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Apply this principle whenever you’re working with uniformly distributed loads.
w kN/m
a
Centre line of
Loaded length
Figure 1: Bending moment calculation for uniformly distributed load (UDL): general case
Practical Example 1
Beam AG, shown in figure 2, spans 6 metres. It supports a uniformly distributed
load of 4kN/m along its entire length. Draw the shear force and bending moment
diagrams.
4 kN/m
A G
B C D E F
6m
RA
RG
First of all, calculate the reactions. This is easy in this case because of the
symmetry of both the beam itself and its loading. Each end reaction will be half
the total load on the beam. So
( )
SHEAR FORCES
(Remember always look at what’s going on to the left of the point at which
you’re trying to calculate shear force.) As before, draw a horizontal straight line
representing zero shear force. This will be the base line from which the shear
force diagram is drawn.
There is nothing to the left of point A, so the shear force at point A is zero.
At point G, there is an upward reaction of 12kN. So the net shear force at G will
be – 12 + 12 = 0kN.
These values can be plotted on our shear force diagram in Fig. 3 (b).
Bending Moments
Once more, we will be looking solely at forces and moments to the left of the
point we’re considering. As in earlier examples, we will calculate the momnet at
each point, remembering that:
Bending Moment
Point Bending Moment Calculation
(kN.m)
A +(12kN x 0m) 0
A G
B C D E F
6m
RA = 12kN
RG = 12kN
(a) Beam Diagram
12
8
12 4
0
4 12
8
(b) Shear Force Diagram 12
0 0
10 10
16 16
18
There are three standard cases of beam loading that are so common that
the reader would be well advised to commit the results to memory. These
are:
These cases, along with their respective shear force and bending moment
diagrams, are shown in Figs. 4 - 6. Using the techniques discussed above,
you should be able to obtain these reactions and shear force and bending
moment values for yourself.
P
A B
C
RA = P/2
(a) Beam Diagram RB = P/2
P/2
P/2
0
0 0
P/2
P/2
0 0
PL/4
Figure 4: Standard case 1: Shear force and bending moment diagrams for a beam carrying a central point load
P
a b
A B
C
RA = Pb/L
(a) Beam Diagram RB = Pa/L
Pb/L
Pb/L 0
0
Pa/L
Pa/L
0 0
Pab/L
Figure 5: Standard case 2: Shear force and Bending moment diagrams for a beam carrying a non-central point load
Note that the result for the maximum bending moment in a beam with a
uniformly distributed load over its entire length ( ) is particularly
commonly used in practise.
w kN/m
A B
C
Lm
RA =(𝑤𝐿 )
RB = (𝑤𝐿 )
(a) Beam Diagram
(𝑤𝐿 )
0
(𝑤𝐿 )
0 0
(𝑤𝐿 )
Figure 6: Standard case 3: Shear force and bending moment diagrams for a beam carrying
distributed load over its entire length
More Examples Involving Uniformly Distributed Loads
Draw the shear force and bending moment diagrams for each of the
beams shown in Fig. 7. The solutions are given during the class.
6 kN/m
C B
A
3m
3m
RA
(a) RB
5 kN
50 kN
10 kN/m
3 kN/m
A
B C
4m 6m 5m
RA
(b) RC
5 kN 5 kN
12 kN/m
A E
B C D
3m 1m 1m 1m
RA
(c) RE