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AREA Moments OF INERTIA APPENDIX OUTLINE ‘A/1 Introduction ‘A/2. Definitions A/3 Composite Areas ‘A/4. Products of inertia and Rotation of Axes A/1_Intropuction When forces are distributed continuously over an area on which they act, it is often necessary to calculate the moment of these forces about some axis either in or perpendicular to the plane of the area. Fre- quently the intensity of the force (pressure or stress) is proportional to the distance of the line of action of the force from the moment axis. The elemental force acting on an element of area, then, is proportional to distance times differential area, and the elemental moment is propor- tional to distance squared times differential area. We see, therefore, that the total moment involves an integral of form J (distance¥?d (area) ‘This integral is called the moment of inertia or the second moment of the area. The integral is a function of the geometry of the area and occurs frequently in the applications of mechanics. Thus it is useful to develop its properties in some detail and to have these properties available for ready use when the integral arises. Figure A/1 illustrates the physical origin of these integrals. In part a of the figure, the surface area ABCD is subjected to a distributed pres- ‘sure p whose intensity is proportional to the distance y from the axis AB. This situation was treated in Art. 6/9 of Chapter 5, where we de- scribed the action of liquid pressure on a plane surface. The moment about AB due to the pressure on the element of area dA is py dA = Jy? dA. Thus, the integral in question appears when the total moment M =k Jy*dA is evaluated. In Fig. A/1b we show the distribution of stress acting on a transverse section of a simple elastic beam bent by equal and opposite couples applied to its ends. At any section of the beam, a linear distribution of force intensity or stress o, given by o ~ ky, is present. The stress is posi- tive (tensile) below the axis 0-O and negative (compressive) above the axis, We see that the elemental moment about the axis 0-O is dM = a dA) = hy? dA. Thus, the same integral appears when the total mo- ment M =k [y*dA is evaluated. A third example is given in Fig. A/Ic, which shows a circular shaft subjected to a twist or torsional moment. Within the elastic limit of the terial, this moment is resisted at each cross section of the shaft by a distribution of tangential or shear stress r, which is proportional to the radial distance r from the center. Thus, + = kr, and the total moment about the central axis is M = [r(rdA) = k J? dA. Here the integral fers from that in the preceding two exampies in that the area is normal instead of parallel to the moment axis and in that r is a radial coordinate instead of a rectangular one. Although the integral illustrated in the preceding examples is gen- erally called the moment of inertia of the area about the axis in question, ‘a more fitting term is the second moment of area, since the first moment y dA is multiplied by the moment arm y to obtain the second moment for the element dA. The word inertia appears in the terminology by rea- son of the similarity between the mathematical form of the integrals for second moments of areas and those for the resultant moments of the socalled inertia forces in the case of rotating bodies. The moment of iner- tia of an area is a purely mathematical property of the area and in itself hhas no physical significance. A/2_DeFinitions ‘The following definitions form the basis for the analysis of area mo- ments of inertia. Rectangular and Polar Moments of Inertia Consider the area A in the xy plane, Fig. A/2. The moments of iner- tia of the element dA about the x- and y-axes are, by definition, d, ~ yA and dl, = x* dA, respectively. The moments of inertia of A about the same axes are therefore [ra J #aa any where we carry out the integration over the entire area. x t 1 1 1 1 i i o © Figure at Figure a2 436 Appendix A Area Moments of Inertia ‘The moment of inertia of dA about the pole O (z-axis) is, by similar definition, dl, = r? dA. The moment of inertia of the entire area about Ois fraa cary ‘The expressions defined by Eqs. A/1 are called rectangular moments of inertia, whereas the expression of Eq. A/2 is called the polar moment of inertia.