Lecture 8

Determination of displacements
of statically indeterminate
structures

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1. Principle of virtual work
To calculate the displacement at j:
D j    N u dx    M udx    Vu dx   FRu c

ε, κ, γ – longitudinal strain, curvature and shear strain of

the original structure due to external forces (including
environmental factors).
Subscript ‘u’ represents the internal forces of a released
structure due to a unit virtual force applied at the
coordinate j where the displacement is required.
The integral can be obtained using diagram multiplication.

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1. The principle of virtual work is applicable to any
structure, whether determinate or indeterminate.
2. The internal forces in all parts of the structure must be
known due to: i) the actual loads, and ii) a unit virtual
force. The former requires the solution of the statically
indeterminate structure.
3. The original structure is equivalent to the released
structure that includes redundant forces. The displacement
of the original structure is thus identical to the released
counterpart. Consequently the virtual force can be applied
to the released structure that satisfies the requirement of
equilibrium.
4. The redundant forces can be chosen arbitrarily and the
displacement results should be the same.

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 2. Displacement due to external forces
Nu N MuM VuV
Dj    dx    dx    dx
EA EI GAr

Example 1: Find the vertical displacement at the mid-span due

to a uniform distributed load q. The flexural rigidity is EI.

Original structure Released structure

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Using the Force Method, we can calculate the two redundant
forces as (the process is omitted here)

ql 2
X1  X 2 
12
Final moment of the beam:

ql 2 ql 2
12 12

M ql 2
8
For calculating the displacement at mid-span C:
Solution 1: Applying a unit downward virtual force at C in
the original structure. Using the Force Method again, we are
able to calculate the two redundant forces as
X1  X 2  l 8
1 1
X1 X2

Original structure Released structure

l 8 l 8
l 8 l 8

l 8
Mu
l 4
 l 8 l 8

l 8

M Mu

Then the downward displacement of point C is

f 
MuM
dx  
 M u1  M u 2  M 1  M 2  dx
EI EI


1
EI
 M u1 M 1dx   M u1M 2 dx   M u 2 M 1dx   M u 2 M 2 dx 
1 l ql 2 2 l ql 2 1 l ql 2 1 ql 2 l  1 
 8  l     l     l      l  1  
EI  12 3 8 8 2 4 12 3 8 4  4 
ql 4

384 EI
Solution 2: Applying a unit downward virtual force at C in the
released structure (simply-supported beam).

M Mu
Then the downward displacement of point C is
MuM M M  M 2  M M M M
f  dx   u 1 dx   u 1 dx   u 2 dx
EI EI EI EI
1  1 l ql 2  1  1 ql 2 l  1  ql 4
    l       l  1    
EI  2 4 12  EI  3 8 4  4  384 EI

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Solution 3: If the cantilever is chosen as the released structure,
the final moment of the beam is the same as before, while
the moment due to the unit virtual force is different.

M Mu
The downward displacement of point C is the same as above:

MuM 1  1 ql 2 l l 1 ql 2 l l  ql 4
f  dx           
EI EI  2 12 2 2 4 8 2 2  384 EI

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Example 2: The frame shown in Figure has the same cross section. Support A
is fixed while B is pinned. Using the flexibility method (force method),
1) find the reactions at support B,
2) draw the bending moment of the frame, and
3) calculate the rotation at support B, EI = 2 ×107 N/m for both members.
The axial deformation and shear deformation can be ignored.

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1. Take two reactions at B (X1 and X2 ) as the redundant
forces, the corresponding released structure is
X2
X1

The compatibility condition is

∆1 = D1 + f11X1 + f12X2 = 0
∆2 = D2 + f21X1 + f22X2 = 0

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2. Calculate the displacement of the released
structure due to the external forces.

1
ql2/2 l
1

M0 Mu1 Mu2

M u1 M 0 1 1 1 2 ql 4 3240
D1    dl  (  ql  l  l )  
EI EI 2 2 4 EI EI
M u2M 0 1 1 2 1 1 2 5ql 4 8100
D2    dl  ( ql  l  l   ql  l  l )  
EI EI 2 4 2 8EI EI
3. Calculate the displacement due to the unit redundant forces.

l3 72 l3 108
f11   f12    f 21
3EI EI 2 EI EI
1  3 l 3  288
f 22   l   
EI  3  EI

4. The compatibility condition is

 72 108   3240 
 EI X  0  X 1  6.44kN
EI   1   EI    
       
108 
288  X   8100  0  X  25.71kN
  2      2
 EI EI   EI  

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5. The final BMD is

1
180 6
1

M0 Mu1 X1 Mu2 X2

25.8

M
12.9
 6. A unit virtual moment is applied at B, the BMD of the
released structure is 180

1 25.8

154.3

Mu 12.9
M

The rotation at B is

MuM 1 1 1 1 6 
B    dl   180  1  6   154. 3  1  6   ( 25 .8  12 .9 )
EI EI  3 2 2 

64.2  103
  3.21  103 rad
EI