Strength of Mechanical Constructions

Curved bars
Paweł JASION, PhD. Eng.
e-mail: pawel.jasion@put.poznan.pl
www: pawel.jasion.pracownik.put.poznan.pl

Poznan University of Technology

Institute of Applied Mechanics
Division of Strength of Materials and Structures

Poznań, 2023 Strength of Mechanical Constructions 1/31

 Application of curved bars

Assumptions

in most structural elements the central line is straight

if the deviation from the straight line appears it is
negligibly small
there are structures for which the center line is curved

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 Application of curved bars

Assumptions
Curved bars are analysed with assumptions similar to these
for straight bars
all cross-sections have the axis of symmetry
all these axes lies in one plane
the axis of the bar lies in the same plane – it is a plane
curve
external forces are acting
in the same plane
deformation of the bar occurs
in the same plane

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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Contents

1 Application of curved bars

2 Deformation of curved bars

Internal forces

3 Stress in curved bars

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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Definition of internal forces

let’s cut the bar at A-A and remove left hand part
all the forces acting on the removed part will be
balanced out with the internal forces on the
cross-section
in curved bars there are three internal forces
P n n n
normal force – N = (F P1 , Ft2 , Ft3 ) t
transverse force – V = P(F1 , F2 , F3 )
bending moment – M = M0 (F1 , F2 , F3 )

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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Sign convention

The positive value of

normal force is a tensile force
transverse force is obtained by rotating positive normal
force about 90◦ in counter clockwise direction
bending moment try to decrease the curvature of the bar
This sign convention is valid for both left and right part of
the bar.

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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Curved bars
Example 1

Determine the internal forces in the curved bar loaded with

the force F. The radius of the center line is r.
The angle θ varies in the range (0, 32 π).

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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Curved bars
Example 1

since the goal is to determine the internal forces we will

apply the section method
it is convenient to made the section in the way to keep
the loaded part of the bar; by rejecting the part with the
support it is not necessary
to determine the reactions
let’s cut a part of the bar at point ’0’
with coordinate θ starting
from the point of load application
at the point of section we determine
two directions: normal to the
cross-section n and a tangent one t
the same directions must be drawn
at the point of force application
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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Curved bars
Example 1

at the point of section (point ’0’)

we introduce internal forces
according to sign convention
assumed before
next we resolve the force F into two
components according to n and t
formulae for particular forces
will be obtained from equilibrium equations
P
Fn = 0 → N − Fn = 0 → N = F sin θ
P
Ft = 0 → V − Ft = 0 → V = F cos θ
P
M0 = 0 → M − Fr sin θ = 0 → M = Fr sin θ

Poznań, 2023 Strength of Mechanical Constructions 9/31

 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Curved bars
Example 1

based on the obtained equations the plots of internal

forces N, V, M can be prepared
it is seen that the forces varies according to the
trigonometric functions
it is convenient to determine
the characteristic points
zero places for the forces
maximum and minimum
of the forces

for readability each plot should

be made on a separate draw

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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Curved bars
Example 2

A curved bar in the form of a quarter of a circle is fixed at

one end (point A) and roller supported at the other end
(point B). The load is applied at point B in the form of a
point bending moment M.
draw the plots of internal forces
determine the angle of rotation of point B
determine the horizontal displacement
of point B

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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Curved bars
Example 2

the task is statically indeterminate; there are four

reactions
thus, to solve it the redundant reaction has to be
determined first
it can be easily made using Castigliano-Menabrea
theorem; in this case we have
M(θ) ∂M(θ)
Z
∂U
vB = = ds = 0
∂RB EI ∂RB
l
since the bar is bent its elementary length
is given by the arc ds
thus, it should be written, that ds = rdθ,
and the integration limits should be changed to
0 ≤ θ ≤ π/2

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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Curved bars
Example 2

now the internal moment M(θ) must be defined from the

equilibrium equation
since the energy of elastic deformation generated by the
normal and share force is much smaller than that
generated by the moment it is usually neglected
according to the drawing the equation of moments with
respect to the point of section has the shape
P
M0 = 0 → M(θ) − M − RB r sin θ = 0

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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Curved bars
Example 2

the equation of internal force and its derivative have the

form
∂M(θ)
M(θ) = M + RB r sin θ and = r sin θ
∂RB
substituting the above to the theorem we have

Zπ/2
1
vB = (M + RB r sin θ)(r sin θ)rdθ = 0
EI
0

4M
and the reaction equals RB = −
πr

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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Curved bars
Example 2

if the reaction RB is known other reactions as well as

the internal forces in the bar can be determined
4M
N(θ) = − sin θ
πr
4M
V(θ) = − cos θ
πr
4
M(θ) = M(1 − sin θ)
π
the plots of forces can be prepared based on the above
relations

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 Deformation of curved bars Internal forces

Curved bars
Example 2

to determine the angle of rotation of the bar at point B it

is necessary to use the Castigliano theorem
∂U
θB =
∂M
to determine the horizontal displacement of point B
a fictitious force F0 must be introduced,
as shown on the drawing
and the below equation
must be solved
∂U
uB =
∂F0

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 Stress in curved bars

Determining stresses in curved bars

Equations of equilibrium

All three internal forces produce stresses which are

N
normal stress due to tensile force: σN =
A
VS(y)
shear stress due to transverse force: τ =
Ib
normal stress due to bending moment: σM =?

