UNSYMMETRIC BENDING

1. Combined bending and direct stresses

Consider the case of a column subjected by a compressive load P whose line of action is at a
distance of e from the axis of the column. Here e is known as eccentricity of the load. The
eccentric load will cause direct stress and bending stress.

In fig. (b), we have applied along the axis of the column, two equal and opposite forces P. Thus
these forces are acting now on the column. One of the forces is shown in fig. (c) and the other
two forces in (d).

P in fig. (c) is acting along the axis of column and hence it produces a direct stress

The forces in (d) will form a couple whose moment will be equal to P x e. this couple will
produce a bending stress.

By adding these two stresses algebraically, a single resultant stress can be obtained.

1. Resultant stress when a column of rectangular section is subjected to eccentric load.

Let the load is eccentric with respect to the axis y – y
Let P – Eccentric load on column

e – Eccentricity of the load

σo – Direct stress

σb – Bending stress

b – Width of column

d – Depth of column

A – Area of column

Now moment due to eccentric load P = P x e

P
The direct stress  0  (1) and it is uniform along the cross – section
A

The bending stress σ0 due to moment at any point of the column section at a distance y from the
neutral axis y – y is given by

M b M
 then b    y (2)
I y I

db 3
Where I - moment of inertia of the column section about the neutral axis y – y 
12

Substituting the value of I in equation (2), we get

M 12M
b   3
y y
db db 3
12

The bending stress depends upon the value of y from the axis y – y

b
The bending stress at the extreme is obtained by substituting y 
2

12M b 6M 6P  e 6P  e 6 Pe
b     2   
db 3
2 db db 2
d bb Ab

The resultant stress at any point will be the algebraic sum of direct stress and bending stress.

If y is taken positive on the same side of y –y as the load, then bending stress will be of the same
type as the direct stress. Here direct stress is compressive and hence bending stress will also be
compressive towards the right of the axis y – y. Similarly bending stress will be tensile towards
the left of the axis y – y. Taking compressive stress as positive and tensile stress as negative we
can find the maximum and minimum stress at the extremities of the section. The stress will be
maximum along layer BC and minimum along layer AD.

Let σmax = Maximum stress (along BC)

σmin = Minimum stress (along AD)

Then σmax = Direct stress + Bending stress

 max   0   b

P 6 Pe
 max  
A Ab

P  6e 
 max  1   (1)
A b 

And σmin = Direct stress - Bending stress

 min   0   b

P 6 Pe
 min  
A Ab

P  6e 
 min  1   (2)
A b 

If in equation (2) σmin is negative, then the stress along the layer AD will be tensile. If σ min is zero
then there will be no tensile stress along the width of the column. If σ min is positive then there
will be only compressive stress along width of the column.

2. Resultant stress when a column of rectangular section is subjected to a load which is

eccentric to both axes.
A column of rectangular section ABCD
Let P – Eccentric load on column

ex – Eccentricity of load about X – X axis

ey – Eccentricity of load about Y – Y axis

b – Width

d – Depth

σ0 – Direct stress

σbx – Bending stress due to eccentricity ex

σby - Bending stress due to eccentricity e y

Mx - Moment of load about X-X axis = P x ex

My - Moment of load about Y-Y axis = P x ey

bd 3
Ixx = M . o . I about X –X 
12

db 3
Iyy = M . o . I about Y - Y 
12

Now the eccentric load is equivalent to a central load P, together with a bending moment P x e y
about Y-Y and a bending moment P x ex about X – X.

P
a. The direct stress 0 
A
b. The bending stress due to eccentricity e y
M y  x P  ey  x b b
 by   here x varies from  to 
I yy I yy 2 2
c. The bending stress due to eccentricity e x

M x  y P  ex  y d d
 bx   here y varies from  to 
I xx I yxx 2 2
The resultant stress at any point of section

 R   0   by   bx

P My x Mx  y
R   
A I yy I xx
  At the point C, the coordinates x and y are positive, σ R is maximum
 At the point A, x ˂ 0, y ˂ 0, σR is minimum
P My x Mx  y
 At the point B, x ˃ 0, y ˂ 0,  R   
A I yy I xx
P My x Mx  y
 At the point C, x ˂ 0, y ˃ 0,  R   
A I yy I xx
When developing the flexure formula we imposed a condition that the cross sectional area be
symmetric about an axis perpendicular to the neutral axis; furthermore, the resultant internal
moment M acts along the Neutral axis.

UNSYMMETRIC BENDING (CONT’)

Our analysis of pure bending has been limited so far to members possessing at least one plane of
symmetry and subjected to couples acting in that plane. Because of the symmetry of such
members and their loadings, we concluded that the members would remain symmetric with
respect to the plane of the couples and thus bend in that plane.