* Because x? + y* = 73, it is clear that L=h+h (an) Foran area whose boundaries are more simply described in rectangular coordinates than in polar coordinates, its polar moment of inertia is eas- ily calculated with the aid of Eq. A/3. ‘The moment of inertia of an element involves the square of the dis- tance from the inertia axis to the element. Thus an element whose coor- dinate is negative contributes as much to the moment of inertia as does an equal element with a positive coordinate of the same magnitude. ‘Consequently the area moment of inertia about any axis is always a posi- tive quantity. In contrast, the first moment of the area, which was in- volved in the computations of centroids, could be either positive, negative, or zero. ‘The dimensions of moments of inertia of areas are clearly L‘, where L stands for the dimension of length. Thus, the SI units for area mo- ments of inertia are expressed as quartic meters (m*) or quartic millime- ters (mm*). The US. customary units for area moments of inertia are quartic feet (ft) or quartic inches (in. ‘The choice of the coordinates to use for the calculation of moments of inertia is important. Rectangular coordinates should be used for shapes whose boundaries are most easily expressed in these coordinates. Polar coordinates will usually simplify problems involving boundaries which are easily described in r and 6. The choice of an element of area which simplifies the integration as much as possible is also important. ‘These considerations are quite analogous to those we discussed and il- lustrated in Chapter 6 for the calculation of centroids. Radius of Gyration Consider an area A, Fig. A/3a, which has rectangular moments of inertia J, and I, and a polar moment of inertia J, about O. We now visu- alize this area as concentrated into a long narrow strip of area A a dis- tance h, from the x-axis, Fig. A/3b. By definition the moment of inert of the strip about the x-axis will be the same as that of the original area if kA = I,. The distance k, is called the radius of gyration of the area ‘The polar moment of inertia of an area is sometimes denoted in mechanics literature by the symbal J. bout the z-axis. A similar relation for the y-axis is written by consider- ing the area as concentrated into a narrow strip parallel to the y-axis as shown in Fig. A/S. Also, if we visualize the area as concentrated into a narrow ring of radius k, as shown in Fig. A/3d, we may express the polar ‘moment of inertia (aay ‘The radius of gyration, then, is a measure of the distribution of the area from the axis in question. A rectangular or polar moment of inertia may bbe expressed by specifying the radius of gyration and the area. When we substitute Eqs. A/4 into Eq. A/3, we have h2=h2 +h? (ass) ‘Thus, the square of the radi ‘sum of the squares of the ri rectangular axes. Do not confuse the coordinate to the centroid C of an area with the radius of gyration. In Fig. A/Sa the square of the centroidal distance from the x-axis, for example, is 9, which is the square of the mean value of the distances from the elements of the area to the x-axis. The quantity ,, on the other hand, is the mean of the squares of these dis- tances. The moment of inertia is not equal to Ay, since the square of the mean is less than the mean of the squares. of gyration about a polar axis equals the i of gyration about the two corresponding ‘Transfer of Axes. ‘The moment of inertia of an area about a noncentroidal axis may be ‘easily expressed in terms of the moment of inertia about a parallel cen- troidal axis. In Fig. A/4 the xy-y9 axes pass through the centroid C of the area. Let us now determine the moments of inertia of the area about the 438 Appendix A Area Mome parallel x-y axes. By definition, the moment of inertia of the element dA about the x-axis is dl, = (yo +d)? dA Expanding and integrating give us 1, Joan +24. f yoda +a2f aa We see that the first integral is by definition the moment of inerti about the centroidal x9-axis. The second integral is zero, since J yp dA ‘Ajo and Jo is automatically zero with the centroid on the xy-axis. The third term is simply Ad,?. Thus, the expression for J, and the similar expression for I, become 4 (ase) By Eq. A/3 the sum of these two equations gives + Ad? (Al6a) Equations A/6 and A/6a are the so-called parallel-axis theorems. Two