Structural I

First year Graduate Studies

Fall 2006
Prof. Krupali Uplekar
School of Architecture_______________________________________________________
Name: Moment of Inertia
Description: The moment of Inertia is a somewhat abstract item, less able to be given reality
like that of an area, weight, or center of gravity. It is, nevertheless, a real geometric property
that becomes an essential factor in the investigations for stresses and deformations in
structural members. Of particular interest is the moment of inertia about a centroidal axis for
various shapes.
Example: Moment of Inertia is the measure of the distribution of material around the center
of an object. The moment of inertia is lowest when all the material is concentrated at the
center (a solid rod, for example). It is highest when the material is distributed furthest from
the center (a hollow tube, for example). Buckling load is directly proportional to the moment
of inertia.
Scientific Definition: Moment of Inertia is the property that determines the stiffness of a
member, and is used in deflection and compressive buckling formulas.
Formula: Rectangle bd
12
Circle d
64
Triangle bd
36
b- base and d- depth
For unsymmetrical and complex shapes : I = Io + Az
Units: in (inches)
y
Algebraic problem:

__________________________________________________University of Notre Dame_

Structural I
First year Graduate Studies
Fall 2006
Prof. Krupali Uplekar
School of Architecture_______________________________________________________
Find the moment of inertia of the T shaped area in the above figure about its horizontal
centroidal axis.
Hence:
Area of the first member A1 = bd = 5 x 10 = 50 in2
Area of the second member A2 = bd = 2 x 10 = 20 in2
Distance of the first member centroid from the base = y1 = 5 in
Distance of the second member centroid from the base = y2 = 11 in
Hence centroid for the combined tee section is
yx = A1y1 + A2 y2 + ..
A1+ A2+ ..................
yx = 50x 5 + 20x11
50+20

= Ay
A

= 6.71in

Hence centroid for the T shape is located at 6.71 in from the base of the object.
Summary of computation for Moment of Inertia:
Part

Area

Io

Az

Ixx

50

1.7

416.6

144.5

561.1

20

4.3

6.67

369.8

376.47

Hence total Moment of Inertia of the shape = 561.1 + 376.47 = 937.57 in

Note : This example was a typical case of unsymmetrical shape.

__________________________________________________University of Notre Dame_