CHAPTER 4

BENDING AND FLEXURAL SHEAR

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4.1 DERIVATION OF THE SIMPLE (BERNOULLI-
EULER) BEAM EQUATION
Consider a straight beam (bar) of a uniform
cross-section that is symmetrical with
respect to a vertical line. The coordinates are
set up such that the x-axis coincides with the
centroidal axis of the cross-sections along
the beam, and the z-axis coincides with the
vertical line of symmetry; see Fig. 4.1.The
resultant transverse load Pz(N/m) is applied
in the x-z plane İ.ÖZKOL 2
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Of interest are displacements in the x- and z-
directions, u and w, respectively. If the width of
the beam is small, then the state of stress due
to transverse loading can be approximated by
plane stress parallel to the x-z plane, and u and
w can be assumed to be functions of x and z
only. Expand u and w in power series of z as
(4.1)
(4.2)

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For slender beams, the depth is small
compared with the length. In other words, the
range of z is small, and the high-order terms in
z make insignificant contributions. Hence, as a
first-order approximation, we truncate the
series of ( 4.1) and (4.2) as
(4.3)
(4.4)

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İ.ÖZKOL 6
in which we use in place of . From (4.3), it is
obvious that represents the longitudinal
displacement at the centroidal axis, and
represents the rotation of the cross-section
after deformation; see Fig.4.2a. From (4.3), a
positive rotation is clockwise, which is opposite
to the slope of the beam deflection. Note that
u(x,z) is a linear function of z. This implies that
plane cross-sections remain plane after
deformation but may not be perpendicular to
the centroidal axis.
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The strain components corresponding to the approximate
displacements given by (4.3) and (4.4) are
(4.5)
(4.6)
Define the resultant axial force Nx and bending moment My as
(4.7)
(4.8)
in which the area integration is over the entire cross-section.
The definitions of Nx and My given by (4.7) and (4.8),
respectively, also determine the sign convention for Nx and My.
The positive directions of Nx and My are shown in Fig. 4.2b.

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For slender beams, the transverse shear strain is
small. In calculating the bending strain, we can
assume that =0 as an approximation. This leads
to, from (4.6),(in longitudinal direction-planes and in thickness axis)
(4.9)
The above relation implies that the plane
cross-section remains perpendicular to the
centroidal axis after deformation, and that the
amount of rotation of the cross-section is
equal to the slope of deflection. Using (4.9) and
(4.5), we obtain
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 (4.10)
Substitution of (4.10) into (4.7) and (4.8)
yields
(4.11)

(4.12)

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Since the origin of the coordinates coincides
with the centroid of the cross-section, we have

Thus, (4.11) and (4.12) reduce to

(4.13)
(4.14)
Where is the moment of inertia of the cross-
sectional area about the y-axis.

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If no axial force is applied, i.e., .
From (4.5), this means that along the x-axis
(or, more precisely, in the x-y plane).
Thus, the x-axis is the neutral axis and the x-y
plane is the neutral plane. After adopting the
approximation of (4.9), we note that , and, as a
result, the transverse shear stress cannot be
obtained from the shear strain (which is
approximated to be zero).
(4.15)
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The resultant transverse shear force should be
obtained from considering the equilibrium of a beam
element as shown in Fig. 4.3.

The force equilibrium in the z-direction gives

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Taking the limit , we have
(4.16)
The moment equilibrium yields

After taking (and thus Vz ), we obtain

(4.17)
It is evident that the transverse shear force can be
derived from the bending moment using (4.17).If the
beam is subjected to a pure constant moment, then

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This is satisfied by setting [see (4.15)].
Evidently, the assumption ) is exact in this case
when moment is constant along the beam.
Substituting (4.14) into (4.17) and then into
(4.16), we obtain
(4.18)
This is the Bernoulli-Euler beam (simple beam)
equation. In the absence of axial force, i.e., =0,
we have , from (4.13)

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and the bending strain reduces to
(4.19)
Using (4.14) and (4.19), we can write
and, consequently, (4.20)
(4.21)

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 4.2 BIDIRECTIONAL BENDING
For beams with arbitrarily shaped cross-sections, we set up
the coordinate system as shown in Fig. 4.4. Again, the x-axis
is chosen to coincide with the centroidal axis. The external
load is decomposed into Py and Pz in the y and z directions,
respectively.

