ADDIS ABABA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

THEORY OF STRUCTURE I

CHAPTER Three: Influence Line for Statically

Determinate Structure
 CHAPTER THREE

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OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

 Introduction - What is an influence line?

 Influence lines for beams
 Qualitative influence lines - Muller-Breslau Principle
 Influence lines for floor girders
 Influence lines for trusses
 Maximum influence at a point due to a series of concentrated loads
 Absolute maximum shear and moment
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INTRODUCTION
 Influence lines have important application for the design of structures that resist large
live loads.
 An influence line is a graph of a response function of a structure as a function of the
position of a downward unit load moving across the structure.
 The influence lines for determinate structures, are not curved lines.
Qualitatively determine: how a structure should be loaded in order to obtain the
maximum or minimum value of the response function.
Quantitatively determine: the value of the corresponding function for any given
loading arrangement, from the ordinate of the influence diagram.

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 INTRODUCTION

 Influence lines describe the variation of an analysis variable (reaction, shear force, bending
moment, twisting moment, deflection, etc.) at a point (say at C in Figure)

 Why do we need the influence lines? For instance, when loads pass over a structure, say a bridge, one

needs to know when the maximum values of shear/reaction/bending-moment will occur at a point so
that the section may be designed.
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 INTRODUCTION CON…

Notations on Sign convention:

 Normal Forces - +ve forces cause +ve displacements in +ve directions
 Shear Forces - +ve shear forces cause clockwise rotation & - ve shear
force causes anti-clockwise rotation
 Bending Moments: +ve bending moments cause “cup holding water”
deformed shape.

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 INTRODUCTION CON…

Procedure:

(1) Allow a unit load (either N, kN, or tonne) to move over beam from left to right

(2) Find the values of shear force or bending moment, at the point under consideration, as the
unit load moves over the beam from left to right

(3) Plot the values of the shear force or bending moment, over the length of the beam, computed
for the point under consideration.

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 MOVING CONCENTRATED LOAD
 

Variation of Reactions RA and RB as functions of load position

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 MOVING CONCENTRATED LOAD
RA occurs only at A; RB occurs only at B

Influence line
for RA

Influence line
for RB
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VARIATION OF SHEAR FORCE AT C AS A FUNCTION OF LOAD POSITION

0 < x < 3 m (unit load to the left of C)

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VARIATION OF SHEAR FORCE AT C AS A FUNCTION OF LOAD

POSITION

 3 < x < 10 m (unit load to the right of C)

Shear force at C is +ve = 1-x/10

Influence line for shear at C

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 VARIATION OF BENDING MOMENT AT C AS A FUNCTION OF LOAD POSITION

 
 0 < x < 3.0 m ( Unit load to the left of C)

Bending moment is +ve at C

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VARIATION OF BENDING MOMENT AT C AS A FUNCTION OF LOAD POSITION

 3 < x < 10 ft (Unit load to the right of C)

Influence line for bending Moment at C

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QUALITATIVE INFLUENCED LINES - MULLER-BRESLAU’S PRINCIPLE

 The principle gives only a procedure to determine of the influence line of a

parameter for a determinate or an indeterminate structure.

 But using the basic understanding of the influence lines, the

magnitudes of the influence lines also can be computed
 In order to draw the shape of the influence lines properly, the capacity of the

beam to resist the parameter investigated

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QUALITATIVE INFLUENCED LINES - MULLER-BRESLAU’S PRINCIPLE

 The principle states that: The influence line for a parameter (say, reaction, shear or bending

moment), at a point, is to the same scale as the deflected shape of the beam, when the beam is acted
upon by that parameter.

 The capacity of the beam to resist that parameter, at that point, must be removed.

 Then allow the beam to deflect under that parameter Positive directions of the forces are the

same as before

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3.5 PROBLEMS - 3.5.1 INFLUENCE LINE FOR A DETERMINATE
BEAM BY MULLER-BRESLAU’S METHOD

 Influence line for Reaction at A

 Influence Line for Shear at C
 Influence Line for Bending Moment at C

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 INFLUENCE LINE FOR FLOOR GIRDERS
Floor systems are constructed as shown in figure below,

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 INFLUENCE LINE FOR FLOOR GIRDERS

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 INFLUENCE LINE FOR FLOOR GIRDERS

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 INFLUENCE LINE FOR FLOOR GIRDERS
 Loading on Slab/Floor/Deck -> Floor Beams -> Girders-> Support Columns
 A unit load on the floor slab is transferred to the girder only at points where it is in contact with the floor
beams, i.e., points A, B, C, and D.
 These points are called panel points, and the region between these points is called a panel, such as BC in
Figure below.

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INFLUENCE LINE FOR FLOOR GIRDERS

Force Equilibrium Method:

Draw the Influence Lines for: (a) Shear in panel CD of the girder; and (b) the moment at E.

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INFLUENCE LINES FOR TRUSSES

Draw the influence lines for: (a) Force in Member GF; and (b) Force in member FC of the truss shown below in Figure .

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INFLUENCE LINES FOR TRUSSES
 Determine Influence Lines for members ck and cj

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 MAXIMUM SHEAR FORCE AND BENDING MOMENT UNDER A SERIES OF CONCENTRATED LOADS

The centerline must divide the distance between the resultant of all the loads in the moving series of loads and the load considered under which maximum bending moment occurs.

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MAXIMA LOCATIONS FOR DIFFERENT LOADING TYPES
 Uniform load longer than the span of the structure for which the ordinates to IL
for that function have the same sign.
 Place load all over portions of the span where IL ordinates have the same value.
 Uniform Loading span less than the length of the beam
(i) Shear Forces
 Place loading head at point of interest and let it cover
 The left side for maximum negative shear
 The right side for maximum positive shear
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2.3. LIVE LOADS CON…
Uniform Loading span less than the length of the beam

Uniform Loading span less than the length of the beam

(ii) Bending Moments
load is placed in such a way that the section divides the
load in the same ratio as the section divides the span.

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ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM VALUES

 Location of a point where the maximum value for a certain function occurs
 The positioning of loads that can cause this effect

Cantilevers

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 Thank you for your attention!

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