Shear Centre for PFCs

Locate the shear center of the channel section loaded as a cantilever (Fig.1a). Assume that the flange
thicknesses are small when compared with the depth and width of the section.

Figure 1. Example 5.9. (a) Cantilever beam with a concentrated load at the free end; (b) an element of the
upper flange; (c) shear distribution; (d) location of the shear center S.

Solution: The shearing stress in the upper flange at any section nn will be found first. This section is
located a distance s from the free edge m, as shown in the figure. At m, the shearing stress is zero. The
first moment of area st1 about the z axis is Qz = st1h. The shear stress at nn, from Eq. (5.39), is thus

The direction of τ along the flange can be determined from the equilibrium of the forces acting on an
element of length dx and width s (Fig. 1b). Here the normal force N = t1sσx, owing to the bending of the
beam, increases with dx by dN. Hence, the x equilibrium of the element requires that τt1·dx must be
directed as shown in the figure. This flange force is directed to the left, because the shear forces must
intersect at the corner of the element.

The distribution of the shear stress τxy on the flange, as Eq. (a) indicates, is linear with s. Its maximum
value occurs at

Similarly, the value of stress τxy at the top of the web is

The stress varies parabolically over the web, and its maximum value is found at the neutral axis. Figure
1c sketches the shear stress distribution in the channel. As the shear stress is linearly distributed across
the flange length, from Eq. (b), the flange force is expressed by

Symmetry of the section dictates that F1 = F3 (Fig. 1d). We will assume that the web force F2 = p, since the
vertical shearing force transmitted by the flange is negligibly small, as shown in Example 5.3. The shearing
force components acting in the section must be statically equivalent to the resultant shear load P. Thus, the
principle of the moments for the system of forces in Fig. 1d or Eq. (5.56), applied at A, yields Mx = pe =
2F1h. Substituting F1 from Eq. (d) into this expression, we obtain

Since for the usual channel section t1 is small in comparison to b or h, the simplified moment of inertia has
the following form:

The shear center is, in turn, located by the expression

Comments Note that e depends on only the section dimensions. Examination reveals that e may vary from
a minimum of zero to a maximum of b/2. A zero or near-zero value of e corresponds to either a flangeless
beam (b = 0, e = 0) or an especially deep beam (h≫b. The extreme case, e = b/2, is obtained for an
infinitely wide beam.