7.

Shear Stresses in Beams

Outline
- Derivation of shear stress formula
- Shear stress in a rectangular section
- Example
- Shear flow in Built-Up members

7-1
 Wedge Blocking

Designed beam

Wooden post

Experimental beam installed to support coal mine roof

20 mm
20 mm 80 mm

20 mm

120 mm

Cross section of the designed beam

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Derivation of Shear Stress Formula
Consider a simply supported beam subjected to some loading configuration, w(x).

x
w(x)

A B
V V V + dV
SFD V    wdx

x
M M + dM
M
BMD M   Vdx

Fig. 1

We know how to draw the shear force and bending moment diagrams, and therefore at a
typical section we can determine the internal shear force and bending moments as shown in
Fig. 2. We can examine a small chunk of the cross-section and draw the free-body diagram
showing all the stresses acting at that section in the beam. We have examined how a bending
moment, M, applied to a beam induces a linear distribution of normal stress over the cross-
section. In general, the shear forces, V, will cause shear stresses .

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 V M

Fig. 2

We can use the Flexure Formula (Section 6) to determine the normal stresses . We now
want to derive an expression that relates the internal shear force V to the shear stress .
Start with a segment of length x of the beam shown in Fig. 1. Note at this point, we
consider a beam with an arbitrary cross-section that has a vertical axis of symmetry as
shown in Fig. 3.
w(x)
Figure 3: (a)
M M + dM

V V + dV

(b) (c) (d)

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Over length dx the bending moment changes from M to M+ dM and the shear force changes
from V to V + dV, Fig. 3(b). The change in the bending moment means that the bending
stress at an arbitrary location y’ will change from  to ’ as indicated in Fig. 3(d).

Now consider equilibrium, in the horizontal direction, of the segment above the level y’. The
cross-sectional area of this segment is A’, Fig. 3(c). (Since we are looking at equilibrium in
the horizontal direction, the vertical shear stress will not enter into our equations.)

The bending stress ’ (due to M + dM) will be larger than stress  (due to M), and hence
there will be a resultant force to the left. A horizontal force at level y’ is necessary to
satisfy equilibrium. This force results in the shear stress .

To obtain an expression for  we consider the equilibrium of horizontal forces:

or,

However, the shear, V = dM / dx, and we define

This is the first moment of area A’ about the neutral axis.

We finally obtain the shear formula:

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Note that we could consider equilibrium of force on the segment below level y’. We would
obtain the same formula. Thus in computing  we can take A’ as the area either above or
below the level where shear stress is being computed.

Rectangular Section Subjected to Shear Force, V

To illustrate how the shear formula works, consider an arbitrary rectangular section as shown
in Fig. 4.
b A’

h/2
y’
y
NA’

h/2

Fig. 4 - Computing shear stress distribution for a rectangular section.

We calculate the following:

A’ =

y’ =

Q=



Note:
1)  = 0 when h2 / 4 – y2 = 0 or y = + h/2, i.e. the shear stress is zero at the top and bottom
surfaces of the section;
2) d / dy = 6V / bh3 (-2y) = 0 when y = 0, i.e. the maximum shear stress, max, occurs at the
neutral axis of the section;

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3) the maximum shear stress is found by substituting y = 0 into the equation for shear stress:

max =

Figure 5 shows a plot of the shear stress distribution over the cross-section.

b avg

h/2

max

h/2

Fig. 5 - Shear stress distribution over a rectangular cross-section.

Example
Determine the shear stress at the neutral axis and at the flange-web interface at a section 1 m
from the left support in the T-beam shown below.
1200 N
a

a
1m 1m 2m
120 mm

40 mm

40 mm
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Shear Flow in Built-up Members
Sometimes beams and other structural elements are manufactured by connecting several parts
to create a built-up beam. For example, a common form of bridge construction uses very
deep steel beams called plate girders to span long distances. Plate girders are manufactured
by welding three individual plates together.

weld
(typ.)

steel plate
(typ.)

Figure 6 - Cross-section of a plate girder.

Shear stresses develop at the intersections of the plates, and engineers must design the welds
to resist these stresses.
Figure 7 shows a length dx of a member with a built-up cross section.

dx

M+dM t dx
M A’
F F+dF

(a) (b)
Figure 7

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Consider the portion attached to the right-hand side of the top flange. If moment changes
from M to M + dM over length dx there will be an out of balance of force due to bending
stresses in this component as shown in Fig. 7(b). This out of balance force must be resisted
by shear stress along the connection. In deriving the shear formula, we already found that:

Now if we define shear flow (q) as shear force/unit length of connection we have:

or:

where again Q =  y dA = y’A’

VQ
Comparison with  = indicates that q = ּt, where q is shear flow,  is shear stress, and t
It
is the width of interface
Figure 8 shows how q is determined for some typical built-up timber beams.

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Example
A section in a beam having the cross-section shown is subjected to a vertical shear force of
800 N. Determine the average shear stress in nails spaced at 100 mm, assuming each nail has
a diameter of 2 mm.

nail

30

120
V = 800 N
30 250 30

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