This is illustrated in the following figures where the cross section of a member possessing two
planes of symmetry, one vertical and one horizontal (fig.a) and where the cross section of a
member is with a single , vertical plane of symmetry (fig.b)

Fig.a Fig. b
In both cases the couple exerted on the section acts in the vertical plane of symmetry of the
member and is represented by the horizontal couple M, and in both cases the neutral axis of the
cross section is found to coincide with the axis of the couple.

We shall now consider situations where the bending couples do not act in a plane of symmetry of
the member, either because they act in a different plane, or because the member does not possess
any plane of symmetry. In such situations, we cannot assume that the member will bend in the
plane of the couples.

In each part of the figure, the couple exerted on the section has again assumed to act in a vertical
plane and has been represented by a horizontal couple vector M. However, since the vertical
plane is not a plane of symmetry, we cannot expect the member to bend in that plane, or the
neutral axis of the section to coincide with the axis of the couple.

We propose to determine the precise conditions under which the neutral axis of a cross section of
arbitrary shape coincides with the axis of the couple M representing the forces acting on that
section. Such a section is shown in the following figure, and both the couple vector M and
neutral axis is assumed to be directed along the z – axis. If we express that the elementary
internal forces  x dA form a system equivalent to the couple M, we obtain

a) b)
x components:  x dA  0

moments about y axis:  z x dA  0

moments about z axis:   y x dA  M

We note that the cross section shown in Fig a and Fig.b are symmetric with respect to at least one
of the coordinate axes. It follows that, in each case, the y and z axes are principal centroidal
axesof the section. Since the couple vector M is directed along one of the principal centroidal
axes, we verify that the neutral axis will coincide with the axis of the couple. We also note that,
if the cross sections are rotated through 90°, the couple vector M will still be directed along a
principal centroidal axis, and the neutral axis will again coincide with the axis of the couple(a) ,
even though in case where the couple does not act in a plane of symmetry of the member (b).

The principle of superposition may be used to determine stresses in the most general case of
unsymmetric bending. Consider first a member with a vertical plane of symmetry, which is
subjected to bending couples M and M’ acting in a plane forming an angle θ with the vertical
plane.

Fig c
The couple vector M representing the forces acting on a given cross section will form the same
angle θ with the horizontal z axis ( Fig. c)

Resolving the vector M into component vectors Mz and My along the z and y axes, respectively,
we write

M z  M cos M y  M sin  (A)

Since the y and z axes are the principal centroidal axes of the cross section, we may write
My
equation  x   to determine the stresses resulting from the application of either of the
I
couples represented by Mz and My. The couple Mz acts in a vertical plane and bends the member
in that plane . We verify that the stress is compressive (σx < 0) above the neutral axis (y > 0)
when the bending moment M is positive, and tensile (σx > 0) when M is negative.

Mzy
The resulting stresses are x   (a)
Iz

Where Iz is the moment of inertia of the section about the principal centroidal z axis. The
negative sign is due to the fact that we have compression above xz plane (y>0) and tension
below (y<0). On the other hand, the couple My acts in a horizontal plane and bends the member
in that plane.
 M yz
The resulting stresses are found to be x   (b)
Iy

Where Iy is the moment of inertia of the section about the principal centroidal y axis, and where
the positive sign is due to the fact that we have tension to the left of the vertical xy plane (z>0)
and compression to its right (z<0). The distribution of the stresses caused by the original couple
M is obtained by superposing the stress distribution defined by equations (a) and (b),
respectively. We have

Mz y M yz
x    (c)
Iz Iy

Equation (c) shows that the distribution of stresses caused by unsymmetric bending is linear.
However in this section, the neutral axis of the cross section will not, in general, coincide with
the axis of the bending couple. Since the normal stress is zero at any point of the neutral axis, the
equation defining that axis may be obtained by setting  x  0 in equation (c).

Mz y M yz
We write   0
Iz Iy

Or solving for y and substituting for Mz and My from equations (A)

I 
y   z tan   z (d)
I 
 y 

I 
The equation obtained is that of a straight line of slope m   z  tan  .Thus, the angle α that the
I 
 y 
I
neutral axis forms with the z axis is defined by the relation tan   z tan 
Iy
Where θ is the angle that the couple vector M forms with the same axis. Since I z and Iy are both
positive, α and θ have the same sign. Furthermore, we note that α > θ when I z > Iy, and α < θ
when Iz < Iy.It follows that the neutral axis is always located between the couple vector M and
the principal axis corresponding to the minimum moment of inertia.