Strength of Materials

Deflection of Transversally
Session
Loaded Beam
05 Lecture note :
Pramudiyanto, M.Eng.

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 we will be concerned with another aspect in
the design of beams, namely, the determination
of the deflection. Of particular interest is the
determination of the maximum deflection of a
beam under a given loading, since the design
specifications of a beam will generally include
a maximum allowable value for its deflection.

A knowledge of the deflections is required to

analyze indeterminate beams. These are beams
in which the number of reactions at the
supports exceeds the number of equilibrium
equations available to determine these
unknowns.

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 a prismatic beam subjected to pure
bending is bent into an arc of circle
and that, within the elastic range, the
curvature of the neutral surface can be
expressed as

To determine the slope and deflection of the beam at any given point, we first
derive the following second-order linear differential equation, which governs the
elastic curve characterizing the shape of the deformed beam :

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 Cantilever Beam
The cantilever beam AB is of uniform
cross section and carries a load P at its
free end A. Determine the equation of
the elastic curve and the deflection
and slope at A.

SOLUTION
Using the free-body diagram of the portion AC of the beam, where C is located at a
distance x from end A, we find:

Substituting for M and multiplying both members by the constant EI, we write

Integrating x, we obtain :

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We now observe that at the fixed end B we
have x = L and  = dy/dx = 0. Substituting
these values and solving for C1, we have:

Which we carry back into :

Carrying the value of C2, we obtain
the equation of the elastic curve :
Integrating both members, we write :

Or 3 2
At B we have x = L, y = 0. substituting this The deflection and slope at A :
we have :
0 3

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 Beam with distributed loading
The simply supported prismatic beam AB carries a
uniformly distributed load w per unit length.
Determine the equation of the elastic curve and the
maximum deflection of the beam.

SOLUTION

Drawing the free-body diagram of the portion AD of the beam

and taking moments about D, we find that:
M  12 wLx  12 wx 2
Substituting for M and multiplying both members of this
equation by the constant EI, we write :
d2y
EI 2   12 wx 2  12 wLx
dx
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 Integrating twice, we have:

dy 1 3 1
EI   wx  wLx 2  C1
dx 6 4
1 1
EIy   wx 4  wLx 3  C1 x  C2
24 12
Observing that y=0 at both ends of the beam, we first let x=0 and y=0 in first equation
and obtain C2=0. We then make x=L and y=0 in the same equation and write :
1 1
0 wL4  wL4  C1 L
24 12
1
C1   wL3
24
Carrying the values of C1 and C2 back into previous equation, we obtain the equation of
elastic curve :
1 1 1
EIy   wx  wLx  wL3 x
4 3

24 12 24
y
w
24 EI

 x 4  2 Lx 3  L3 x 
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 Substituting the value obtained for C1, we check that the slope of the beam is zero
for x=L/2 and that the elastic curve has a minimum at the midpoint C of the beam.
Letting x = L/2, we have :

w  L4 L3 3 L 5wL4
yC     2 L  L   
24 EI  16 8 2 384 EI
The maximum deflection or, more precisely, the maximum absolute value of
deflection, is thus :

5wL4
y max 
384 EI

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 Beam with point loading
For the prismatic beam and the loading
shown, determine the slope and deflection
at point D.

We must divide the beam into two portions,

AD and DB, and determine the function y(x)
which defines the elastic curve for each of
these portions.
SOLUTION
From A to D (x < L/4). We draw the free-body diagram of a portion of beam AE of
length x < L/4. Taking moments about E, we have
3P d 2 y1 3
M1  x  EI 2
 Px
4 dx 4
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 where y1(x) is the function which defines the elastic curve for portion AD of the
beam. Integrating in x, we write

dy1 3 2
EI1  EI  Px  C1
dx 8
1 3
EIy1  Px  C1 x  C2
8

From D to B (x > L/4). We now draw the free-body

diagram of a portion of beam AE of length x > L/4 and
write

3P  L d 2 y2 1 1
M2  x  P x    EI   Px  PL
 4 2
4 dx 4 4

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 where y2(x) is the function which defines the elastic curve for portion DB of the
beam. Integrating in x, we write
dy2 1 2 1
EI 2  EI   Px  PLx  C3
dx 8 4
1 1
EIy2   Px 3  PLx 2  C3 x  C4
24 8

The conditions that must be satisfied by

the constants of integration have been
summarized. At the support A, we must
have x = 0 and y1 = 0. At the support B,
we must have x = L and y2 = 0. Also, the
fact that there can be no sudden change in
deflection or in slope at point D requires
that y1 = y2 and 1 = 2 when x = L/4. We
have therefore:

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 x  0, y1  0  0  C2
x  L, y2  0  0  1
PL3  C3 L  C4
12
 L  3 7
 x  , 1   2  PL2
 C1  PL 2
 C3
4  128 128
 L  PL3 L 11PL3 L
 x  , y 1  y 2   C 1   C 3  C4
4  512 4 1536 4
7 PL2 11PL2 PL3
C1   , C2  0, C3   , C4 
128 128 384
Substituting for C1 and C2, we write that for x  L/4 :
3 2 7 PL2
EI1  Px 
8 128
1 3 7 PL2
EIy1  Px  x
8 128
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 Letting x = L/4 in each of these equations, we find that the slope and deflection at
point D are, respectively,

PL2 3PL3
D   , yD  
32 EI 256 EI

We note that, since   0, the deflection at D is not the maximum deflection of the
beam.

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That’s for now
THANK YOU

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