Mechanics

Module VII: Analysis of Beams

Lesson 38: Shear Stress in Beams

Figure 1:

In most practical situations, a beam is subjected to both bending moment

and shear force. A variation in the bending moment distribution results in

shear force (since V = −dM/dx) at a cross-section. The bending moment

manifests as a longitudinal normal stress distribution over the cross-section

of the beam. On the other hand, the shear force is expected to induce a shear

stress distribution which is to be determined. The effect of shear (between

the pages) is clearly observed when a thick soft-cover book is bent, as shown

in Fig. 1. It is observed that the right edge of the bent book is no longer

perpendicular to the axis of the book (as required by the Euler-Bernoulli

hypothesis). This is due to the fact that the pages towards the top (bottom)

are not getting compressed (elongated) due to slip between the pages. In

an actual beam, this slip is (almost) absent (largely enforcing the Euler-
 Figure 2:

Figure 3:

Bernoulli kinematics) due to intermolecular forces between the layers/fibres,

which manifests macroscopically as shear stress. Consider a small element

of a beam under load, as shown in Fig. 2. The internal stresses comprise of

the flexural and shear stresses. An average shear stress may be estimated

as τavg = V /A, where A is the area of the cross-section. However, the shear

stress cannot be uniform over the cross-section, since it must be zero at the

top and bottom fibres.

To determine the actual shear stress distribution τ , we first consider the

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flexural stress distribution, as shown in Fig. 3 (Note that in Fig. 3(a), the

shear stress on the cross-sectional face is not shown). The equilibrium equa-

tion in the horizontal direction reads

Z Z
τ ∆xt + σ(x)dA − σ(x + ∆x)dA = 0
à Ã

where t is the thickness of the connection between bodies I and II in Fig. 3,

and à is the area of cross-section of body I. Using the flexure formula and

taking the limit ∆x → 0, we have

 Z
M(x + ∆x) − M(x)
τ t = − lim ydA
∆x−→0 I∆x Ã
 
dM Q̃ V Q̃
⇒ τ= − =
dA It It
where Q̃ is the first moment of the (shearing) area à about the neutral axis.

This is the expression of shear stress between two fibres. A quantity q = τ t

can be defined, which is known as the shear flow. It quantifies the inter-layer

shear resisted by the inter-layer forces per unit length of the beam. Moment

equilibrium of the infinitesimal element shown in Fig. 3(b) requires the same

shear stress on the cross-sectional face as indicated. The net transverse force

due to this shear stress will add up to the shear force V , as calculated in the

following.

Let us consider a beam with rectangular cross-section as shown in Fig. 4.

The shear stress at a height y above the neutral axis is obtained as

V b h2 − y 12 h2 + y



6V 1 y 2
 
τ (y) = bh3
= − 2
A 4 h


12 b

3
 Figure 4:

3V
It is to be noted that the maximum shear stress τmax = 2A
occurs at the

neutral axis and τ = 0 at y = ±h/2. The net transverse force (shear force)

is obtained as
h/2
1 y2
 
6V
Z Z
τ dA = − bdy = V.
A −h/2 A 4 h2

Figure 5:

Problem 1

A beam of rectangular cross-section is made by gluing two identical planks,

as shown in Fig. 5. If the mass per unit length of the beam is 36 kg/m, and

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 Figure 6:

the shear strength of the glue is 0.1 MPa, determine the maximum length of

the beam under simple support conditions.

Solution

Here, the glued joint forms the neutral plane of the beam. The SFD of

the beam is shown in Fig. 6. It is observed that the maximum shear force

Vmax = 18gL. Therefore, the maximum shear stress (rectangular section) at

the neutral axis

3Vmax 27gL
τmax = = ≤ 0.1 × 106 Pa
2A (0.3)(0.24)

⇒ L ≤ 27.2 m.

5
 Figure 7:

Problem 2

A box beam is made by uniformly nailing four planks of wood, and loaded

as shown in Fig. 7. Determine the maximum spacing dmax between the nails

if each nail can bear a maximum shear force of 300 N.

Solution

Since the cross-section of the beam has a horizontal plane of symmetry, it

forms the neutral plane. The second moment of area about the neutral axis

is obtained as

1 1
I= (10)(10)3 − (7.6)(7.6)3 cm4 ⇒ I = 5.55 × 10−6 m4.
12 12

The SFD of the beam is shown in Fig. 8. The maximum magnitude of the

shearing force Vmax = 800 N. The shearing area, shown in Fig. 9 is obtained

as à = 7.6 × 1.2 cm2 = 9.12 × 10−4 m2. The first moment of à about the

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Figure 8:

Figure 9:

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neutral axis (see Fig. 9)

Q̃ = ÃyA = 9.12 × 10−4(0.044) m3 = 40.13 × 10−6 m3

where yA is the centroidal distance of the area à from the neutral axis. Shear

flow at the connection is then obtained as

V Q̃
q= = 5.78 kN/m.
I

If d is the inter-nail distance, the maximum shear flow (shear force resisted

by the nails per unit length of the beam) qmax = 300/d N/m. Since q =

5.78 kN/m≤max, we have d ≤ 0.052 m.