CHAPTER MECHANICS OF

6 MATERIALS
Shearing Stresses in
Beams and Thin-
Walled Members
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Introduction
Transverse loading applied to beam results in
normal and shearing stresses in transverse
sections.

Distribution of normal and shearing stresses

satisfies ( from equilibrium)
Fx    x dA  0  
M x   y  xz  z  xy dA  0
Fy   xy dA  V M y   z  x dA  0
Fz    xz dA  0 M z    y  x   M

When shearing stresses are exerted on

vertical faces of an element, equal stresses
exerted on horizontal faces

Longitudinal shearing stresses must exist in

any member subjected to transverse
loading.

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6-
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Vertical and Horizontal Shear Stresses

4-3
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Shear Stress in Beams

Two beams glued together

along horizontal surface

When loaded, horizontal

shear stress must develop
along glued surface in
order to prevent sliding
between the beams.
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Shear on Horizontal Face of Beam Element
Consider prismatic beam
Equilibrium of element CDC’D’
 Fx  0  H    D   C dA
A
M D  MC
H   y dA
I A

Let, Q   y dA
A

dM
MD  MC  x  V x
dx
VQ
H  x
I
H VQ
q   shear flow
x I

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Shear on Horizontal Face of Beam Element
Shear flow,
H VQ
q   shear flow
x I
where
Q   y dA
A
 first moment of area above y1
2
I  y dA
A  A'
 second moment of full cross section

Same result found for lower area

Q  Q   y dA  0
A1  A2

( first moment of area wrt NA is zero)

H  VQ V (Q)
q     q
x I I
H    H

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Example 6.1

Beam made of three planks, nailed

together. Spacing between nails is 25
mm. Vertical shear in beam is
V = 500 N. Find shear force in each
nail.

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Example 6.1

SOLUTION:
Find horizontal force per unit length or
shear flow q on lower surface of
upper plank.

VQ (500 N )(120  106 m3 )

q 
I 16.20  10-6 m 4
Q  Ay
 3704 N
 0.020 m  0.100 m 0.060 m  m

 120  106 m3
Calculate corresponding shear force in
I 1 0.020 m 0.100 m 3
 12 each nail for nail spacing of 25 mm.
1 0.100 m 0.020 m 3
 2 [12
F  (0.025 m)q  (0.025 m)(3704 N m
 0.020 m  0.100 m 0.060 m 2 ]
6 4 F  92.6 N
 16.20  10 m

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Determination of Shearing Stress
Average shearing stress on horizontal face of
element is shearing force on horizontal face
divided by area of horzontal face.
H q x VQ x
 ave   
A A I t x
VQ
   ave  ; tq
It
Note averaging is across dimension t (width)
which is assumed much less than the depth, so
this averaging is allowed.
On upper and lower surfaces of beam, tyx= 0. It
follows that txy= 0 on upper and lower edges of
transverse sections.
If width of beam is comparable or large relative to
depth, the shearing stresses at D’1 and D’2 are
significantly higher than at D, i.e., the above
averaging is not good.
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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Shearing Stresses txy in Common Types of Beams
For a narrow rectangular beam,
VQ 3 V  y 2 
 xy   1 2
Ib 2 A  c 

3V
 max 
2A

For I beams

VQ
 ave 
It
V
 max 
Aweb

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Example 6.2

Timber beam supports three

concentrated loads.
 all  12 MPa  all  0.8 MPa

Find minimum required depth d of

beam.

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Example 6.2

Vmax  14.5 kN
M max  10.95 kNm

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Example 6.2
Determine depth based on allowable normal stress.

M max
 all 
S
6 10.95 103 Nm
12 10 Pa 
0.015 m  d 2
d  0.246 m  246mm

I  121 b d 3 Determine depth based on allowable shear stress.

I 1 2
S  6 bd 3 Vmax
c  all 
 16 0.09 m d 2 2 A
3 14500
 0.015 m d 2 0.8  106 Pa 
2 0.09 m  d
d  0.322 m  322 mm

Required depth d  322 mm

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Longitudinal Shear Element of Arbitrary Shape

Have examined distribution of vertical

components txy on transverse section.
Now consider horizontal components
txz .

Consider element defined by curved

surface CDD’C’.

F x  0  H    D   C dA
A
So only the integration area is different,
hence result same as before, i.e.,
VQ H VQ
H  x q 
I x I
Will use this for thin walled members
also

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Example 6.3

Square box beam constructed from four

planks. Spacing between nails is 44
mm. Vertical shear force V = 2.5 kN.
Find shearing force in each nail.

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Example 6.3
SOLUTION:
Determine the shear force per unit
length along each edge of the upper
plank.

q 

VQ 2500 N  64296 mm 3  15.6
N
I 10332 mm 4 mm
q N
f   7.8
2 mm
For the upper plank,  edge force per unit length

Q  Ay  18mm 76 mm 47 mm 

Based on the spacing between nails,
 64296 mm 3
determine the shear force in each
nail.
For the overall beam cross-section,
 N 
I 1
112 mm 
4
 1
76 mm 
4 F  f    7.8 44 mm 
12 12  mm 
 10332 mm 4 F  343.2 N

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Shearing Stresses in Thin-Walled Members
Shear stress assumed constant through
thickness t, i.e., due to thinnness our
averaging is now accurate/exact.

