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Method of sections 1/4

> Determine forces in the members by taking a section

> Advantage – force in almost any desired member can be
determined directly from an equil. analysis of the section
> Don’t section more than 3 members – we have 3 equil.
equations (symmetrical exceptions exist), unless enough
forces are eliminated!
> Moments widely used – choose moment centre which
eliminates many unknown forces
> Not-so-obvious forces can be arbitrarily assigned: a
positive answer confirms assignment (also true for
“method of joints” and mechanics in general!)

AMC511S – Engineering Mechanics 114 (Statics) | Andrew Zulu

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Method of sections - examples 2/4

Example 1: For the roof truss shown, determine

the forces in the members GH, BG and BC and
state whether they are in tension (T) or
Compression (C).
Solution:
From FBD,
.σ 𝑀𝐴 = 0 ⇒ 𝐸𝑦 4 − 2 1 − 1 2 − 3 3
.= 0 ⇒ 𝐸𝑦 = 3.25 𝑘𝑁| σ 𝐹𝑥 = 0 ⇒ 𝐴𝑥 = 0
.σ 𝐹𝑦 = 0 ⇒ 𝐴𝑦 − 2 − 1 − 3 + 3.25 = 0,
.𝐴𝑦 = 2.75 𝑘𝑁; ∠𝐺𝐻𝐹 =
1.5−1
. tan−1 ≈ 26.6°
1
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Method of sections – example 1 3/4

Solution (cont’d):
.σ 𝑀𝐵 = 0 ⇒ −𝐹𝐺𝐻 𝑐𝑜𝑠26.6° 1 + 𝐴𝑦 1 = 0 section HBC:
.⇒ 𝐹𝐺𝐻 ≈ 3.08 𝑘𝑁 (C)
. σ 𝑀𝐺 = 0 ⇒ −𝐹𝐵𝐶 1.5 − 2(1) + 𝐴𝑦 2 = 0
.⇒ 𝐹𝐵𝐶 ≈ 2.33 𝑘𝑁 (T)
1.5
. ∠𝐺𝐵𝐶 = tan−1 ≈ 56.3°
1
. σ 𝐹𝑥 = 0 ⇒ 𝐹𝐵𝐺 𝑐𝑜𝑠56.3° − 𝐹𝐺𝐻 𝑐𝑜𝑠26.6° + 𝐹𝐵𝐶 + 𝐴𝑥 = 0
.⇒ 𝐹𝐵𝐺 ≈ 0.764 𝑘𝑁 (𝑇).
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Method of sections – example 2 4/4

Example 2: Calculate the force in member GC of

The plane truss of Example 1.
Solution:
A second section is required through GC in
addition to the section taken in Example 1.
.σ 𝑀𝐺 = 0 ⇒ 𝐴𝑦 2 − 2 1 + 𝐹𝐶𝐷 (1.5) = 0
. ⇒ 𝐹𝐶𝐷 = −2.33 𝑘𝑁 = 2.33 𝑘𝑁 (𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡).
.σ 𝐹𝑦 = 0 ⇒ 𝐹𝐶𝐺 − 𝐹𝐵𝐺 cos(90 − 56.3)° +
. 𝐹𝐺𝐻 𝑠𝑖𝑛 26.6 ° − 1 − 2 + 𝐴𝑦 = 0
. ⇒ 𝐹𝐶𝐺 = 1 𝑘𝑁. (This value could also have
been obtained by inspection at joint C).