412 CHAPTER 6 Stresses in Beams (Advanced Topics)

Example 6-4

A wood beam AB of rectangular cross section serving as a roof purlin (Figs.

6-16a and b) is simply supported by the top chords of two adjacent roof trusses.
The beam supports the weight of the roof sheathing and the roofing material,
plus its own weight and any additional loads that affect the roof (such as wind,
snow, and earthquake loads).
In this example, we will consider only the effects of a uniformly distributed
load of intensity q  3.0 kN/m acting in the vertical direction through the
centroids of the cross sections (Fig. 6-16c). The load acts along the entire length
of the beam and includes the weight of the beam. The top chords of the trusses
have a slope of 1 on 2 (a  26.57 ), and the beam has width b  100 mm,
height h  150 mm, and span L  1.6 m.
Determine the maximum tensile and compressive stresses in the beam and
locate the neutral axis.

Roof y
sheathing
A b
A a
Purlin h
B B C
Roof truss z q 1
a 2
a
a = 26.57

(a) (b) (c)

FIG. 6-16 Example 6-4. Wood beam of

rectangular cross section serving as a Solution
roof purlin Loads and bending moments. The uniform load q acting in the vertical
direction can be resolved into components in the y and z directions (Fig. 6-17a):
qy  q cos a qz  q sin a (6-24a,b)
The maximum bending moments occur at the midpoint of the beam and are
found from the general formula M  qL2/8; hence,
qz L2 qL2sin a qy L2 qL2cos a
My     Mz     (6-25a,b)
8 8 8
Both of these moments are positive because their vectors are in the positive
directions of the y and z axes (Fig. 6-17b).
Moments of inertia. The moments of inertia of the cross-sectional area
with respect to the y and z axes are as follows:
hb3 bh3
Iy   Iz   (6-26a,b)
12 12
Bending stresses. The stresses at the midsection of the beam are obtained
from Eq. (6-18) with the bending moments given by Eqs. (6-25) and the
moments of inertia given by Eqs. (6-26):

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 SECTION 6.4 Doubly Symmetric Beams with Inclined Loads 413
y My z Mz y qL2sin a qL2cos a
sx      3 z  3y
D Iz 8hb /12 8bh /12
3qL2 sin a
  z
2bh b2 cos a
 y
h2  (6-27)

qz C
a The stress at any point in the cross section can be obtained from this equation
z by substituting the coordinates y and z of the point.
E From the orientation of the cross section and the directions of the loads and
qy
bending moments (Fig. 6-17), it is apparent that the maximum compressive
a q stress occurs at point D (where y  h/2 and z  b/2) and the maximum tensile
stress occurs at point E (where y  h/2 and z  b/2). Substituting these coor-
(a) dinates into Eq. (6-27) and then simplifying, we obtain expressions for the
maximum and minimum stresses in the beam:
y 3qL2 sin a
n D
sE  sD     
4bh b cos a
h  (6-28)

My Numerical values. The maximum tensile and compressive stresses can be

h calculated from the preceding equation by substituting the given data:
M
b C
a q  3.0 kN/m L  1.6 m b  100 mm h  150 mm a  26.57
z Mz The results are
E n
b
a sE  sD  4.01 MPa

Neutral axis. In addition to finding the stresses in the beam, it is often

(b) useful to locate the neutral axis. The equation of this line is obtained by setting
the stress (Eq. 6-27) equal to zero:
FIG. 6-17 Solution to Example 6-4.
(a) Components of the uniform load, and sin a cos a
(b) bending moments acting on a cross  z   y0 (6-29)
b2 h2
section
The neutral axis is shown in Fig. 6-17b as line nn. The angle b from the z axis
to the neutral axis is obtained from Eq. (6-29) as follows:

y h2
tan b      tan a (6-30)
z b2

Substituting numerical values, we get

h2 (150 mm)2

tan b  2 tan a  2 tan 26.57  1.125
b (100 mm)  b  48.4

Since the angle b is not equal to the angle a, the neutral axis is inclined to the
plane of loading (which is vertical).
From the orientation of the neutral axis (Fig. 6-17b), we see that points D
and E are the farthest from the neutral axis, thus confirming our assumption that
the maximum stresses occur at those points. The part of the beam above and
to the right of the neutral axis is in compression, and the part to the left and
below the neutral axis is in tension.

