PROBLEM 

   15 – 0474:      Find the maximum deflection due to a force P applied at the

                                                end of an elastic cantilever having a rectangular cross
                                                section, Fig. 1(a). Consider the effect of the flexural and
                                                shearing deformations.
 

                        
 
Solution:                    As the force P is applied to the beam, the external work We = PΔ/2,
                        where Δ is the total deflection of the end of the beam. The internal strain
                        energy consists of two parts. One part is due to the bending stresses, the
                        other is caused by the shearing stresses.
                        The strain energy in bending is obtained from equation U = ∫M2dx/(2EI),
                        by noting that M = – Px. The strain energy in shear is found by using
                        equation dUshear = [τ2 / (2G)]dV.
                        In this particular problem, the shear at every section is equal to the applied
                        force P while the shearing stress τ, is distributed parabolically as
                        τ = [P/(2I)] [(h/2)2 – y2].
                        At any one level y, this shearing stress does not vary across either the
                        breadth b or the length L of the beam. Therefore the infinitesimal volume
                        dV in the shear energy expression is taken as Lb dy. By equating the sum
                        of these two internal strain energies to the external work, the total
                        deflection is obtained:
                        Ubending = L∫0 [(M2dx) / (2EI)] = L∫0 [{(– Px)2dx} / (2EI)] = [(P2L3) / (6EI)]
                        and
                                                Ushear = ∫vol [τ2 / (2G)]dV
                        Substituting the value of τ we obtain,
                                                Ushear = [1 / (2G)] ∫vol {(P / 2I) [(h/2)2 – y2]}2dV
                              Since dV  = Lbdy, the above equation becomes
                                                Ushear = [1 / (2G)] (h/2)∫(–h/2) {[P / (2I)] [(h/2)2 – y2]}2Lbdy
                                                = [(P2Lb) / (2G4I2)] (h/2)∫(–h/2) [(h2 / 4) – y2]}2dy
                                                = [(P2Lb) / (8GI2)] (h/2)∫(–h/2) [{h4 / (16)} – (h2 / 2)y2 + y4]dy
                        Carrying out the integration yields
                        Ushear = [(P2Lb) / (8GI2)] {[h4 / (16)]y |(h/2)(–h/2) – (h2 / 2)(y3 / 3) |(h/2)(–h/2)
                                                                                                            + (y4 / 5) |(h/2)(–h/2)}
                        = [(P2Lb) / (8GI2)] {[h4 / (16)] [(h/2) + (h/2)] – (h2 / 6) [(h/2)3 – {– (h/2)}3]
                                                                                                + (1/5) [(h/2)5 – {– (h/2)}5]}
                                                = [(P2Lb) / (8GI2)] {{h5 / (16)} – {h5 / (24)} + {1 / (80)}h5}
                                                = [(P2Lb) / (8GI2)] {[8 / (240)]h5}
                        Since I = [(bh3) / (12)], we have
                                    Ushear = [{(P2Lb) / (8G)} {h5 / (30)} {(12) / (bh3)}2] = [(3P2L) / (5Gbh)]
                        or
                                                Ushear = [(3P2L) / (5GA)]
                        where A = bh is the cross section of the beam. Then
                                                We = U = Ubending + Ushear
                        [(PΔ) / 2] = [{(P2L3) / (6EI)} + {(3P2L) / (5AG)}] or Δ = [{(PL3) / (3EI)}
                                                                                                                        + {(6PL) / (5AG)}]
                        The first term in the results, PL3/(3EI), is the ordinary deflection of beam
                        due to flexure. The second term is the deflection due to shear and can be
                        interpreted as follows: The ratio P/A = V/A is the average shearing stress
                        τaV across the section. This quantity divided by the shearing modulus G
                        gives the shearing strain for a uniform stress. Since, however, the
                        shearing stress varies across the section, a numerical correction factor,
                        called here α, is necessary. In this problem α = 6/5.
                        On this basis (see Fig. 1(b)), for the constant shear occurring along the
                        beam, the end deflection due to shear may be expressed in the following
                        alternative forms:
                                                Δshear = γsL = α[(τav) / G]L = α[(VL) / (AG)] = [(6PL) / (5AG)]
                        The factor α depends on the cross-sectional area of a member. In general,
                        the shear V can vary across the span.
                        It is instructive to recast the expression for the total deflection Δ as
                                                Δ = [(PL3) / (3EI)] [1 + {(18) / 5} {(EI) / (L2AG)}]
                                                = [(PL3) / (3EI)] [1 + {(18E) / (5GL2)} {(bh3) / (12)} {1 / (bh)}]
                                                = [(PL3) / (3EI)] [1 + {(3Eh2) / (10GL2)}]
                        where as before, the last term gives the deflection due to shear.
                        To gain further insight into this problem, replace in the last expression the
                        ratio E/G by 2.5, a typical value for steels. Then
                                                Δ = (1 + 0.75h2/L2)Δbending
                        From this equation it can be seen that for a short beam – – for example,
                        one with L = h – – the total deflection is 1.75 times that due to bending.
                        Hence shear deflection is very important in comparable cases. On the
                        other hand, if L = 10h, the deflection due to shear is less than 1 percent.
                        Small deflections due to shear are typical for ordinary, slender beams.
                        This fact may be noted further from the original equation for Δ. There,
                        whereas the deflection due to shear increases directly with the span
                        length, the deflection due to bending increases as the cube of this
                        distance. Therefore, as the length of a beam increases, the deflection due
                        to bending quickly becomes dominant. For this reason it is usually
                        possible to neglect the deflection due to shear. Of course, such a
                        generalization is not always possible.