SHEARING STRESSES IN THIN-

WALLED MEMBERS

Prof. Luca Martinelli

A.Y. 2019-20
 Can you compute the shear stress on the
chords at the centroid’s depth for this
section?
V

Ing.
Luca
Martinelli

We need to extend Jourawski’s equation

See:
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS, SIXTH EDITION,
F.P. Beer, E. Russell Johnston Jr., J.T. Dewolf, D.F. Mazurek. McGraw-
Hill, 2012.

STRUCTURAL AND STRESS ANALYSIS Third Edition, Chapter 10 -

Shear of Beams. Dr. T.H.G. Megson, Butterworth-Heinemann
 Jourawski’s (Dmitrij Ivanovič Žuravskij) equation
Hyp: no twist

Ing.
bending stresses
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Horizontal equilibrium requires:

t

but:

hence: = q/t
A = t x
 Jourawski’s (Dmitrij Ivanovič Žuravskij) equation

Ing.
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Hyp: no twist
xy = yx  avet
yx
 Rectangular cross-section

= q/t

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“I” cross-section, or wide flanges cross-section

The vertical component xy of the shearing stress in the flanges can be
neglected. Its horizontal component xz has instead a significant value
 Limits for T and I cross-sections

Ing.
Luca At the free edge of a member there Numerical and physical experiments
Martinelli
cannot be a finite stress acting, since show that the flow is similar to the one
there is nothing that provides this stress in the picture.

See also: http://www.slideshare.net/apalmeri/topic-2-shear-stress

 Extension to an arbitrary curved surface

Ing.
Luca
Martinelli As before, but now H is the resultant over the curved surface:

 avet

Note: the section is still loaded along a symmetry axis to avoid twist.
it is now NOT possible to take the average as the local value of tau
 SHEARING STRESSES IN THIN-WALLED
MEMBERS
Bending stresses act over the sufaces A’A and B’B, equilibrium in
horizontal direction may require that H exists:
Note:
if V is acting in the
negative direction of
axis y, q is outward
from the area used to
Ing. compute Q if Q is
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positive.
 Closed sections with axis of symmetry
The shear flow q (and xy, xz) must respect symmetry
s

a a

Ing.
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If the area is taken symmetric about axis y,

symmetry requires the left and right xy to be
equal in modulus, and opposite in direction
 • q = 0 in A (imagine taking an
infinitesimally small portion of
length ds around A, which has Q=0).
• q grows linearly from zero at A to
B (or B’).
• q grows quadratically from B (or
B’) to C (or C’).
• q is maximum at C and C’ on
Ing.
the neutral axis, and then
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decreases back to zero as E is
reached.
• there is no sudden variation in the magnitude of q as
the corner at B, or D is passed.

• the direction of q in the horizontal portions of

the section may be easily obtained from its direction in
the vertical portions (which is the same as that of the
shear V).
Ing.
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 Half pipe and full pipe beams

As long as the load is

applied along a symmetry
axis of the section,

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can still be used to determine shearing stresses.
The cut where q acts must be perpendicular to the
surface of the member.
q is the shear flow due to the component of the shearing
stress in the direction of the tangent to the surface.

The other component may be assumed equal to zero, in

view of the proximity of the two free surfaces.
 For the circular hollow cross-section

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Ing.
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 Max value of shear stress:
1) Stress is maximum for a chord at the depth of the centroid.
2) The general relation holds:  = VQ/It

For a pipe (circular) cross-section:

Q = (2r/)(rt)
I = r3t
t = 2 * pipe wall thickness
 = 2ave =2V/A
where A = 2rt is area of the pipe section.
Ing.
Luca
Martinelli For a rectangular cross-section, using the same process:
 = 1.5ave =1.5 V/A
where A is the area of the rectangle.

B
For a wide flange cross-section:
Q = (B*tf)(H-tf)/2 + [(H-tf)/2)tw](H-tf)/4
I = twH3/12 + 2(B-tw)tf3/12 + 2(B-tw)tf[(H-tf)/2]2
  ave,web = V/Aw H
where Aw = tw(H-2tf) is the area of web of “I” cross-section.
 Shear Center (Centro di taglio): the point where a
shear force can act without producing any twist in
the section.

UNSYMMETRIC LOADING OF THIN-WALLED

MEMBERS; SHEAR CENTER
For member loaded along an axis of
symmetry we have no twist, hence:
Ing.
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 Members not loaded along axis of
symmetry

For members not loaded along

an axis of symmetry, there is the
Ing.
possibility of twist.
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find shearing stresses as per NO
TORSION, and find where
internal shear force is applied.
That is the position where it
needs to be applied the external
shear force not to induce
torsion! It’s the shear center.
 The elementary shearing force is dF = qds.

