NEGATIVE SHEAR L A G EXPLAINED

By Kenneth W. Shushkevvich,1 Member, ASCE

INTRODUCTION

Positive shear lag (Fig. 1) occurs when the bending stresses in the flanges
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of a box girder are not uniformly distributed as assumed by simple beam

theory. The stresses are higher near the webs and lower away from the
webs. Positive shear lag is a normal occurrence and forms the basis of the
effective width concept. Negative shear lag (Fig. 1) was first observed by
Foutch and Chang (1982) when they considered a cantilever beam subjected
to a uniform load (Fig. 2). Numerous investigators (Maisel 1986; Chan^
and Zheng 1987; Song and Scordelis 1990) have used a variety of mathe°
matical techniques to describe this phenomenon. The purpose of this tech-
nical note is to use the folded-plate method [as suggested by Kristek and
Studnicka (1988)]—to study the example of Foutch and Chang (1982)
and explain negative shear lag in nonmathematical terms.

EXAMPLE PROBLEM

A uniform load on a cantilever (or double cantilever) (Fig. 3) can be

broken down into a component due to the uniform load and a component
due to the concentrated reaction. The corresponding shear forces and bend-

Positive shear lag Negative shear lag

FIG. 1. Bending Stress Distribution Acting on Box-Girder Bridge

20 lb/in 10 lb/in .E 10 lb/in

OD
• • •• * 1

;
lOOtn

FIG. 2. Example Problem

'Struct. Engr., 4 Embarcadero Ctr., Suite 5024, San Francisco, CA 94111.
Note. Discussion open until April 1, 1992. To extend the closing date one month,
a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals. The manuscript
for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication on September 19,
1990. This paper is part of the Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 117, No. 11
November, 1991. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/91/0011-3543/$1.00 + $.15 per page
Paper No. 26401.

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J. Struct. Eng. 1991.117:3543-3546.

 Shear
force

Bending
moment
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FIG. 3. Decomposition of Uniformly Loaded Double Cantilever into Component

Form

• I I U 1 ) 13

pmni
FIG. 4. Stress in Top Flange (ksi) (Note: 1 ksi = 6.9 MPa)

ing moments for this decomposition are shown. The positive bending mo-
ment due to the uniform-load component combines with the negative bend-
ing moment due to the concentrated-reaction component to yield a negative
bending moment. Each bending moment produces bending stresses in the
flanges, which have associated levels of shear lag. It is thus possible that,
if the predominant concentrated-reaction component has less shear lag than
the less predominant uniform-load component, the net result will be negative
shear lag.
With this in mind, a folded-plate analysis was made of the two components
as well as their combination. Fig. 4 shows the stress in the top flange for
all three cases as a function of x over L. Note that although each component
produces positive shear lag, it is their combination that produces negative
shear lag. In all cases, the concentrated-reaction component dominates over
the uniform-load component. Positive shear lag occurs near the support,
since the shear lag effect of the concentrated reaction dominates. On the
other hand, negative shear lag occurs as the free edge is approached, since
the shear lag effect of the concentrated reaction dampens out.

CONCLUSIONS

The problem of negative shear lag in a cantilever beam subjected to a

uniform load has been explained. In essence, the problem is one of two
components, each of which is subjected to positive shear lag being combined
such that negative shear lag is produced. The key ingredient for negative
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J. Struct. Eng. 1991.117:3543-3546.

 shear lag is that the predominant component dampen faster than the less
predominant component. Although this note has been limited to one par-
ticular example, negative shear lag can occur whenever two or more com-
ponents have shear lag that dampens at varying rates.

APPENDIX. REFERENCES

Chang, S. T., and Zheng, F. Z. (1987). "Negative shear lag in cantilever box girder
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with constant depth." J. Struct. Engrg., ASCE, 113(1), 20-35.

Foutch, D. A., and Chang, P. C. (1982). "A shear lag anomaly." /. Struct. Engrg.,
ASCE, 108(7), 1653-1658.
Kristek, V., and Studnicka, J. (1988). Discussion of "Negative shear lag in cantilever
box girder with constant depth" by S. T. Chang and F. Z. Zheng. J. Struct. Engrg.,
ASCE, 114(9), 2168-2172.
Maisel, B. I. (1986). "Shear lag analysis of concrete box beams using small computer
capacity." Proc. 2nd Int. Conf. on Short and Medium Span Bridges. Canadian
Society of Civil Engineers, 125-137.
Song, Q., and Scordelis, A. C. (1990). "Shear lag analysis of T-, I-, and box beams."
J. Struct. Engrg., ASCE, 116(5), 1290-1305.

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J. Struct. Eng. 1991.117:3543-3546.