Area Moments of Inertia

• When forces are distributed over an area on which

they act, it is often necessary to calculate the
moments of these forces about some axis
• Commonly, the intensity of the force
(pressure/stress) is proportional to the distance of
the line of action of the force from the moment axis
• Total moment will proportional to the square of
distance since the elemental force is proportional to
distance times differential area
• The integral of distance squared times area is the
second moment of area (a.k.a) moment of inertia.
 Area Moments of Inertia
• Moment about AB due to pressure on element of
area dA = pydA = ky2dA => M = k ∫y2dA

• Rectangular & Polar Moments of Inertia:

 Area Moments – Radius of Gyration
• Iz is the polar moment of inertia; Ix and Iy are
rectangular moments of inertia

• MoI about any axis is always positive (because of

square)
• MoI units is L4 (m4)
• Radius of Gyration: distance for which MoI of area
will be the same if area is concentrated at this
distance:
 Area Moments – Parallel Axis Theorem

• RoG is a measure of distribution of area from the

axis in question
• Transfer of (Parallel) Axes Theorem:
 Parallel Axis Theorem (cont’d)
• Parallel Axes (Steiner’s) Theorem (cont’d): axes
must be parallel; one of the axes must pass thru the
centroid
• Holds for RoGs:
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
 Example 5 – Parallel Axis Theorem

• Solution:
Example 6
 Area Moments for Composite Bodies
• For areas composed of distinct parts of simple and
geometrical shapes:
• Scheme:
 Example 7 - Composite Bodies

• Solution:
Rectangle (1):

Negative quarter-circular area (2):

 Example 7 - Composite Bodies (cont’d)
Negative triangular area (3):
 Products of Inertia & Rotation of Axes
• For unsymmetrical cross sections, calcs for MoI
about rotated axes:

• Ixy is the product of inertia. Can be

+ve, -ve or 0! PoI is zero whenever
either of the reference axes is an
axis of symmetry
 Products of Inertia & Rotation of Axes
• Transfer of axes:
 Products of Inertia & Rotation of Axes
• Rotation of axes:
PoI useful for inclined axes! We must determine the
axes about which the MoI is maximum and
minimum
Products of Inertia & Rotation of Axes
 Products of Inertia & Rotation of Axes
• Eqn gives 2 values for 2α which differ by π,
consequently the 2 solutions differ by π

• PoI’s are zero for the principal axes:

 Products of Inertia & Rotation of Axes
• Mohr’s Circle of Inertia: for given values of Ix, Iy and
Ixy, the corresponding rotated values may be
determined for any desired angle θ. Horiz./vertical
axis measured moments/products of inertia resp.
Example 8
Example 9
Example 10
Example 10 (cont’d)