30/10/2014 Moment of Inertia of an Area

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Moment of Inertia of an Area

Second Moment of Area or Area Moment of Inertia
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M oment of Inertia of an Area, Area M oment of Inertia, also known as Second M oment of Area - I, is a property of shape that is used to predict
deflection, bending and stress in beam s.

Note

the "Area M om ent of Inertia" is analogous to the "Polar M om ent of Inertia" as a m easure of a beam 's ability to resist torsion - which is
required to calculate the twist of a beam subjected to torque
the "Section M odulus" is defined as W = I / y, where I is Area M om ent of Inertia and y is the distance from the neutral axis to any given
fibre

Area Moment of Inertia - Imperial units

inches4

Area Moment of Inertia - Metric units

mm4
cm4
m4

Converting betw een units

1 cm4 = 10 -8 m = 10 4 mm
1 in 4 = 4.16x10 5 mm4 = 41.6 cm4
1 cm3 = 10 -6 m = 10 3 mm

Second Moment of Area

can be expressed as

Ix = ∫ y2 dA (1)

w here

Ix = second moment of area

y = the perpendicular distance from axis x to the element dA

dA = an elemental area

Area Moment of Inertia for some common Cross Sections

Solid Square Cross Section

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Ix = b 4 / 12 (2)

w here

b = side

Iy = b 4 / 12 (2b)

Solid Rectangular Cross Section

Ix = b h 3 / 12 (3)

w here

b = w idth

h = height

Iy = b 3 h / 12 (3b)

Solid Circular Cross Section

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Ix = π r4 / 4

= π d 4 / 64 (4)

w here

r = radius

d = diameter

Iy = π r4 / 4

= π d 4 / 64 (4b)

Hollow Cylindrical Cross Section

Ix = π (d o4 - d i4) / 64 (5)

w here

d o = cylinder outside diameter

d i = cylinder inside diameter

Iy = π (d o4 - d i4) / 64 (5b)

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Area Moment of Inertia vs. Polar Moment of Inertia

"Polar M om ent of Inertia" as a m easure of a beam 's ability to resist torsion - which is required to calculate the twist of a beam subjected to
torque
"Area M om ent of Inertia" is a property of shape that is used to predict deflection, bending and stress in beam s

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Related Topics
M echanics - Kinem atics, forces, vectors, m otion, m om entum , energy and the dynam ics of objects
Beams and Columns - Deflection and stress, m om ent of inertia, section m odulus and technical inform ation of beam s and colum ns

Related Documents
Structural Lumber - Properties of structural lum ber
Stress and Deflections in Beams - Beam s and shafts - deflection and stress calculator
American Wide Flange Beams - Am erican Wide Flange Beam s AST M A6 in m etric units
Area M oment of Inertia Conv erter - Conversion of Area M om ent of Inertia
M oment of Section Conv ersions - Convert M om ent of Section (Inertia) units
Euler's Column Formula - Buckling of colum ns
British Univ ersal Columns and Beams - Properties of British Universal Steel Colum ns and Beam s
HE-B Steel Beams - Properties of HE-B profile steel beam s
Section M odulus Conv ersions - Convert Section M odulus
American Standard Steel Channels - Dim ensions and static param eters of Am erican Standard Steel Channels
Cantilev er Beams - M axim um reaction, deflection and m om ent - single and uniform loads
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HE-M Steel Beams - Properties of HE-M profile steel beam s
HE-A Steel Beams - Properties of HE-A profile steel beam s
Pipe Formulas - Pipe and T ube Equations - m om ent of inertia, section m odulus, traverse m etal area, external pipe surface and traverse
internal area - im perial units
American Wide Flange Beams - W Beam - Am erican Wide Flange Beam s AST M A6 in English units
American Standard Beams - S Beam - Am erican Standard Beam s AST M A6 - Im perial units
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Steel Angles - Dim ensions and static param eters of steel angles with equal legs - m etric units
Normal Flange I Beams - Properties of norm al flange I profile steel beam s

Key Words
en: m om ent inertia plane area
es: m om ento área del plano de inercia
de: T rägheitsm om ent ebene Fläche

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