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414 CHAPTER 6 Stresses in Beams (Advanced Topics)

Example 6-5

A 12-foot long cantilever beam (Fig. 6-18a) is constructed from an S 24  80

section (see Table E-2 of Appendix E for the dimensions and properties of this
beam). A load P  10 k acts in the vertical direction at the end of the beam.
Because the beam is very narrow compared to its height (Fig. 6-18b), its
moment of inertia about the z axis is much larger than its moment of inertia
about the y axis.
(a) Determine the maximum bending stresses in the beam if the y axis
of the cross section is vertical and therefore aligned with the load P (Fig. 6-18a).
(b) Determine the maximum bending stresses if the beam is inclined at a
small angle a  1 to the load P (Fig. 6-18b). (A small inclination can be
caused by imperfections in the fabrication of the beam, misalignment of the
beam during construction, or movement of the supporting structure.)

y
y A
n

L = 12 ft
b = 41
z z C
C
n

S 24  80 B
x P
FIG. 6-18 Example 6-5. Cantilever beam a = 1
P = 10 k
with moment of inertia Iz much larger
than Iy (a) (b)

Solution
(a) Maximum bending stresses when the load is aligned with the y axis. If
the beam and load are in perfect alignment, the z axis is the neutral axis and the
maximum stresses in the beam (at the support) are obtained from the flexure
formula:
My PL(h/2)
smax    
Iz Iz
in which M  PL is the bending moment at the support, h is the height of the
beam, and Iz is the moment of inertia about the z axis. Substituting numerical
values, we obtain
(10 k)(12 ft)(12 in./ft)(12.00 in.)
smax    8230 psi

This stress is tensile at the top of the beam and compressive at the bottom of the
beam.

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 SECTION 6.4 Doubly Symmetric Beams with Inclined Loads 415

(b) Maximum bending stresses when the load is inclined to the y axis. We
now assume that the beam has a small inclination (Fig. 6-18b), so that the angle
between the y axis and the load is a  1 .
The components of the load P are P cos a in the negative y direction and
P sin a in the positive z direction. Therefore, the bending moments at the
support are
My  (P sin a)L  (10 k)(sin 1 )(12 ft)(12 in./ft)  25.13 k-in.
Mz  (P cos a)L  (10 k)(cos 1 )(12 ft)(12 in./ft)  1440 k-in.
The angle b giving the orientation of the neutral axis nn (Fig. 6-18b) is obtained
from Eq. (6-20):
y My Iz (25.13 k-in.)(2100 in.4)
tan b        0.8684 b  41
z (1440 k-in.)(42.2 in.4)
This calculation shows that the neutral axis is inclined at an angle of 41 from
the z axis even though the plane of the load is inclined only 1 from the y axis.
The sensitivity of the position of the neutral axis to the angle of the load is a
consequence of the large Iz /Iy ratio.
From the position of the neutral axis (Fig. 6-18b), we see that the
maximum stresses in the beam occur at points A and B, which are located at the
farthest distances from the neutral axis. The coordinates of point A are
zA  3.50 in. yA  12.0 in.
Therefore, the tensile stress at point A (see Eq. 6-18) is
My zA Mz yA
sA    
Iz
(25.13 k-in.)(3.50 in.) (1440 k-in.)(12.0 in.)
   
42.2 in.4 2100 in.4
 2080 psi  8230 psi  10,310 psi
The stress at B has the same magnitude but is a compressive stress:
sB  10,310 psi
These stresses are 25% larger than the stress smax  8230 psi for the same
beam with a perfectly aligned load. Furthermore, the inclined load produces a
lateral deflection in the z direction, whereas the perfectly aligned load does not.
This example shows that beams with Iz much larger than Iy may develop
large stresses if the beam or its loads deviate even a small amount from their
planned alignment. Therefore, such beams should be used with caution, because
they are highly susceptible to overstress and to lateral (that is, sideways) bend-
ing and buckling. The remedy is to provide adequate lateral support for the
beam, thereby preventing sideways bending. For instance, wood floor joists in
buildings are supported laterally by installing bridging or blocking between the
joists.

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