Bending of Curved Beams Strength of Materials Approach

V r

cross-section must be symmetric but does not have to be rectangular

assume plane sections remain plane and just rotate about the neutral axis, as for a straight beam, and that the only significant stress is the hoop stress

centroid

neutral axis B

Let = rotation of the cross-section B

Rn

r
A

Rn r
P A

R = radius to centroid Rn = radius to neutral axis r = radius to general fiber in the beam

l ( Rn r ) R = = n 1 l r r N, M = normal force and bending moment = computed from centroid e =

Reference: Advanced Mechanics of Materials : Boresi, Schmidt, and Sidebottom

From Hookes law

= Ee = E

Rn 1 r

Then the normal force is given by

dA N = dA = E Rn dA A A r A = E ( Rn Am A )

where

Am =

dA r A

has the dimensions of a length

M = ( R r ) dA
A

Similarly, for the moment

R = E n 1 ( R r ) dA r A dA = E Rn R R dA Rn dA + rdA r A A A A = E Rn ( RAm A )

M = E Rn ( RAm A ) N = E ( Rn Am A )
from (1)

(1) (2)

E Rn =

M RAm A

from (2)

N = ( E Rn ) Am E A MAm = E A RAm A

so solving for

MAm N E = A ( RAm A ) A

Recall, the stress is given by

= Ee = E
=

Rn 1 r

E Rn E r

so using expressions for E Rn , E

we obtain the hoop stress in the form

N M ( A rAm ) = + A Ar ( RAm A )
axial stress bending stress

N 0
setting the total stress = 0 gives

=0

AM Am M + N ( A RAm )

N =0
setting the bending stress = 0 and r = Rn gives

A Rn = Am

location of the neutral axis

which in general is not at the centroid

For composite areas areas A2 A1

A = Ai

Am = Ami R=

radii to centroids

R2

R A A
i i

R1

Example
For a square 50x50 mm cross-section, find the maximum tensile and compressive stress if P = 9.5 kN and plot the total stress across the crosssection

P P

100 mm 30 mm

a P = 9500 N T N M c A = b (c a) C

155 mm a = 30 mm b = 50 mm c = 80 mm so we have

R=

a+c 2

c Am = b ln a
A = ( 50 )( 50 ) = 2500 mm 2 80 Am = 50 ln = 49.04 mm 30 80 + 30 = 55 mm R= 2

Rn =

2500 = 51 mm 49.04

max tensile stress is at r = 30 mm

N M ( A rAm ) = + A Ar ( RAm A )

2500 ( 30 )( 49.04 ) 9500 (155 )( 9500 ) = + 2500 ( 2500 )( 30 ) ( 55 )( 49.04 ) 2500 = 106.2 MPa
max compressive stress is at r = 80 mm

N M ( A rAm ) = + A Ar ( RAm A )

2500 ( 80 )( 49.04 ) 9500 (155 )( 9500 ) = + 2500 ( 2500 )( 80 ) ( 55 )( 49.04 ) 2500 = 49.3 MPa

>> r= linspace(30, 80, 100); >> stress = 3.8 + 589*(2500 - 49.04.*r)./(197.2*r); >> plot(r, stress)

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 -20 -40 -60 30

stress

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

radius, r

Comparison with Airy Stress Function Results Consider a rectangular beam under pure moment

thickness = t b M a h r M

Note:

( b / a + 1) 2 ( b / a 1) 2 R / h + 1) ( b/a = ( 2 R / h 1)
R/h =

From Airy Stress Function

4M = Nta 2

2 a b 2 b b 2 r a r b ln + ln ln + 1 r a a a a b a a
2

2 2 b 2 b b N = 1 4 ln a a a

Strength Approach
b Am = t ln a A = t (b a ) R = (a + b) / 2

M ( A rAm ) = Ar ( RAm A )

minus on M since it is opposite to what we had before

b M ( b a ) r ln a = (a + b) b t r (b a ) ln ( b a ) a 2 b r b 2M 1 ln a a a = r b b b b t a 2 1 2 1 + 1 ln a a a a a
(a + b) M r If we had used the ordinary straight beam formula 2 My = = instead 1 3 I t (b a ) 12 r b 6 2 + 1 a a M = 2 3 ta b 1 a

Comparison of the ratio of the max bending stresses

y h

R/h

Strength/elasticity Strength/elasticity Curved beam Straight beam formula My/I formula 1.0455 1.0124 0.9970 0.9961 0.9973 0.9986 0.9994 0.4390 0.5262 0.6545 0.7737 0.8313 0.8881 0.9331

