A bending moment is the reaction induced in a structural element when an

external force or moment is applied to the element causing the element to bend.[1][2] The most
common or simplest structural element subjected to bending moments is the beam. The example
shows a beam which is simply supported at both ends. Simply supported means that each end of
the beam can rotate, therefore each end support has no bending moment. The ends can only react
the shear load. Other beams can have both ends fixed, therefore each end support has both
bending moment and shear reaction loads. Beams can also have one end fixed and one end simply
supported. The simplest type of beam is the cantilever, which is fixed at one end and is free at the
other end (neither simple or fixed). In reality, beam supports are usually neither absolutely fixed nor
absolutely rotating freely.
The internal reaction loads in a cross-section of the structural element can be resolved into
a resultant forceand a resultant couple. For equilibrium, the moment created by external forces (and
external moments) must be balanced by the couple induced by the internal loads. The resultant
internal couple is called the bending moment while the resultant internal force is called the shear
force (if it is transverse to the plane of element) or the normal force (if it is along the plane of the
element).
The bending moment at a section through a structural element may be defined as "the sum of the
moments about that section of all external forces acting to one side of that section". The forces and
moments on either side of the section must be equal in order to counteract each other and maintain
a state of equilibrium so the same bending moment will result from summing the moments,
regardless of which side of the section is selected. If clockwise bending moments are taken as
negative, then a negative bending moment within an element will cause "sagging", and a positive
moment will cause "hogging". It is therefore clear that a point of zero bending moment within
a beam is a point ofcontraflexurethat is the point of transition from hogging to sagging or vice
versa.
Moments and torques are measured as a force multiplied by a distance so they have as unit newtonmetres (Nm), or pound-foot or foot-pound (ftlb). The concept of bending moment is very important
in engineering (particularly in civil and mechanical engineering) and physics.
Contents
[hide]

1 Background

2 Computing the moment of force

o

2.1 Example

2.2 Sign conventions

3 Computing the bending moment

o

3.1 Example

3.2 Sign convention

4 See also

5 References

6 External links

Background[edit]
Tensile and compressive stresses increase proportionally with bending moment, but are also
dependent on the second moment of area of the cross-section of a beam (that is, the shape of the
cross-section, such as a circle, square or I-beam being common structural shapes). Failure in
bending will occur when the bending moment is sufficient to induce tensile stresses greater than
the yield stress of the material throughout the entire cross-section. In structural analysis, this
bending failure is called a plastic hinge, since the full load carrying ability of the structural element is
not reached until the full cross-section is past the yield stress. It is possible that failure of a structural
element in shear may occur before failure in bending, however the mechanics of failure in shear and
in bending are different.
Moments are calculated by multiplying the external vector forces (loads or reactions) by the vector
distance at which they are applied. When analysing an entire element, it is sensible to calculate
moments at both ends of the element, at the beginning, centre and end of any uniformly distributed
loads, and directly underneath any point loads. Of course any "pin-joints" within a structure allow
free rotation, and so zero moment occurs at these points as there is no way of transmitting turning
forces from one side to the other.
It is more common to use the convention that a clockwise bending moment to the left of the point
under consideration is taken as positive. This then corresponds to the second derivative of a function
which, when positive, indicates a curvature that is 'lower at the centre' i.e. sagging. When defining
moments and curvatures in this way calculus can be more readily used to find slopes and
deflections.
Critical values within the beam are most commonly annotated using a bending moment diagram,
where negative moments are plotted to scale above a horizontal line and positive below. Bending
moment varies linearly over unloaded sections, and parabolically over uniformly loaded sections.
Engineering descriptions of the computation of bending moments can be confusing because of
unexplained sign conventions and implicit assumptions. The descriptions below use vector

mechanics to compute moments of force and bending moments in an attempt to explain, from first
principles, why particular sign conventions are chosen.

Computing the moment of force[edit]

Computing the moment of force in a beam.

An important part of determining bending moments in practical problems is the computation of

moments of force. Let

be a force vector acting at a point A in a body. The moment of this force

about a reference point (O) is defined as[2]

where

is the moment vector and

is the position vector from the reference point (O) to the

point of application of the force (A). The

symbol indicates the vector cross product. For many

problems, it is more convenient to compute the moment of force about an axis that passes
through the reference point O. If the unit vector along the axis is

, the moment of force about

the axis is defined as

where indicates the vector dot product.

Example[edit]
The adjacent figure shows a beam that is acted upon by a force
is defined by the three unit vectors

Therefore,

. If the coordinate system

, we have the following

The moment about the axis

is then

Sign conventions[edit]
The negative value suggests that a moment that tends to rotate a body
clockwise around an axis should have a negative sign. However, the actual
sign depends on the choice of the three axes

. For instance, if we

choose another right handed coordinate system

with

, we have

Then,

For this new choice of axes, a positive moment tends to rotate body
clockwise around an axis. ...

Computing the bending moment[edit]

In a rigid body or in an unconstrained deformable body, the application
of a moment of force causes a pure rotation. But if a deformable body is
constrained, it develops internal forces in response to the external force
so that equilibrium is maintained. An example is shown in the figure
below. These internal forces will cause local deformations in the body.
For equilibrium, the sum of the internal force vectors is equal to the
applied external force and the sum of the moment vectors created by
the internal forces is equal to the moment of the external force. The
internal force and moment vectors are oriented in such a way that the
total force (internal + external) and moment (external + internal) of the
system is zero. The internal moment vector is called the bending
moment.[1]
Though bending moments have been used to determine the stress
states in arbitrary shaped structures, the physical interpretation of the

computed stresses is problematic. However, physical interpretations of

bending moments in beams and plates have a straightforward
interpretation as the stress resultants in a cross-section of the structural
element. For example, in a beam in the figure, the bending moment
vector due to stresses in the cross-section A perpendicular to the x-axis
is given by

Expanding this expression we have,

We define the bending moment components as