus of rigidity. The method also permits the engineer to include deflections due to temperature change, support settlements, and fabrication errors. If a deflection has both vertical and horizontal components, two separate analyses by virtual work are required; the unit load is applied first in the vertical direction and then in the horizontal direction. The actual deflection is the vector sum of the two orthogonal components. In the case of beams or trusses, designers are generally interested only in the maximum vertical deflection under live load, because this component is limited by design codes. The use of a unit load to establish a Q system is arbitrary. However, since deflections due to unit loads (called flexibility coefficients) are utilized in the analysis of indeterminate structures (see Chap. 11), use of unit loads is common practice among structural engineers. To determine the virtual strain energy when the depth of a beam varies along its length, changes in cross-sectional properties can be taken into account by dividing the beam into segments and carrying out a finite summation (see Sec. 10.7). In Section 10.9, we introduce the Maxwell-Betti law of reciprocal deflections. This law will be useful when we set up the terms of the symmetric matrices required to solve indeterminant structures by the flexibility method in Chapter 11.