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4.37 A bridge is modeled by a rigid horizontal bar supported
by three elastic vertical columns as shown. A force d P
P = 40 kN applied to the rigid bar at a distance d from the
end of the bar represents a car on the bridge. The forces in B D F
columns F AB , F CD , and F GF can be determined from the LCD LGF
LAB
solution of the following system of three equations: C
G
F AB + F CD + F GF = – P , 10F AB + 28F CD + 40F GF = – d ⋅ P 10m A 18m 12m 10m
12F AB L AB – 30F CD L CD + 18F GF L GF = 0
Once the force in each of the column is known, its elongation δ can be determined with the formula
FL
δ = ------- , where E and A are the elastic modulus and the cross-sectional area of each of the columns.
EA
Write a MATLAB program in a script file that determines the forces in the three columns and their elonga-
tion for 0 ≤ d ≤ 50 m. The program displays the three forces as a function of d in one plot, and the elonga-
tion of the three columns as a function of d in a second plot (two plots on the same page). Also given:
E = 70 GPa, and A = 25 ⋅ 10 m2.
–4
L AB = 12 m, L CD = 8 m, L GF = 10 m,
Solution
The following program in a script file solves the problem.
clear, clc
P=40E3; A=25E-4; E=70E9; AE=A*E;
LAB=12; LCD=8; LEF=10;
a=[Link];
b=[ 1 1 1; 10 28 40; LAB*12 -LCD*30 LEF*18];
n=length(a);
for i=1:n
c=[-P; -P*a(i); 0];
Forces=(b\c)';
FAB(i)=Forces(1);
FCD(i)=Forces(2);
FEF(i)=Forces(3);
delAB(i)=FAB(i)*LAB/AE;
delCD(i)=FCD(i)*LCD/AE;
delEF(i)=FEF(i)*LEF/AE;
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for testing or instructional purposes only to students enrolled in courses for which the textbook
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copyright owner is unlawful.
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end
subplot(2,1,1)
plot(a,FAB,a,FCD,a,FEF)
legend('FAB','FCD','FEF')
xlabel('d (m)'), ylabel('force (N)')
subplot(2,1,2)
plot(a,delAB,a,delCD,a,delEF)
legend('delB','delCD','delEF')
xlabel('d (m)'), ylabel('Elongation (m)')
Excerpts from this work may be reproduced by instructors for distribution on a not-for-profit basis
for testing or instructional purposes only to students enrolled in courses for which the textbook
has been adopted. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted by
Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the
copyright owner is unlawful.
3
When the program is executed,
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the following plots are displayed in the Command Window.
x 10
3
FAB
2
FCD
1 FEF
0
force (N)
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
d (m)
-3
x 10
2
delB
1 delCD
delEF
0
Elongation (m)
-1
-2
-3
-4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
d (m)
Excerpts from this work may be reproduced by instructors for distribution on a not-for-profit basis
for testing or instructional purposes only to students enrolled in courses for which the textbook
has been adopted. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted by
Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the
copyright owner is unlawful.
