Mechanics of Materials III:

Beam Bending
Dr. Wayne Whiteman
Senior Academic Professional and Director of the Office of Student Services
Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Module 31 Learning Outcome
• Continue design for an appropriate beam to be
used in a real world engineering problem.
Elastic Worksheet: A steel beam is subject to a loading and
Beam Design has a cross section as shown below, Design for an
appropriate wide flange I-beam to carry the load.
90 kN
145 kN/m 90 kN

0.6 m 1.8 m 0.6 m 0.9 m

A A

B B

N.A.
C C
Elastic Beam Design
A A

B B

N.A.
C C

V Q V Q
  0    
Ib Ib

A M c
B M y
C   0
   
I I
Maximum Flexural Stress Maximum Transverse
(occurs at extreme fiber) Shear Stress

To begin the design, we will assume that the extreme fiber on

the cross section (A) is critical. This is usually true. But to be
confident in our design, we will be checking all 3 locations
Elastic Worksheet: A steel beam is subject to a loading and
Beam Design has a cross section as shown below, Design for an
appropriate wide flange I-beam to carry the load.
90 kN
145 kN/m 90 kN

0.6 m 1.8 m 0.6 m 0.9 m

Steel beam: Use Maximum Shear Stress Theory

This theory is good for ductile
materials (e.g. steel, aluminum,
plastic, etc)

Failure occurs when:

  FAILURE
 Failure occurs when:
  FAILURE

From STT
 0 ,  MAX 
.
. . ,0 
0 ,0  
. MAX

 M c M
  
MAX

MAX MAX
MAX
2 2 I 2 S

A M c
  0  
I
Maximum Flexural Stress
(occurs at extreme fiber)
  M c M
  
MAX

MAX MAX
MAX
2 2 I 2 S
M
S 
MAX

2 MAX

For Design, we want:

maximum bending
moment expected
M
S 
MAX
 
2  ACTUAL 
PROPORTION
LIMIT
AL
( YIELD ) 
( ALLOW ED )
  
PROPORTION AL  2 
 Failure Stress LIMIT ( YIELD )  
ACTUAL FoS   
( ALLOWED )
Actual Stress  ACTUAL  ACTUAL 
2 ( ALLOW ED )  ( ALLOWED ) 
 
 2 
 
M
S 
MAX
 PROPORTIAL
 250 MPa

LIMIT ( YIELD )
ACTUAL
( ALLOW ED )
 ACTUAL

( ALLOW ED ) FoS 1 .2
Elastic Worksheet: A steel beam is subject to a loading and
Beam Design has a cross section as shown below, Design for an
appropriate wide flange I-beam to carry the load.
90 kN
145 kN/m 90 kN

0.6 m 1.8 m 0.6 m 0.9 m

M
S 
MAX
 PROPORTIAL
 250 MPa

LIMIT ( YIELD )
ACTUAL
( ALLOW ED )
 ACTUAL

( ALLOW ED ) FoS 1 .2

What is MMAX?
Elastic Worksheet: A steel beam is subject to a loading and
Beam Design has a cross section as shown below, Design for an
appropriate wide flange I-beam to carry the load.
90 kN
145 kN/m 90 kN

0.6 m 1.8 m 0.6 m 0.9 m

M Listed in tables in “Manual of Steel

S 
MAX


PROPORTIAL
250 MPa Construction,” American Institute

LIMIT ( YIELD )
ACTUAL
( ALLOW ED )
 ACTUAL
 of Steel Construction (most of the
( ALLOW ED ) FoS 1 .2
resources are free to the public)

 1000 N   1000 mm 
Select
130 . 5 kN  m   
S   kN  m  W 356 X 45
 626 . 4 X 10
3 3
 250 MPa  mm
 N 
   2

S  688 X 10
mm 3 3
 1 .2    mm
 MPa 
 