0.65 R 0.75 1.0 1.5 2.0 3.0 5.0

Compare bending stress distributions at the smallest R/h value R/h = 0.65 (b/a = 7.667)
0.15 0.1 0.05 0 normalized stress -0.05 -0.1 -0.15 -0.2 -0.25 -0.3 -0.35

4 r/a

solid curve Airy stress function (elasticity) dashed blue Curved Strength formula dashed red Straight beam formula

% beam_compare.m m=1; Rhvals = [0.65 0.75 1.0 1.5 2.0 3.0 5.0]; % R/h ratios to consider for Rh = Rhvals ba = (1+2*Rh)/(2*Rh -1); %corresponding b/a values ra= linspace(1, ba, 100); % r/a values N=(ba^2-1)^2 -4*ba^2*(log(ba))^2; % Airy function flexure stress expression pa =4*(-(ba./ra).^2.*log(ba)+(ba)^2.*log(ra./ba) - log(ra) +(ba)^2 -1)./N; % Curved beam strength expression for flexure stress ps = 2*((ba-1)-ra.*log(ba))./(ra.*(ba-1).*(2.*(ba-1) -(ba+1).*log(ba))); % Straight beam flexure formula My/I pb = 6*(2*ra-(ba+1))./((ba-1)^3); %obtain ratio of max stresses Curved beam Strength formula/Airy ratio1(m) = max(abs(ps))/max(abs(pa)); %obtain ratio of max stresses: Straight beam strength formula/Airy ratio2(m) = max(abs(pb))/max(abs(pa)); m=m+1; end % Now plot stress distributions for smallest R/h value Rh=0.65 ba = (1+2*Rh)/(2*Rh -1); %corresponding b/a values ra= linspace(1, ba, 100); N=(ba^2-1)^2 -4*ba^2*(log(ba))^2; pa =4*(-(ba./ra).^2.*log(ba)+(ba)^2.*log(ra./ba) - log(ra) +(ba)^2 -1)./N; ps = 2*((ba-1)-ra.*log(ba))./(ra.*(ba-1).*(2.*(ba-1) -(ba+1).*log(ba))); pb = 6*(2*ra-(ba+1))./((ba-1)^3); plot(ra, pa) hold on plot(ra, ps, '--b') plot(ra, pb, '--r') xlabel('r/a') ylabel( 'normalized stress') hold off

Comparison with Bickfords expression (pure bending)

kM My = A (1 + ky ) I 2

k = 1/ R
Here, y is distance from the centroid First note that

y
R

centroid

R r = y
or r = y + R

ydA = 0
A

so

y (1 + y / R ) I ydA 1 y 2 dA dA = + = I1 + 2 = 0 1+ y / R 1+ y / R R A 1+ y / R R A
I2 R

I1 =

ydA 1+ y / R A

I1 =

y 2 dA I2 = 1+ y / R A

RAm = R

dA dA = R y+R r A A

A = dA =
A

( y + R ) dA = y dA + R dA y + R y + R y+R ( ) A A A
I1 / R

I1 + RAm R

Thus,

R ( RAm A ) = I1 = I 2 / R

 Now, start with Bickfords expression = A (1 + ky ) I 2 k = 1/ R

1 yR + = M + AR y R I ( ) 2 ( y + R ) I 2 + yAR 2 = M same terms added in and subtracted out + y R ARI ( ) 2 ( y + R ) I 2 + ( y + R ) AR 2 AR 3 = M + + y R ARI y R ARI ( ) ( ) 2 2 I 2 + AR 2 R2 = M + ARI y R I ( ) 2 2 I 2 + AR 2 R2 =M + y R I ARI ( ) 2 2 A ( y + R ) ( I 2 + AR 2 ) / R 3 =M 2 ( y + R ) AI 2 / R

kM

My

A ( y + R ) ( I 2 + AR 2 ) / R 3 =M 2 ( y + R ) AI 2 / R

y+R=r
Am = ( I 2 + AR 2 ) / R 3

but

RAm A = I 2 / R 2

so

and we find

A rAm = r RA A A ( ) m

which agrees with our previous expression

from Bickfords expression

kM My = A (1 + ky ) I 2

k = 1/ R
it is easy to see, as R , and y 2 dA I2 = y 2 dA = I 1+ y / R A A

k 0

and we recover the straight beam flexure expression

My I