Centroid of Area and Moment of Inertia Calculation

McMaster Faculty of Engineering
Hamilton Ontario Canada

Materials 2H04 Measurement and Communications
2005-2006 Calculation Assignment(draft)

Centroid of Area and Moment of Inertia Calculation

The ability to calculate the moment of inertia (second moment) of a given cross section
is important for beam analysis and design. The moment of inertia of a complex
geometric object can be calculated by first dividing the larger region up into smaller,
simpler objects. The effect of each of the smaller objects on the overall moment of inertia
can than be summed together.

In order to calculate the moment of inertia of an object, the location of the centroid
(centre of mass) must be known. The centroid can be thought of as the location on an
object that experiences only translation and no rotation when a force is applied to the
object. For a sample of uniform density, the centroid of an object is independent of the
density, and only the distribution of area need be known.
Centroid of Area

The centroid of area for a symmetrical object such as a square or circle is located at the
centre of the object, however this is not necessarily the case for more complex objects.
For a complex object the overall centroid is calculated by breaking it into smaller objects
using a weighted average (by area) as shown in Equation 1.

In the equation y
i
and x
i
form an ordered pair that represents the location of the centre
of mass for the smaller objects. A
i
is the area of the smaller object and A
T
is the total
area of the cross section. The products y
i
A
i
and x
i
A
i
are commonly termed the first
moments of area relative to the x axis and y axis.

T
i
i
i
A
A x
X
=
T
i
i
i
A
A y
Y
= (1)

Example
1

Calculate the centroid of area for the object shown in Figure 1

Step 1 Chose a frame of reference and a point of origin.

1
The example is adopted from: Beer et al. Mechanics of Materials 3
rd
ed. New York: McGraw Hill,
2004.
Materials 2H03 Measurement and Communications 2005-2006

x
y
Figure 1: T Shape (all dimensions in mm)

Step 2 Find the areas of the sub-regions

2
1
2400
60 40
mm
mm mm A
=
=
2
2
1600
80 20
mm
mm mm A
=
=

2
2 1
4000mm
A A A
T
=
+ =

Step 3 Find the first moment of area relative to the x axis

3 4
2
1 1 1 ,
10 20 . 7
2400 30
mm
mm mm
A y Q
x
=
=
=

3 5
2
2 2 2 ,
10 12 . 1
1600 70
mm
m mm
A y Q
x
=
=
=

3 5
2 , 1 , ,
10 84 . 1 mm
Q Q Q
x x T x
=
+ =

Step 4 Find the Y coordinate of the centroid
mm
mm
mm
A
Q
Y
T
T x
46
4000
10 84 . 1
2
3 5
,
=
=
=

Student Exercise Find the X coordinate for the centroid
Prepared by Chris Harris and Allison Eppel
10/5/2005 2

Calculating the Moment of Inertia

The moment of inertia depends on the dimensions and distribution of mass within an
object; it also depends on the objects orientation, therefore the moment of inertia about
the x axis is different than the moment of inertia about the y axis. For a complex object
the moment of inertia about the x axis can be calculated using Equation 2, due to the
parallel axis theorem. The parallel axis theorem compensates for each smaller objects
centroids distance from the actual centroid. The moment of inertia about the y axis can
be calculated in an identical fashion.

In Equation 2
1 , ' x
I is the moment of inertia of the smaller object about the x axis, located
at
i
y . The variable d is the distance between
i
y andY .
2
2 2 2 , '
2
1 1 1 , ' ,
d A I d A I I
x x T x
+ + + = (2)
Example Determine the moment of inertia for Figure 1 relative to the
x-axis

Step 1 Determine the moment of inertia for area 1

4 6
2 2 3
2
1 1 1
3
1 1
2
1 1 1 , ' 1 ,
10 33 . 1
) 46 30 ( 2400 ) 60 ( 40
12
1
) (
12
1
mm
mm mm mm mm mm
Y y h b h b
d A I I
x x
=
+ =
+ =
+ =

Step 2 Determine the moment of inertia for area 2

4 5
2 2 3
2
2 2 2
3
2 2
2
2 2 2 , ' 2 ,
10 75 . 9
) 46 70 ( 1600 ) 20 ( 80
12
1
) (
12
1
mm
mm mm mm mm mm
Y y h b h b
d A I I
x x
=
+ =
+ =
+ =

Step 3 - Find the total moment of inertia about the x axis

4 6
4 3 4 6
4 6
2 , 1 , ,
10 3 . 2
) / 10 0 . 1 ( 10 3 . 2
10 3 . 2
m
mm m mm
mm
I I I
x x T x
=
=
=
+ =

10/5/2005 3

Student Exercise Find the moment of inertia about the y axis

In Class Calculations

For the object assigned to you calculate the following:

1) The centroid
2) The moment of inertia about the x axis
3) The moment of inertia about the y axis

Ensure that all of your work is recorded in a legible and logical fashion.

Hint: Think about how you can use the location of the origin to simplify your calculations.

Figure 2: I Beam Figure 3: L Shape

x
y
Figure 4: C Shape
Note: all dimensions are in mm
10/5/2005 4

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How do you calculate the centroid of a complex object?

How do you calculate the moment of inertia of a complex object about an axis?

McMaster Faculty of Engineering

Hamilton Ontario Canada

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