3/26/2020

Steel Design

Bending Stresses and Plastic Moment 
of Beams
Baraa J. Mahmood, Ph.D.

University of Mosul – College of Engineering

Bending stresses and plastic moment

Beams are structural members that support transverse

loads and are therefore subjected primarily to flexure, or
bending. They are probably thought of as being used in
horizontal positions and subjected to gravity or vertical
loads.
For flexure, the required and available strengths are
moments. For load and resistance factor design (LRFD) can
be written as:

1
 3/26/2020

Required moment strength Available moment strength

= required moment strength = maximum moment

caused by the controlling load combination from
ASCE 7.
∅ = resistance factor for bending (flexure) = 0.90.

= Nominal moment strength.

Consider the beam shown in Figure 1a, which is oriented so that

bending is about the major principal axis (for an I shape, it will be the
x–x axis). For a linear elastic material and small deformations, the
distribution of bending stress will be as shown in Figure 1b, with the
stress assumed to be uniform across the width of the beam.

Figure 1

2
 3/26/2020

To be able to determine the nominal moment strength , we must

first examine the behavior of beams throughout the full range of
loading, from very small loads to the point of collapse.
If the beam is subjected to some bending moment, the stress at any
point may be computed with the usual flexure formula:

However, that this expression is applicable only when the maximum

computed stress in the beam is below the elastic limit.
Where,
M is the bending moment at the cross section under consideration,
c is the perpendicular distance from the neutral plane to the point of
interest, and
is the moment of inertia of the area of the cross section with respect to
the neutral axis
S is the elastic section modulus ( ⁄ ).

In Figure 2, a simply
supported beam with a
concentrated load at
midspan is shown at
successive stages of
loading.

Figure 2

3
 3/26/2020

Figure 2, cont.,

When the yield stress is reached at the

extreme fiber (Figure 2b)
When the condition of Figure 2d is
reached, it is in the plastic range.

Where Z is called the plastic section modulus.

Note the ratio ⁄ is a property of the cross‐sectional shape and
is independent of the material properties. This ratio is known as the
shape factor

4
 3/26/2020

Elastic Design:
The yield moment equals the yield stress times the elastic modulus.
The elastic modulus equals ⁄ . This same value can be obtained by
considering the resisting internal couple shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3
The resisting moment equals T or C times the lever arm between
them, as follows:
2
4 3 6

For plastic stage, this plastic, or nominal, moment equals

T or C times the lever arm between them. For the
rectangular beam of Figure 4, we have:

Figure 4

1
2 2 2 2 4

10

5
 3/26/2020

For a rectangular section:

Elastic Plastic Shape factor

⁄ 1.5
6 4

The P.N axis divides the

∑ cross section into two
Elastic neutral axis 
∑ equal areas.
For shapes that are
symmetrical about the
axis of bending, the E.N
Plastic neutral axis and P.N axes are
the same.

11

Summary:
The yield moment of a cross section is defined as the moment
that will just produce the yield stress in the outer most fiber of the
section.
The plastic moment is the moment that will produce full
plasticity in a member cross section and create a plastic hinge.

The ratio of the plastic moment to the yield moment is called the
shape factor.

12

6
 3/26/2020

References:
 Jack C. McCormac and Stephen F. Csernak, 2012, Structural steel
design. 5th edition.
 William T. Segui, 2012, Steel Design, 5th edition.
 J. C. Smith, 1996, Structural Steel Design LRFD Approach, 2nd
edition.
 Charles G. Salmon, John Edwin Johnson, Faris Amin Malhas,
2009, Steel Structures: Design and Behavior, 5th edition.

13