To determine the last component the equilibrium of the cut

element of the bar should be considered.

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 Stress in curved bars

Determining stresses in curved bars

Analysis of deformation

To define the stress distribution on the cross-section of the

curved bar the deformation of the element of the bar should
be considered. It is assumed that
plane cross-section of the bar before deformation remain
plain and perpendicular to the neutral axis after
deformation
the cross-section rotates about neutral axis
elongation and shortening of the fibres as well as the
stress are constant along the lines equally spaced from
neutral axis

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 Stress in curved bars

Stresses in curved bars

normal stress in curved bars are the sum of stress from

the normal force N and from the bending moment M

N My
σ= +
A Sρ
where:
A – area of the cross-section
S – first moment with respect to the neutral line
y – distance between the fibre and the neutral axis
ρ – radius of curvature of the fibre distanced about y
from the neutral axis
it should be remembered that both component may be
positive or negative; it should be determined by
inspection

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 Stress in curved bars

Stresses in curved bars

in practice the stresses are determined in the outside

fibres, for which the radius is the biggest and in the
inside fibres where the radius is the smallest
knowing the position of neutral axis at which the stress
equals zero it is possible to plot the stress distribution
on the cross-section of the bar; the plot has hyperbolic
shape

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 Stress in curved bars

Stresses in curved bars

The stress distribution in a curved bar should be determined
following the scheme below
for selected cross-section determine the internal forces
N and M using section method
calculate the maximum and minimum radius
determine the position of the neutral axis
determine the distance of the extreme fibres from the
neutral axis
calculate the first moment
calculate the stress from the bending moment
calculate the stress from the normal force
calculate the stress in extreme fibres summing up the
component and having in mind the sign of stresses

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 Stress in curved bars

Stress in curved bars

Example 3 [Belyaev, 1979]

Determine the stress distribution in the section AB of the

curved bar. Assume the following parameters
F = 8 kN
R0 = 80 mm
h = 80 mm
b = 30 mm
l = 250 mm

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 Stress in curved bars

Stress in curved bars

Example 3

let’s draw the plot which

will help to solve the task
with point ’0’ mark
the neutral axis
from the simplified scheme
we have
N = 8kN and M = 2 kNm
the radii are
R1 = 120 mm and R2 = 40 mm

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 Stress in curved bars

Stress in curved bars

Example 3

to determine the position of the neutral axis y0 it

necessary to determine their radius first
A
r= R dA
= 72, 8 mm
ρ
A
thus, we have
y0 = R0 − r = 7, 18 mm
the distance of extreme fibres
y1 = h/2 + y0 = 47, 18 mm
y2 = h/2 − y0 = 32, 82 mm
first moment
S = Ay0 = 17232 mm3

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 Stress in curved bars

Stress in curved bars

Example 3

now we can start with determining the stresses from the

bending moment

M y1
σ1b = = −42, 63 MPa
S R1
M y2
σ2b = = 95, 23 MPa
S R2
σ1b are negative since the coordinate y0 is negative; it is also
obvious from the scheme of task
stresses from the normal force
N
σN = = 3, 33 MPa
A

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 Stress in curved bars

Stress in curved bars

Example 3

the final solution can be obtained

by summing up both components
σ1 = σN − σ1b = −39, 3 MPa
σ2 = σN + σ2b = 98, 56 MPa
based on the obtained values and
knowing the position of the neutral
axis in which stress equals zero it is
possible to prepare the plot of stress
for comparison reason it is valuable
to show the stress assuming
that the beam is straight
My
σb = = 62, 5 MPa
Iz
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 Stress in curved bars

Stress in curved bars

Example 3 – FEM solution

the solution of the same task obtained with the use of

finite element method provides very similar results

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 Stress in curved bars

Stress in curved bars

from the solution presented above it is seen that the

stress distribution determined from the formula for
curved bars differs from the one for a straight bar
stresses in the fibres for the smallest radius are bigger
and for the biggest radius are smaller than these for a
straight bar
the discrepancy is the higher the higher will be the shift
of the neutral axis

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 Stress in curved bars

Stress distribution in curved bars

Influence of the ratio R0 /h

moreover the height of the profile also matters

below the influence of the ration of the mean radius and
the height of the profile can be seen
on the vertical axis the ratio of the stress at the smallest
radius and the stress for a straight bar is provided
based on the plot below bar can be classified as
highly curved
for R0 /h < 5
slightly curved
for R0 /h > 5

Poznań, 2023 Strength of Mechanical Constructions 29/31

 Stress in curved bars

Stress distribution in curved bars

Design hints

the phenomenon of stress concentration

in curved bars has a local character
moving down into the material the value
of stress decrease rapidly
it means that when a cured bar is made of a plastic
material and loaded statically the stress concentration
may be often left; the material will plasticise at the
point of stress concentration and the rest of the material
will remain elastic

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 Stress in curved bars

Stress distribution in curved bars

Design hints

a wrong decision is to add a knee at the point of stress

concentration as shown in the figure
the knee is usually made from a thin sheet metal in
which the stresses are even higher than in the initial
solution

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