2001, W. E.

Haisler

27

Chapter 13: Beam Bending

Review of Centroids and Moments of Inertia

Consider a composite cross-section consisting of two separate
areas as shown below. We wish to determine the location of the
centroid of the cross-section.
y

y
A1

(centroid of A )
1
d1
d2
A2

y-z reference axis

A = A 1+A2

y1

z (centroid of A)
(centroid of A 2 )

y2
z

 2001, W. E. Haisler

28

Chapter 13: Beam Bending

Relative to some y'-z' reference axes, define the centroid of

the composite area to be y ,and the centroid of each sub-area
to be yi . We require the "first moment of the area" about the
z' axis in terms of the discrete values yA to be equal to the
integral value A y ' dA so that we write:
yA y ' dA
A

Solving for y gives:

i 1

i 1

y Ai yi Ai
n

yi Ai

ydA

y A
i 1
A

Ai
i 1

 2001, W. E. Haisler

Chapter 13: Beam Bending

29

Parallel Axis Theorem (or Transfer Theorem)

The moment of inertia about the bending axis (y) is given by
I zz y 2dA. We can also develop the parallel axis
A

theorem (also called the transfer theorem) for moments of

inertia. Suppose that we know the moment of inertia of an
area about its centroid and wish to determine the moment of
inertia about some other parallel axis. Consider the
following sketch of a rectangular area (Note a rectangular
area is shown for simplicity; however, the area can be any
shape.):

 2001, W. E. Haisler

30

Chapter 13: Beam Bending

A1

(centroid of A1 )

d1
y-z reference axis

Consider area A1. The moment of inertia of this area about

the z axis is defined by
I z ' z ' ( y ')2 dA
A
1

The y and y' coordinates are related by the transformation

y ' y d1. Substituting this into the above gives

 2001, W. E. Haisler

31

Chapter 13: Beam Bending

I z ' z ' ( y ') 2 dA ( y d1) 2 dA

A
1

A
1

y 2dA 2 yd1dA ( d1) 2 dA

A
1

A
1

A
1

The first term on the right is the moment of inertia about

the z-axis passing through the centroid of area A1:
I zz y 2dA
1

A
1

The second term can be written as 2d1 A ydA since d1 is a

1

constant. However, the term

A1 ydA 0 since the y-z axes

is located at the centroid of A1.

 2001, W. E. Haisler

Chapter 13: Beam Bending

32

The last term is simply (d1) A1. Consequently we can

write
I z ' z ' I zz A1d12
1

This last result is called the parallel axis theorem or

transfer theorem. It allows one to determine the moment of
inertia about a parallel axes (z) in terms of moment of
inertia about the centroidal axis (z) and the distance
between z and z (d1).
Now consider a composite body made of n sub-areas Ai
such as that shown below:

 2001, W. E. Haisler

Chapter 13: Beam Bending

The parallel axis theorem for a

single area can be generalized to
obtain the following expression
for determining the moment of
inertia about the centroidal axis
of the composite body:

1
d1

centroid
of body

z
d2
2

I zz y 2dA ( I zz Ai di2 )
A
i
i 1

33

d3

I zz moment of inertia of body about its centroidal axis

I zz moment of inertia of area i about its centroidal axis
i

di distance between centroid of area i and centroidal axis of body

Ai area i

 2001, W. E. Haisler

34

Chapter 13: Beam Bending

Example. Determine the centroid and moment of inertia of

the following composite body.
y

all units are

in
(mm)

80
A1

c1

10
10

y , d1 ?

z
30

40

d2 ?

c2

A2

 2001, W. E. Haisler

Chapter 13: Beam Bending

35

The centroid of the composite body is labeled c. The

centroid of area 1 and 2 is labeled c1 and c2, respectively.
By inspection, the horizontal location of the centroid of the
composite body is 20 cm to the right of the left edge of the
lower area. To determine the vertical location, we use
Ai yi
y

Ai

Arbitrarily choose a reference z axis to be located at the

centroid of the upper area. Then we write:

 2001, W. E. Haisler

Chapter 13: Beam Bending

36

yi Ai

0(80 x 20) (40)(40 x60)

y

24mm
(80 x 20) (40 x60)
Ai
i

Hence the vertical position of the centroid for the composite

body is located 24 mm below the centroid of area 1, or 34
mm below the top of the body.
Now, we determine the moment of inertia about the
centroidal axis of the composite body using the parallel axis
theorem. Knowing the location of the centroid, we know
that d1 24 mm, d 2 16 mm . We will determine the
moment of inertia of each area separately and then sum
them.

 2001, W. E. Haisler

37

Chapter 13: Beam Bending

For A1
1 bh3 1 (80 203 ) 53.3 103 [mm 4 ]
I z(1)' z ' 12
12
(1)
I zz
I z(1)' z ' A1d12 53,300 (80 20)(24) 2 975,000 [mm 4 ]

For A2
1 40(60)3 720,000
I z(2)

'' z '' 12

[mm 4 ]

(2)
2
2
4
I zz
I z(2)

A
d

720,000

(40

60)(

16)

1,334,000
[mm
]
2 2
'' z ''

For the Composite Area}

(1)
(2)
I zz I zz
I zz
975,000 1,334,000 2.31 106

[mm 4 ]