Consider I-beam with vertical shear V.

Longitudinal shear force on element is

VQ
H  x
I
Corresponding shear stress is
H VQ
 zx   xz  
t x It
Previously had similar expression for
shearing stress web
VQ
 xy 
It
NOTE:  xy  0 in the flanges
 xz  0 in the web

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Shearing Stresses in Thin-Walled Members
The variation of shear flow across the
section depends only on the variation of
the first moment.
VQ
q t 
I

For a box beam, q grows smoothly from

zero at A to a maximum at C and C’ and
then decreases back to zero at E.

The sense of q in the horizontal portions

of the section may be deduced from the
sense in the vertical portions or the
sense of the shear V.

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Shearing Stresses in Thin-Walled Members

For wide-flange beam, shear flow q

increases symmetrically from zero at A
and A’, reaches a maximum at C and
then decreases to zero at E and E’.

The continuity of the variation in q and

the merging of q from section branches
suggests an analogy to fluid flow.

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Example 6.4

Q  108 mm 19.6 mm 122.2 mm 

 258700 mm 3

Shear stress at a,

Vertical shear is 200 kN in a 

 
VQ 200  103 N 258.7 10 6 m 3


W250x101 rolled-steel beam. Find It  
164  10 6 m 4 0.0196 m 
horizontal shearing stress at a.   16.1 MPa

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Work out this example of a wide flange beam (Doubly symmetric)
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Unsymmetric Loading of Thin-Walled Members

Beam loaded in vertical plane of

symmetry, deforms in
symmetry plane without
twisting.
My VQ
x    ave 
I It

Beam without vertical plane of

symmetry bends and twists
under loading.
My VQ
x    ave 
I It

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS

Bending+Torsion Bending+Torsion Pure

effect effect Bending
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Unsymmetric Loading of Thin-Walled Members
If shear load applied such that beam does not twist, then
shear stress distribution satisfies
VQ D B E
 ave  V   q ds F   q ds    q ds   F 
It B A D

F and F’ form a couple Fh. Thus we have a torque as

well as shear load. Static equivalence yields,
F h  Ve
Thus if force P applied at distance e to left of web
centerline, the member bends in vertical plane
without twisting. Net torsional moment is
Fh-Ve = 0, so shear stresses due to bending shear
only, and not due to torsional shear.
Point O is shear center of the beam section.
If load not applied thru shear center then net torsional
moment exists, so total shear stress due to bending
shear & torsional shear (ref. open thin walled torsion)
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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Facts about Shear Center

When force applied at shear center, it causes pure bending & no torsion.

Its location depends on cross-sectional geometry only.

If cross-section has axis of symmetry, then shear center lies on the axis of
symmetry (but it may not be at centroid itself).

If cross section has two axes of symmetry, then shear center is located at
their intersection. This is the only case where shear center and
centroid coincide.
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Want to find shear flow and shear center of thin-walled open
cross-sections.
For I and Z -sections s.c. at centroid.
For L and T -sections s.c. at intersection of the two straight
limbs, i.e., where bending shear stresses cause zero
torsional moment.

Thin-walled cross sections are very weak in torsion,

therefore load must be applied through shear center to
avoid excessive twisting
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Example 6.5
Determine location of shear center of channel section with
s
b = 100 mm, h = 150 mm, and t = 4 mm
Fh
e
V
b b b b
VQ V h
F    xz t f ds   q ds   ds   st f ds
0 0 0
I I 0 2
Vt f hb 2

4I
2
1 3
 1 3  h  
I  I web  2 I flange  t w h  2 bt f  bt f   
12 12  2  
1 3 h2
 t w h  bt f
12 2

3t f b 2 3  100 2
e  e  40 mm
t w h  6t f b 150  6  100

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Example 6.6
Determine shear stress distribution for
V = 10 kN
s q VQ
s1  
t It
Shearing stresses in the flanges,
VQ V
 xz   st f  h  Vh s
It f It f 2 2I
Vh Vb
( xz ) B  b
2I 1 
( xz ) B  ( xy ) B  t w h  bt f h
only because t w  t f 6 
q 610000 N 0.1 
  13.3 MPa
0.004 0.15  6  0.1 0.15
Shearing stress in the web,
 bt h  h s 
12V  f  s1t w   1  
 xy 
VQ
  2  2 2 
It w t wh  6bt f h2t w
 
xy max   xy s h / 2  18.3 MPa
1

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MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
Shear center of a thin walled semicircular cross-section

s Vy  V

(a) Find shear stress ( xq ) at an angle , i.e., at section bb

Find the first moment of the cross-sectional area between point a and section bb

Q   ydA   r cos  t rd   r 2t sin 
0

 x  

VQ V r 2t sin 


2V sin 
It 
 r3 t / 2 t  rt
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
(b) Find the shear center (S)
Moment about geometric center of circle O, due to the
shear force is Ve
Shear stress acting on element dA

2V sin 
 x 
 rt

Corresponding force is xq dA and moment due to this force is

dM o  r ( x dA) dA  rd t

2V sin  4rV
M o   dM o   r rd t 
0
 rt 
4r
M o  Ve  e 
