Assignment 1 Questions

CA 3632 Mechanics of Structures and Materials

Deadline:
24 November 2017, 5pm to the General Office of ACE Dept. Each student is
required to submit his/her own assignment.

Presentation Format
A4 sheets stapled in the top left hand cover.
Front page to show: Full name, Student ID no., Assignment name, Course
name and year.
1. A timber beam is used for the structure. Knowing []=10MPa for timber,
design the size for the beam for
(1) a rectangular cross-section with breadth b and height h
in the ratio of h=2b;
(2) a square cross-section with side length a;
(3) a circular cross-section with diameter d.

420N 300N

C D
A B
0.5m 0.5m 0.5m

2. A W15018-shape beam is to be used for the structure shown in the

following figure. For the rolled-steel we have []=170MPa and
[]=100MPa. From the handbook we can find d=153mm, tw=5.8mm,
Jz=9.210-6m4, Sz=1.210-4m3. Determine the allowable intensity of load in
the middle of the beam.

f
bf
tf
C D z
A tw d
2m 3.5m 2m B
3. A steel beam (305x165x40) is to be used for the structure shown in the
following Figure. From the handbook we can find: d  305mm ,
b f  165 mm , t w  t f  40 mm , J z  8.551  10 5 m 4 , S z  5.63  10 4 m 3 . Calculate
the maximum flexure stress and shear stress of this beam.

12kN
36kN/m
bf
tf

C A D E
B
tw z d

0.8m 1.8m
1.2m 1.6m

4. A 10 kN.m couple is applied to a wooden beam, of rectangular cross

section 15 by 30 cm, in a plane forming an angle of 45°with the vertical, as
shown in Fig. 4. Determine
(a) the maximum stress in the beam,
(b) the angle that the neutral surface forms with the horizontal plane.
5. A cantilever beam with a uniform load as shown in the following figure
has a height h equal to 1/10 of the length L. the beam is a steel wide-flange
section with E=208GPa and an allowable bending stress of 130 MPa in both
tension and compression. Calculate the ratio δ/L of the deflection at the free
end to the length, assuming that the beam carries the maximum allowable
load.
B
A L

6. For the beam and loading shown in the following figure, determine
(a) the deflection at the midspan of portion BC of the beam,
(b) the slope at the supporting point B.

7. The wooden T-beam shown in the below Figure is made from two
200mm×30mm boards. If the allowable bending stress is σallow=12 MPa and
the allowable shear stress is τallow=0.8 MPa, determine if the beam can safely
support the loading shown.
1.5kN

0.5kN/m

B C D

2m
2m
8. A W250×45 wide-flange beam DB has the cross-sectional dimensions and
loading shown in the below Figure, E=210 GPa, d=266 mm,, tw=7.62 mm,
Jz=71.1×106 mm4, Sz=535×103 mm 3, the load q is 36 kN/m.
Determine the deflection at point C

9. For the beam and loading shown in the figure below, determine (a) the
slope at end A, (b) the maximum deflection.