points in particular should be noted. First, the axes between which the transfer is made must be parallel, and second, one of the axes must pass through the centroid of the area. Ifa transfer is desired between two parallel axes neither of which passes through the centroid, it is first necessary to transfer from one ‘axis to the parallel centroidal axis and then to transfer from the cen- troidal axis to the second axis. ‘The parallel-axis theorems also hold for radii of gyration. With sub- stitution of the definition of & into Eqs. A/6, the transfer relation becomes BaP +d (Aled) where & is the radius of gyration about a centroidal axis parallel to the ‘axis about which k applies and d is the distance between the two axes. ‘The axes may be either in the plane or normal to the plane of the area. ‘A summary of the moment-of-inertia relations for some common plane figures is given in Table D/3, Appendix D. oO 89 Sample Problem A/1 Determine the moments of inertia of the rectangular area about the cen- troidal x and yoaxes, the centroidal polar axis 2p through C, the x-axis, and Solution, For the calculation of the moment of inertia I, about the xy-axie, a tal strip of area 6 dy is chosen so that all elements of the strip have the ‘same y-coordinate. Thus, = fran [Esa = dow Ans. By interchangeof symbols, the moment of inertia about the centroidal ye axi is Las? I= ne’ Ans ‘The centroidal polar moment of inertia is TRNAS Wea h+h) = On? + bY) = LAG? +n) Ans By the parallel-axis theorem, the moment of inertia about the x-axis is 1 Bien eee Uy=2+Aadgi —1,= jon + oh( 2) = dont = Lan Ans. ‘We also obtain the polar moment of inertia about O by the parallel-axis theorem, which gives us WaT+aey tn haere +al(2) +(2)) * * @ 2, 2, Mars Lact +H) Sample Problem A/2 Determine the moments of inertia ofthe triangular area about itsbase and about parallel axes through its centroid and vertex. Solution. A strip of area parallel to the base is selected as shown in the figure, and it has the area dA = x dy = [(h ~ y)6/A] dy. By definition Lo fh By the parallel-axis theorem, the moment of inertia J about an axis through the centroid, a distance h/3 above the x-axis, is a one 4h}o~ 12 oe w= fy*aat Yayo /% ‘bh? ‘bh\/hY _ bh® CO os A transfer from the centroidal axis to the x'-axis through the vertex gives bh? | (bh\/2h\? bh? UeT+adl 1a AY = aa ‘Helpful Hint @ Itwehad started with the sean onder clement dA = de dy, integration with respect to holding y constant mounts simply to multiplication by band gives us the expresion 2 dy, which we chose at the outset. dA = dz dy, we would have to inte- grate y? de dy with respect to x first. This gives us y*x dy, which is the ex- pression we chose at the outset. ® Expressing x in terms of y should ‘cause no difficulty if we observe the proportional relationship between Sample Problem A/3 Calculate the moments of inertia of the area of a circle about a diametral ‘axis and about the polar axis through the center. Specify the radii of gyration. Solution. A differential element of area in the form of a circular ring may be ‘used for the calculation of the moment of inertia about the polar z-axis through since all elements of the ring are equidistant from O. The elemental area dA = 2nr, dry, and thus, u.= fea rH Qary dry) = ‘The polar radius of gyration is T rs a [Vi ang . By aymmetry 1, = Jy 20 that from Eq, AS W=1,+5) eye Tee Ans, ‘The radius of gyration about the diametral T r [e- V5] bog aa ‘The foregoing determination of J, is the si also be obtained by direct integration, using the element of area dA = ra dra d0 ‘shown in the lower figure. By definition = fran L J eosin oPrary 0 = fees A 1[)_ singe} “ales do mo Ans 4 Helpful Hints © Polar coordinates are certainly dicated here. Also, as before, we choose the simplest and lowest-order element possible, which is the differ- ‘ential ring. It should be evident i ‘mediately from the definition that the polar moment of inertia of the is its area nrg dre times r¢. ) integration is straightforward, but the use of Eq. A/3 along with the reault for J, is certainly simpler, Sample Problem A/4 Determine the moment of inertia of the area under the parabola about the axis, Solve by using (a) a horizontal strip of area and (b) a vertical strip of area. Solution, The constant k = $ is obtained first by substituting x = 4 andy = 3 into the equation for the parabola. {2} Horizontal strip. Since all parts of the horizontal strip are the same dis- tance from the z-axis, the moment of inertia ofthe strip about the z-axis iay dA where dA = (4 ~ x) dy = 4(1 ~ 979) dy. Integrating with respect toy gives us, = faa n= fo 2) dy = 2 = 144 unite Final (b) Vertical strip. Here all parts of the element are at different distances from the x-axis, so we must use the correct expressions for the moment of inertia, of the elemental rectangle about its base, which, from Sample Problem A/1, ‘6h°/3. For the width de and the height y the expression becomes Solution (6) at, = Yes? ‘To integrate with respect to x, we must express y in terms of x, which gives __ y= 32/2, and the integral becomes ‘Helpful Hint (avi), 72 uw © Therein lithe preference betwen So- ® 13 (Yar = 2 = 144 tanita ‘Ana. “lutions (a) and (). Salution () re quires knowing the moment of inertia for a rectangular area about its base. Sample Problem A/S Find the moment of inertia about the x-axis of the semicircular area. iad Solution. ‘The moment of inertia of the semicircular area about the 2'-axis is ‘one-half of that for a complete circle about the same axis. Thus, from the results of Sample Problem 4/3, Let _ 20'e _ Be tg = 210") mm We obtain the moment of inertia I about the parallel centroidal axis xp next. ‘Transfer is made through the distance r = 47/3) = (4)\20((3x) = 803) mm by the parallel-axis theorem. Hence, Helpful Hint ape S 20%m)/80)" _ A © This problem illustrates the caution war ae T= are (3*)(s5) = 2706209 ms pee eee a tend afeaS eer ie D Finally, we transfer from the centroidal x-axis to the x-axis. Thus, nor the x-axis passes through the Fri Stott ar rede uereAey = 254005 + (225+) eee a the x’ axis, only one transfer would = 1.755(104) + 34.7(10*) = 36.4(10*) mm* Ans. be needed. Sample Problem A/6 Calculate the moment of inertia about the z-axis of the area enclosed be- ‘tween the y-axis and the circular arcs of radius a whose centers are at O and A. Solution, Thechoice ofa vertical differential strip of area permite one integra- tion to cover the entire area. A horizontal strip would require two integrations with respect to y by virtue of the discontinuity. The moment of inertia of the strip about the z-axis is that ofa strip of height yz minus that of a strip of height 71-Thus, from the results of Sample Problem A/i we write dl, = 302 dey," — 50 ds)y,? = 4049 — 94°) de The values of yy and y, are obtained from the equations ofthe two curves, which ares! + y;?= a2 and (~a)*+ yy? =a, and which give y= a? ~ = andy, = Ja! ~ (=). Thus, L= Pw ~ Wal = — fat — (x — aya? = = a} de ‘Simultaneous solution of the two equations which define the two circles gives the z-coordinate of the intersection of the two curves, which, by inspection, is ‘2, Evaluation of the integrals gives Collection of the integrals with the factor of § gives $g (248 ~ 2) = 0.09600! Ans, ee fer tin carer of tri ct erent sons th esi norating tam 839 holding x constant produces for the vertical strip at, [[" stay] d= Joe nae which is the expression we started with by having the momentof-inertia result for a rectangle in mind. Fale ds Helpful Hint @ We choose the positives radicals here since both y, andy lie above the x-axis. PROBLEMS Introductory Problems ‘A/1 Determine the moments of inertia of the rectangular area about the «- and y-axes and find the polar moment ‘of inertia about point 0. ‘AJ2 Use the differential element shown to determine the ‘moment of inertia of the triangular area about the ‘axis and about the y-axis. a 6 —t—» y 1 ke a +4 r 1 1 1 \ ‘A/S The narrow rectangular strip has an area of 300 ‘mm, and its moment of inertia about the y-axis is 35(10°) mm*. Obtai polar radius of gyration about point O. x 1 ‘A/4 Determine the ratio b/h such that I, = J, for the area Problem A/S ‘A/G Determine the polar moments of inertia of the semicircular area about points A and B. y { \ B a ° Problem A/S ‘A/T Determine the moment of inertia of the quarter- circular area about the y-axis. Problem A7 of the isosceles triangle. ‘AJB Determine the moment of inertia of the quarter: circular strip about the y-axis. y i 1 | ! 