Lesson 10: Stresses in Beams

Forces and couples acting on the beam cause bending

(flexural stresses) and shearing stresses on any cross
section of the beam and deflection perpendicular to the
longitudinal axis of the beam.

Assumptions
In using the succeeding formulas for flexural and
shearing stresses, it is assumed that a plane section of the
beam normal to its longitudinal axis prior to loading
remains plane after the forces and couples have been
applied, and that the beam is initially straight and of
uniform cross section and that the moduli of elasticity in
tension and compression are equal.
Flexural Stress Formula

Stresses caused by the bending moment are known as

flexural or bending stresses. Consider a beam to be loaded
as shown.
Consider a fiber at a distance 𝑦 from the neutral axis,
because of the beam’s curvature, as the effect of
bending is very small, bcd and Oba are considered as
similar triangles.
The strain on this fiber is
𝑦
𝜖=
𝜌
𝜎
By Hooke’s Law, 𝜖 = , then
𝐸
𝑦
𝜎= 𝐸
𝜌
which means that the stress is proportional to the
distance 𝑦 from the neutral axis.
 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝜎

Considering a differential area 𝑑𝐴 at a distance y form N.A. must be

equal to the bending moment on the section.

𝑀 = න 𝑦 𝑑𝐹 = න 𝑦 𝜎 𝑑𝐴

𝑀 𝑀 𝑦 𝑀𝑦
𝜎= = ∙ =
‫ 𝑦 ׬ 𝑦 𝐴𝑑 𝑦 ׬ 𝐴𝑑 𝑦 ׬‬2 𝑑𝐴
‫ 𝑦 ׬‬2 𝑑𝐴 = 𝐼 which is the moment of inertia about the neutral axis, then
the Flexural Stress at any distance 𝑦 from the N.A. is
𝑴𝒚
𝝈=
𝑰
and the maximum flexural stress is
𝑴𝒄
𝑴𝒂𝒙. 𝝈 =
𝑰
The maximum flexural stress can also be written as
𝑴
𝑴𝒂𝒙. 𝝈 =
𝑺
𝐼
where 𝑆 = is called the section modulus and 𝑐 is the
𝑐
distance from the neutral axis to the extreme fiber.

Example 1:

A cantilever beam, 50 𝑚𝑚 wide by 150 𝑚𝑚 high and

6 𝑚 long, carries a load that varies uniformly from zero at
the free end to 1000 𝑁/𝑚 at the wall. (a) Compute the
magnitude and location of the maximum flexural stress.
(b) Determine the type and magnitude of the stress in a
fiber 20 𝑚𝑚 from the top of the beam at a section 2 𝑚 from
the free end.

Ans. (a) 32 𝑀𝑃𝑎 (b) 869.1 𝑘𝑃𝑎

Example 2:

A high strength steel band saw, 20 𝑚𝑚 wide by

0.80 𝑚𝑚 thick, runs over pulleys 600 𝑚𝑚 in diameter.
What maximum flexural stress is developed? What
minimum diameter pulleys can be used without exceeding
a flexural stress of 400 𝑀𝑃𝑎? Assume 𝐸 = 200 𝐺𝑃𝑎.

Ans. 266.67 𝑀𝑃𝑎, 400 𝑚𝑚

Example 3:

In a laboratory test of a beam loaded by end couples, the

fibers at layer 𝐴𝐵 in the figure shown are found to increase
0.06 𝑚𝑚 whereas those at 𝐶𝐷 decrease 0.1 𝑚𝑚 in the 200 −
𝑚𝑚 − 𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒 length. Using 𝐸 = 70 𝐺𝑃𝑎, determine the
flexural stress in the top and bottom fibers.

Ans. 𝜎𝑡𝑜𝑝 = 35 𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 ,

𝜎𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑚 = 70 𝑀𝑃𝑎 (𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛)
Example 4:

Determine the minimum height ℎ of the beam shown if the

flexural stress is not to exceed 20 𝑀𝑃𝑎.

Ans. 137 𝑚𝑚
Example 5:

The inverted T section of a 4-m simply supported beam has

the properties shown in the figure below. The beam carries a
uniformly distributed load of intensity 𝑤 over its entire
length. Determine 𝑤 if the allowable flexural stresses are
40 𝑀𝑃𝑎 in tension and 80 𝑀𝑃𝑎 in compression.

Ans. 6 𝑘𝑁/𝑚
Shearing Stress Formula

Consider two adjoining sections, (1) and (2), in a beam

separated by the distance 𝑑𝑥, as shown below.
𝑑𝐴
𝐻1 𝐻2
𝑐
𝑦
𝑑𝐹 𝑦1

𝑑𝑥

𝑐 𝑐
σ 𝐹𝐻 = 0 𝑑𝐹 = 𝐻2 − 𝐻1 = ‫𝜎 𝑦׬‬2 𝑑𝐴 − ‫𝜎 𝑦׬‬1 𝑑𝐴
1 1
 𝑐 𝑐
𝑀2 𝑦 𝑀2 𝑦 𝑀2 − 𝑀1 𝑐
𝑑𝐹 = න 𝑑𝐴 = න 𝑑𝐴 = න 𝑦 𝑑𝐴
𝑦1 𝐼 𝑦1 𝐼 𝐼 𝑦1
𝑑𝐹 = 𝜏𝑏 𝑑𝑥
𝑀2 − 𝑀1 = 𝑑𝑀
𝑑𝑀
= 𝑉, 𝑑𝑀 = 𝑉 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑥
𝑐
න 𝑦 𝑑𝐴 = 𝑄 (𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎)
𝑦1
𝑉 𝑑𝑥
𝜏𝑏 𝑑𝑥 = 𝑄
𝐼
Then the horizontal shearing stress can be written as
𝑽𝑸
𝝉=
𝑰𝒃
Shear Flow
𝑽𝑸
𝒒 = 𝝉𝒃 =
𝑰
Example 6:

A timber beam 90 𝑚𝑚 wide by 160 𝑚𝑚 high is subjected

to a vertical shear 𝑉 = 20 𝑘𝑁. Determine the shearing
stress developed at layers 20 𝑚𝑚 apart from top to
bottom of the section.

Ans. 911 𝑘𝑃𝑎

Example 7:

A hollow circular section of outside diameter 200 𝑚𝑚 and

thickness 10 𝑚𝑚 carries a vertical shear force of 25 𝑘𝑁.
Find the maximum shear stress at the inner edge.

Hint: 𝐼𝑁𝐴 = 3.73 × 106 𝑚𝑚4 , 𝑏 = 61.6 𝑚𝑚, and by

integration, 𝑄 = 39 013 𝑚𝑚3 .
Ans. 4.24 𝑀𝑃𝑎