Aerospace Structures and Design

Slope and deflection of beams

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Recap
Tresca

| 2 ||,
2
, ||
2 |
𝜎 1 − 𝜎 2 𝜎 2 −𝜎 3 𝜎 3 −𝜎 1 𝜎 𝑦𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑
=
2

Von Mises
Remember: the assumptions made to define these
criteria (along with the stochastic behaviour of
materials) mean that they are approximate – they
will give us a good idea of when failure will occur
but not a definitive answer.

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 A B C w D

Remember beams? M

𝑹 𝑨AB BC CD 𝑹𝑫
𝑽

Load •

𝒙
𝑽 =− ∫ 𝒘𝒅𝒙 Shear
𝒙𝟎 •

𝒙
𝑴 =∫ 𝑽 𝒅𝒙 Moment
𝒙𝟎
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Beams
We’ll need to be able to
calculate the bending
moment in a beam

You might want to use partial

FBDs to do that

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Slope and deflection

 We often want to calculate deformation of structures

 We’re going to establish a method for calculating the
deflection of a beam

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Graphical determination
We’re going to derive the expressions graphically
and then look at solutions

My notes on Bb may complement this but you might

want to add your own prose as I’m talking over the
graphics

We’ll do some examples at the end.

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 and

A C

𝑹𝑨 𝑹𝑪

An initially straight
beam

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 A B C

𝑹𝑨 𝑹𝑪

Curves under
application of a load

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 A B C

𝑹𝑨 𝑹𝑪

Curves under
application of a load

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 A B C

𝑹𝑨 𝑹𝑪

Curves under
application of a load

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 𝐴

𝑅𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠=𝑅
𝑅

𝑥
𝑣
𝐵

Lets look at the shape

of the curve

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 𝐴

𝜃
𝜃
𝑥
𝑣
𝐵 The angle subtended
by the tangent at the
intercept of the radius
at point is also

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 𝐴

𝜃
𝜃
𝑥
𝑣
𝐵 The angle subtended
by the tangent at the
intercept of the radius
at point is also

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 𝐴

𝜃
𝜃
𝑥
𝑑𝑠 𝑣
𝐵 𝐶

If we move around the

curve a small distance,

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 𝐴

𝜃
𝜃 d𝜃
𝑥
𝑑𝑠 𝑣
𝐵 𝐶

We can describe this

with a new radius
rotated through angle
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 𝐴

𝜃
𝜃 −d 𝜃 𝜃 d𝜃
𝑥
𝑑𝑠 𝑣
𝐵 𝐶

This radius has an

associated tangent
which subtends an
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 𝐴

𝜃
𝜃 −d 𝜃 𝜃 d𝜃
𝑥
𝑑𝑠 𝑣
From the geometry
𝐵 𝐶 we can see that:

And therefore:

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 𝐴

𝜃
𝜃 −d 𝜃 𝜃 d𝜃
𝑥
𝑑𝑠 𝑣
𝐵 𝐶

Let’s consider the

triangle with as it's
hypotenuse
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 Clearly

𝑑𝑥
𝜃 𝑑𝑣
When is small,

so
𝑑𝑠 And

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 𝑑𝑥 Also

𝜃 𝑑𝑣 When is small,
𝑑𝑠 so

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 𝐸 𝑀 𝜎
= =
𝑅 𝐼 𝑦

So for small changes in and therefore small changes in deflection:

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The Important Bit
The slope of the beam is: The deflection of the beam
can be found:

or:

so:

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Do some examples...

See the videos on Bb for me solving beam problems.

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What happens if the loads are not
symmetrical?

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Singularity functions
 We need a means to switch
the loads on when they 12

occur 10
1
𝑦 = ⟨ 𝑥 − 10 ⟩
8

 These sound tricky, but 6

0
really they’re just brackets 𝑦 = 4 ⟨ 𝑥 −5 ⟩
4

that we treat in a special

way 2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

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Singularity functions
When we integrate them we treat
them as if they were just x 12

10
1
𝑦 = ⟨ 𝑥 − 10 ⟩
8

6
0
𝑦 = 4 ⟨ 𝑥 −5 ⟩
4

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

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Singularity functions in beams
We can use singularity functions to
develop a single moment equation
for a beam meaning we only have
to integrate once…

Taking moments about the point x x

and using singularity (Macauley) A B C D
brackets: 4kNm 5kN/m

𝑹𝑨 1m 1m 2m 𝑹𝑫

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Using Macauley brackets
A B C D
4kN 5kN/m

𝑹𝑨 1m 1m 2m 𝑹𝑫

Do this on the visualiser

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Discontinuous UDL’s
 Write out the moment equation
𝟏.𝟓𝒎 𝟕𝒎 𝟏.𝟓𝒎
x

 This implies that the UDL

x
continues to the end of the
beam

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Discontinuous UDL’s

 We need to switch the term off in our moment

equation:

Which physically implies another UDL.

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Application
1. Write out the moment
equation at a point just before
the last load on a beam
2. Use Macauley brackets for any
term that has the form
3. Integrate as before, but treat Examples…
Macauley brackets as if they
were just
4. Use boundary and continuity
conditions to solve constants
of integration
5. Substitute values of to get
deflections

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