1 1 Le. bs Problem As Representative Problems ‘A/9 The moments of inertia of the area A about the paral- Jel p- and p'-axes differ by 15(10°) mm*. Compute the ‘area A, which has its centroid at C. Problem A ‘A/10 Determine the moments of inertia 1, and J, of the ‘area of the thin semicircular ring about the s- and ‘y-axes Also find the polar moment of inertia Ic of the ring about its centroid C. y 1 c T i 1 1 1 oO Problem A/10 ‘A/11 Determine the moment of inertia of the shaded area about the y-axis. Problem a1 ‘A/12 Determine the moment of inertia of the shaded area ‘of the previous problem about the x-axis. ‘A/13 Use the relationships developed and used in Sam- ple Problem A/I to determine expressions for the rectangular and polar moments of inertia Iy, Jy ‘nd J of the thin rectangular strip of area A where ‘is very amall compared with 6. x if L Problem A/13 ‘A/14 By direct integration, determine the moments of inertia ofthe triangular area about the x-and x'-axes. Article A/2 Problems 445 A/S Determine the moments of inertia of the shaded circular sector about the x- and y-axes. Set 8 = O and compare your results with those listed in Table D/3. y f 1 i i 1 1 i 1 \ Problem AS ‘A/16 Determine the radius of gyration about a polar axis, through the midpoint A of the hypotenuse of the righttriangular area. (Hint: Simplify your caleula- tion by observing the results for a 30 x 40-mm rec- ‘angular area.) Af mm 0mm Problem ANG A/17 Determine by direct integration the moments of in- certia of the trapezoidal area about the x- and y-axes. Find the polar moment of inertia about point O. ‘A/18 Determine the polar radius of gyration of the area of the equilateral triangle of side 6 about its centroid C. Problem ANB ‘A/19 Determine the moment of inertia of the shaded area about the x-axis, y T i a. he Problem A/19 ‘A/20 Calculate the moment of inertia of the shaded area about the x-axis. 446 Ap ‘A/21 Determine the rectangular and polar radii of gyra- tion of the shaded area about the axes shown. ‘A/22 Determine the rectangular and polar moments of inertia of the shaded area about the axes shown. Problem Az2 ‘A/23 Determine the moments of inertia of the parabolic ‘area about the x- and y-axes. y to ‘A/24 Determine the moment of inertia of the elliptical area about the y-axis, and find the polar radius of ‘gyration about the origin O of the coordinates. ¥ y 1 fe Latte “1 Problem A24 ‘A/25 Determine the polar radius of gyration ofthe area of the equilateral triangle about the midpoint M of ite base. 2 Mah Problem 25 ‘A/26 Determine the moments of inertia of the shaded area about the x- and y-axes. Use the same differen- tial element for both calculations. i Vs Vv x i 1 i i i 1 1 i ! a 1 1 ee » x 1 1 1 1 i i | teh 1 1 \ 200 1 400 mm = Problem A27 ‘A/28 Calculate by direct integration the moment of iner- tia of the shaded area about the x-axia. Solve, first, bby using a horizontal strip of differential area and, second, by using a vertical strip of differential area. x 1 1100 mm 100 mm ‘A/30 Calculate the moments of inertia of the shaded area about the x- and y-axes, and find the polar moment of inertia about point 0. x t Problem ‘30 ‘A/31 Determine the moment of inertia of the shaded area about the x-axis using (a) a horizontal strip of area and (b)a vertical strip of area, Problem A/31 ‘A/32 Determine the radius of gyration about the y-axis of the shaded area shown. 448 Ap, ‘A/33 By the methods of this article, determine the rec- tangular and polar radii of gyration of the shaded ‘area about the axes shown. x 1 > A/34 Caleulate the moment of inertia of the shaded area, of the two overlapping circles about the x-axis. Article A/3_ Composite Ar A/3_Composite AREAS It is frequently necessary to calculate the moment of inertia of an area composed of a number of distinct parts of simple and calculable geometric shape. Because a moment of inertia is the integral or sum of the products of distance squared times element of area, it follows that the moment of inertia of a positive area is always a positive quantity. ‘The moment of inertia of a composite area about a particular axis is therefore simply the sum of the moments of inertia of its component parts about the same axis. It is often convenient to regard a composite area as being composed of positive and negative parts. We may then treat the moment of inertia of a negative area as a negative quantity. When a composite area is composed of a large number of parts, it is convenient