

The force F acting on a body has two effects:

the first one is the tendency to push or pull the body in the direction
of the force, and the second one is to rotate the body about any fixed
axis which does not intersect nor is parallel to the line of the force.

This dual effect can more easily be represented by replacing the

given force by an equal parallel force and a couple to compensate for
the change in the moment of the force.
 
Let us consider for F acting at point A in a rigid body. It is possible

to slide force F along its line of action, but it is not possible to
directly move it to point B without changing the external effect on the
rigid body.
  
In order to do this, two equal and opposite forces F and Fare added to
point B without introducing any net external effects on the body. It is
seen that, the original force at A and and the equal and opposite one at
B constitute the couple M=Fd, which is counterclockwise for this case.
Therefore, we have replaced the original force at A by the same
force acting at a different point B and a couple, without altering

the external effects of the original force on the body. Since M is
a free vector, its location is of no concern. The combination of
the force and couple is referred to as a force-couple system.
By reversing this process, we can combine a given couple and a
force which lies in the plane of the couple (normal to the couple

vector) to produce a single, equivalent force. Force F can be moved
to a point by constructing a moment equal in magnitude and

opposite in direction M . The magnitude and direction of
M
remains the same, but its new line of action will be d  distance
F
away from point B.
If two force systems are creating the same external effect
on the rigid body they are exerted on, they are said to be
“ ”.

The resultant of a force system is the simplest

combination that they can be reduced without altering the
external effects they produce on the body.
Coplanar Force Systems
   
If the resultant of all forces F1 , F2 , F3 , ...,Fn lying in a single plane

such as xy is R , this resultant is calculated by the vector sum of these
forces.
    
R  F1  F2  F3  ... Fn

Rx  Fx R y  Fy

R  F    F 
x
2
y
2

1
Ry
  tan
Rx
 
The location of the line of action of the resultant force R to an
arbitrary point (such as point O is the origin of the xy coordinate
system) can be determined by using the Varignon’s theorem. The

moment of R about point O will be equal the sum of the couple
moments constructed by moving its components to point O.

 
R  F

Mo   M  Fd 
Mo
d
R
Three Dimensional Force Systems

The same principles can be enlarged to three dimensional force

   
systems. The resultant of forces F1 , F2 , F3 , ...,Fn acting on a
body can be obtained by moving them to a desired point. In this
way, the given force system will be converted to

1) Three dimensional, concurrent forces comprising the same

magnitudes and directions as the original forces,
2) Three dimensional couples.
By calculating the resultants of these forces and couples, a single
resultant force and a single couple can be obtained.

The resultant force,

     
R  F1  F2  F3  ... Fn   F
Rx  F x R  F
y R  F
y z z

R  F    F    F 
x
2
y
2
z
2
 C
C

The resultant couple moment,

   
M  r F   C

The selection of point O is arbitrary, but the magnitude and direction


of M will depend on this point; whereas, the magnitude and

direction of R are the same no matter which point is selected.
 
As a special case, if the resultant couple  M is perpendicular to

the resultant force R , these two vectors can further be simplified to
 
obtain a single resultant force R . The force R can be slided a

distance d to form a moment   M , which is equal in magnitude

and opposite in direction  M , so that they will cancel each other
out. The distance d will be equal to d=SM/R.
 
When the resultant couple vector M is parallel to the resultant

force R , the resultant is called a “wrench”.

The wrench is the simplest form in which the resultant of a general

force system may be expressed.

By definition, a wrench is positive if the couple and force vectors

point in the same direction, and negative if they point in opposite
directions.
Wrench Resultants
A common example of a wrench is found with the application of a
screw driver.

All force systems can be reduced to a wrench acting at a particular

line of action.

M
R
Equivalent force-couple system at point O M is resolved into components M1 along the
direction of R and M2 normal to R.

 
    
M1  M R //  M  nR nR
   
M 2  M R   M  M R //

Positive wrench

M2
d
R
 R

M
R