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Under such bidirectional bending, the longitudinal
displacement is a function of x, y, and z. The
approximate displacement expansions similar to (4.3)
and (4.4) are given by
(4.22a)
(4.22b)
(4.22c)

where and are rotations of the cross-section

about the y-axis and z-axis, respectively. The
positive direction of is the right-hand rotation
about the positive y-axis, and is about the
negative z-axis. İ.ÖZKOL 18
The corresponding strains are
(4.23a)
(4.23b)
(4.23c)
Again, the simplifying assumption yields the relations

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which are substituted into (4.23a) to obtain
(4.24)
Using the argument that if , the bending
strain is reduced to
(4.25)
The bending moments about the y-axis and
z-axis, respectively, are defined as

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 (4.26)
(4.27)

Where
(4.28a)
moment of inertia about y-axis
(4.28b)
moment of inertia about z-axis
product moment of inertia (4.28c)
=

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From the definitions of (4.26) and (4.27), the sign
convention for and is determined as illustrated in Fig.
4.5. (forefinger in x, thumb in z, middle finger in y)

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Solving (4.26) and (4.27), we obtain

Using (4.25), we write the bending stress as

E
(4.29)
The location of the neutral axis (neutral plane) along
which can be found from (4.29), i.e.,

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Defining the neutral plane by angle as shown
in Fig. 4.6, we have
(4.30)
If the y-axis or z-axis is an axis of symmetry for
the cross-section, then and (4.29) reduces to
(4.31)

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Further, if Mz 0, the bending stress becomes
(4.32)
This is what was derived in Section 4.1 for
symmetric sections.
If and , then from (4.29) we have
(4.33)
Therefore, for beams with an arbitrary cross-section
under one-way bending, say My ≠0, Mz =0, the
simple beam bending stress formula (4.32) is not
valid, and (4.33) must be used.

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From the equilibrium considerations of a
differential beam element, it is easy to derive
the following relations for bidirectional
bending.
(4.34a)
(4.34b)
(4.34c)
(4.34d)

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Example 4.1 The cross-section of a single-cell box
beam with four stringers is shown in Fig. 4.7. The
contribution of the thin sheets to bending is
assumed to be negligible. Thus, only the areas of
the stringers are considered in the bending analysis.
The areas of the stringers are

First, the centroid of the effective cross-sectional

areas (i.e., those of the stringers) must be
determined. Denoting the coordinates of the
stringers by , with respect to the y-z system, we have
the coordinates of the centroid:
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Thus, the location of the centroid is (0.21,0.19)
in the y-z system.

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This cross-section consisting of four stringers is
not symmetric with respect to either the y or
the z axis. Hence, the general bending
equations must be used. The moments of
inertia of the effective cross-sectional area of
the box beam with respect to the coordinate
system y-z are calculated according to (4.28).
Denoting the coordinates of each stringer by
(, )with respect to the y-z system, we have

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=

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Consider the loading Mz=0 and My ≠ 0 . The
neutral plane is given by

which yields =7 measured clockwise from the y-

axis. The bending stresses in the stringers can
be calculated easily using (4.29).it must be
noticed that the position of the neutral axis is
indepented of values, this is not a realistic result
since there would be some large values of under
which structure completely crashes.

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4.3 TRANSVERSE SHEAR STRESS DUE TO TRANSVERSE
FORCE IN SYMMETRIC SECTIONS
In deriving the Bernoulli-Euler beam equation, the
transverse shear strain was neglected while the
transverse shear stress (and, thus, the transverse
shear force Vz ) was kept in the equilibrium equation.
Such contradictions are often found in simplified
structural theories.
The assumption = 0 is quite good for slender beams
(i.e., the depth is small compared with the span). In
fact, it is exact if the loading is a pure bending
moment. However, for short beams under transverse
loads, significant shear stress (strain) may result.
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The exact distribution of on the cross-
section of a beam subjected to transverse
forces is generally not easy to analyze. An
exception is the narrow rectangular section
as shown in Fig.4.8. If h»b, the plane stress
assumption adopted in the derivation of the
simple beam theory is valid. In other words,
can be assumed to be uniform across the
width of the section. Otherwise, is a
function of y, as depicted in Fig. 4.9.
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İ.ÖZKOL 36
4.3.1 Narrow Rectangular Cross-Section