Ing.
O
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The line of action of V intersects the axis of symmetry of the section at

point O, located at the distance e = Fh/V in order not to cause the
member to twist.

Point O was located assuming the member does not twist.

About point O the resultant of the shear stresses has zero moment.
 We can move F of a from A to B by
F adding a couple of appropriate
moment M.

A a B The couple must have a moment that

compensates the loss of moment
= when we move F from A to B, so M
= Fa
F F
Adding a null system, made of two
opposite forces F and –F in B, we do
Ing.
not change the effect of the original
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A B system.
-F
The new situation can be viewed as a
= force F in B and two opposite forces
F and –F that form a couple of
moment Fa.
F
So we have moved F of a from a to
B by adding a couple of moment
A B M = Fa
M=Fa
 Shear Center

Ing. Shear center of the section: the point O where the line of action
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of P has to go through not to cause twist.

For the section with the axis of symmetry, in the case of an oblique
load P, applied at O, the member will be free of any twist since
the load P can be resolved into its components Pz and Py, neither
of which causes the member to twist.

The position of the shear center is a property of the shape of

the section
Ing.
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Placement of the load at the shear center to eliminate

twisting.
 Beam without plane of symmetry

Assume the load P is parallel to the principal centroidal axes Cy of

Ing.
the cross section. The bending moment will act around Cz, and the
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Let’s assume there is no twisting and shearing stresses are given

by:
 Beam without plane of symmetry

The elementary shearing force is dF = qds.

Ing.
Luca
Martinelli The resultant of the shearing forces on portion OA is F1.
The resultant of the shearing forces on portion OB is F2.

Both F1 and F2 pass through point O at the corner. It follows that

their resultant, which is equal to V, passes through O as well.
The member will not be twisted if the line of action of P passes
through O.

If the load acts along axis Cz, F1 and F2 go again through O.

O is the shear center for the section.
 Now study this:

Ing.
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By equilibrium: the resultant in OA will equal the

shear V, while the resultant of the shearing forces on
the horizontal portion OB will be zero.

To find the value of q, we can decompose V in its

component along the principal axes Cy and Cz, study
the two problems as if independent, and superimpose
the results.
 Sections with a center of symmetry O
The section has a center of symmetry at point O.
The loads are applied in a plane perpendicular to one
of the principal axes of the section, that is also the
Neutral Axis for bending.
We assume the member is bent without being twisted.

Q is the first area moment about N.A. of part AH. Q’ is

the first area moment about N.A. of part H’E.
Ing. We note that Q’ = -Q. Thus the shearing stresses at H
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and H’ have the same magnitude and the same
direction and opposite moments about O.

Since this is true for any pair of symmetric cuts, it

follows that the resultant of the shearing forces has
zero moment about O. This means that the shear V
in the section is directed along a line that
passes through O.

This same analysis can be repeated when V

is applied parallel to the other principal axis.
Point O is the shear center of the section.
 General procedure for finding the shear
center

1) apply V=Vy along centroidal axis Cy, assuming no twist

will occur
2) find the shear stress distribution over the cross-section
Ing.
3) find the resultant of the shear stress distribution (this is
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Martinelli the area integral of the stress distribution) and its line of
action (you need to find a point about which the stress
distribution will give zero moment)
4) Sketch a line trough that point in the direction of the
resultant
5) repeat points 1-4 having applied V=Vz along centroidal
axis Cz, assuming no twist will occur
6) The shear center is at the intersection point of the two
lines
 General procedure for analysis of shear
forces if V is not acting normal to one
principal inertia axis

1) find the shear center of the cross-section (remember, it is

a geometric property of the cross-section)
2) move the shear force parallel to itself to the shear center
by applying a couple
Ing.
3) Decompose the shear force in its components along the
Luca principal axes
Martinelli
4) study the cross-section finding the shear stresses for
each component, independently form the other (the
components are acting trough the shear center, so they
induce no twist)
5) study the cross-section loaded only by the torsional
moment of the couple added in 2
6) Superimpose the effects (the stresses) coming from the
two components of the shear force applied at the shear
center and from the added couple needed to move the
force to the shear center
 Extension to building under horizontal
forces (e.g. earthquakes, wind)

Ing.
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Martinelli
 BUILDINGS RESPONSE: effects of eccentricity
due to location of resisting elements

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 RISPOSTA DEGLI EDIFICI: effetti della eccentricità tra
centro di massa e centro di rigidezza (centro di taglio
degli elementi verticali)

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 Example of use of thin walled sections

Ing.
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Martinelli

In which case
the load by
the vessel is
applied at the
shear center
of the leg?
 Example 6.05: find the position of the shear center

F AB
AB

V F’ BD

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 Example 6.06: find and sketch the distribution of
shear stresses assuming the shear force V is applied
at the Shear Center of the cross-section

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 At N.A.

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 Problems

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