to tabulate the results for each of the parts in terms of its area A, its centroidal moment of inertia J, the distance d from its cen- troidal axis to the axis about which the moment of inertia of the entire section is being computed, and the product Ad®. For any one of the parts the moment of inertia about the desired axis by the transfer-of-axis the- orem is I + Ad. Thus, for the entire section the desired moment of iner- tia becomes [ = EJ + ZAd?. For such an area in the z-y plane, for example, and with the nota- tion of Fig. A/4, where J, is the same as J,, and J, is the same as /,, the tabulation would include Part Area,A dy M3 | Ad? I, Sums EA Ed? | -EAd? — Ed, a, From the sums of the four columns, then, the moments of inertia for the composite area about the x- and y-axes become I,= 31, + 2Ad,? I, = 31, + 3Ad,? Although we may add the moments of inertia of the individual parts of a composite area about a given axis, we may not add their radii of gy- ration. The radius of gyration for the composite area about the axis in question is given by k= JI/A, where /is the total moment of inertia and Ais the total area of the composite figure. Similarly, the radius of gy tion & about a polar axis through some point equals /J,/A, where I, 1, + I, for x-y axes through that point. Sample Problem A/7 Determine the moments of inertia about the z- and y-axes for the shaded ‘area. Make direct use of the expressions given in Table D/3 for the centroidal ‘moments of inertia ofthe constituent parts. Solution. The given area is subdivided into the three subareas shown—a rec- ‘angular (1), aquartercireular (2), and a triangular (3) area. Two of the subareas are “holes” with negative areas. Centroidal xp ~ yo axes are shown for areas (@) and (9), and the locations of centroids C, and C are from Table D/3. ‘The following table will facilitate the calculations. 40 mm 40 mm ~ 20 mm 20mm adie A 4, 4, ‘Adz aay? PART mmt mm am mm? mm? 1 80160) 30 49 48200 768,104 2 -{roF (60-1273) 1273 1.879010) 0.146110") 3 40x30) @ 40) coco -26n10% TOTALS 3490 26800 4.901108) U,= 21, + 2Ad.!) 1, = 1.366(108) + 2.68(10%) = 4.05(10% mm Ana. U,= 21, + 2Ads} 1, = 2.46(10%) + 4.900108) = 7.36010") mm* Ans ‘The following sample problem will determine 1, by a different technique. For ‘example, the area moment of inertia of subareas (1) and (3) about the x-axis are ‘commonly tabulated quantities. While the above solution began with the centroidal ‘moments of inertia of subareas (1) and (3), the following sample problem will make more direct use of the tabulated moments of inertia about the baselines. rp180x60? E6080) (isos) “(Be ot} 754090? = 3 (9040? 1.366(10% 2.46(10% @ Sample Problem A/8 Calculate the moment of inertia and radius of gyration about the x-axis for the shaded area shown. Wherever possible, make expedient use of tabulated moments of inertia. Solution. The composite area is composed of the positive area of the rectangle (() and the negative areas of the quarter circle (2) and triangle (3). For the ree tangle the moment of inertia about the x-axis, from Sample Problem A/1 (or Table D2), Jan? = 1(80)(60)(60)* = 5.76010") mm* From Sample Problem A/3 (or Table D/S), the moment of inertia of the negative ‘quarter-ircular area about its base axis’ ia Ae (= = =F (90 = -0.1590(10°) mm We now transfer this result through the distance F = 4rA3x) = 4(90/(3n) = 12.73 mm by the transfer-of-axis theorem to get the eentroidal moment of iner- tia of part 2) or use Table DVS directly). =(30)* | a 273 us = Ad I= 0.159010 =0.0445(10") mm* ‘The moment of inertia of the quarter-circular part about the x-axis is now werent -oouscon «[-2° ep r2298 = =1.624(10%) mm* Finally, the moment of inertia of the negative triangular area (3) about its base, from Sample Problem A/2 (or Table D/3), is A, ~ 1p" ‘The total moment of inertia about the z-axis of the composite area is, consequently, 1 oe os #3(40)(30)* = -0.90(10%) 1, = 5.76(10%) ~ 1.624(10") ~ 0.09(10°) .05(10") mm‘ Ans ‘This result agrees with that of Sample Problem A/7. ‘The nt arenofthefgureinA = 6180) fn(90)* }40)(0) = 8490 mnt that the rds of eyration about the aia a y= JIA = J4.05(10°V3490 4.0 mm Ans, 1-40 mm -1~40 mm ~ o | __ 4a | Helpful Hints © Note that we must transfer the mo- ‘ment of inertia for the quarter

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