Consider a beam with a narrow rectangular

cross-section as shown in Fig 4.8. The
resultant transverse shear force Vz is
Vz=

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İ.ÖZKOL 38
This definition alone is not sufficient to recover the
distribution of in the vertical (z) direction. We resort
to the equilibrium equation,
(equ.2.21) (4.35)
Substituting (4.21) into (4.35), we obtain
(4.36)
Using the relation
in (4.36) we have

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integrating the above equation from to z, we obtain
(4.37)
Since the shear stress vanishes at the top and bottom
faces, i.e.,
(4.37) reduces to
(4.38)
where c=. From (4.38), it is evident that has a parabolic
distribution over z, and the maximum value which occurs
at z=0 is

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 4.3.2 General Symmetric Sections

For uniform beams with general symmetric (with respect to

the z-axis) cross-sections, the simple beam results are valid,
i.e.,
(4.39)
(4.40)
(4.41)
However, the transverse shear stress distribution over the
cross-section is difficult to analyze. For symmetrical sections
under a transverse shear force Vz, the only thing we know is
that the distribution of is symmetrical with respect to the z-
axis.

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Since the variation of in the y-direction is
unknown, it is more convenient to consider the
transverse shear flow qz defined as
(4.42)
If is uniform across the width t, then
(4.43)
If is not uniform in the y-direction, the
average value is introduced as
(4.44)
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The transverse shear flow qz can be determined from
the equilibrium of a differential beam element as
shown in Fig. 4.10. In Fig. 4.10a, the side view of the
beam element of length dx is shown with the bending
stresses acting on the two neighboring cross-sections.
Consider the free body of the beam element above
the B-B plane (i.e., ZZ1 ) as shown in Fig. 4.10b.
The shear flow on the cross-section at Z=Z1 is equal
to the shear force acting on the bottom face of the
free body as depicted in Fig. 4.10a. For the free body
above Z=Z1, equilibrium equation is given by
(4.45)
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Dividing both sides of (4.45) by dx and taking the limit ,
we have
(4.46)
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By using (4.40) in (4.46) we obtain the transverse
shear flow as

(4.47)
Where
(4.48)
If the centroid of A1 is at Z=Zc , then Q can also be
expressed as
(4.49)

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 4.3.3 Wide-Flange Beam

Consider the wide-flange beam shown in Fig. 4.11a. The

transverse shear stress is usually represented by the average
value as shown in Fig. 4.11b. A jump in is noted at plane
CDEF due to the sudden change of width. If the transverse
shear flow is plotted as shown in Fig. 4.11 c, then no such
jump exists.

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In the free-hung portions of the wide flange (e.g., the
portions CD and EF),the actual transverse shear stress is
much smaller than the average value It is noted that must
vanish along AB, CD, and EF. If the thickness of the flange is
small, then cannot build up significantly except for the
portion connected to the vertical web. A more accurate
distribution of along C’D’E’F’ is depicted in Fig. 4.12.

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 4.3.4 Stiffener-Web Sections

From Fig. 4.11, it is seen that for wide-flange beams,

the transverse shear stress is small in the flange and
that the web carries the majority of the transverse
shear load. An approximate model for such a wide-
flange beam is obtained by lumping the total area of the
flange into a concentrated area as shown in Fig. 4.13.

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In addition, we may assume that the web does not
contribute to resisting bending. Thus, for the web
section we have Q1=A1C1 which remains unchanged
with location. As a result is constant along the web.
In aircraft structures, stringers are often used to
provide bending stiffness, and thin webs are used to
carry shear flows. To maximize the bending capacity
of the structure, we place stringers at the greatest
distance from the neutral axis. The thin web is
usually assumed ineffective in bending.
Consequently, the shear flow in the web between
two adjacent stringers is constant.
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Example 4.2 A uniform cantilever beam consisting
of two stringers and a thin web is loaded as shown
in Fig. 4.14.

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In this case, transverse shear flow q can be
found in two ways. First, we use the fact that
the resultant force of the shear flow should be
equal to the applied shear force Vz , i.e.,

The same result can be obtained using (4.47),

with

Thus, İ.ÖZKOL 51