NED University of Engineering & Technology Engineering

Department of Petroleum Engineering

Lecture #04
CE-212 Mechanics of Solids
SHEAR STRESSES IN BEAMS

INTRODUCTION

When beams are acted upon by lateral loads, both bending moments and shear forces
act on their cross-sections, resulting in shear stresses
which will be studied here.

As shown below, if top and bottom surfaces of each board are smooth and not bonded
together, then application of load P will cause the boards to slide relative to one
another.

However, if boards are bonded together, longitudinal shear stresses will develop and
distort x-section in a complex manner.

As shown, when shear force V is applied, the non-uniform shear-strain distribution

over cross-section will cause it to warp, i.e., plane section does not remain plane.

Recall that the flexure formula assumes that cross-sections must remain plane and
perpendicular to longitudinal axis of beam after deformation. This is violated when
beam is subjected to both bending and shear; we assume that the warping is so small it
can be neglected. This is true for a slender beam (small depth compared with its
length).

A shear stress, denoted by

, is defined as a stress which is applied parallel or
tangential to a face of a material, as opposed to a normal stress which is applied
perpendicularly.

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By: Dr. Huma Khalid

NED University of Engineering & Technology Engineering

Department of Petroleum Engineering

We call the deformation created by shear stress as shear strain, given the symbol
(gamma). It is defined as the change in angle of the element, it is a non-dimensional
quantity.

Similar to normal stress , there is a linear relationship (for most engineering materials)
between the shear stress and shear strain, as shown in figure

This relationship is called Hooke's law for Shear and is represented by equation
where: G = Shear Modulus of Elasticity (for short, Shear Modulus) or Modulus of
Rigidity

The calculation of shear stresses is tackled below.

CALCULATION OF SHEAR STRESSES

The development of a general shear stress relation for beams is based on static
equilibrium of forces acting on the beams cross-section.

We start by assuming that the shear stresses act parallel to the direction of the shear
force V, i.e. in the vertical direction.

It is also assumed that the shear stress distribution is uniform across the width of the
cross-section (i.e. in the z direction).

Lets consider the shear stresses on an infinitesimal element of area

from the z-axis, as shown in the following sketch.

From the equilibrium of vertical forces, the shear stresses on one vertical side of the
element must be accompanied by an equal shear stress acting on the other vertical
side in the opposite direction.
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at distance

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Similarly, from the equilibrium of moments about the centre of the element, the shear
stress pair acting on the two vertical sides must be accompanied by equal pair acting
on the two horizontal sides. The latter is known as the complementary shear stress.

Now in order to evaluate the distribution of shear stresses on the cross-section,

consider the free body diagram shown below. It refers to a section of a beam subject
to bending and shear. The cross-section is symmetrical about the y-axis, but otherwise
of arbitrary shape.

Considering the shaded element shown on the beams side view at distance x from the
y-axis. The bottom face of the element is parallel to the N.A. and is at an arbitrary
distance from that axis.

The bottom face is acted upon by the horizontal shear . The right and left sides of the
element are subject to normal bending stresses
and , respectively.

The sides are also affected by complimentary vertical shear stresses , however these
do not enter into the equilibrium equation of forces in the horizontal direction.

The beam is under non-uniform (i.e. variable) bending moment, which is denoted by
on one side of the element and
on the other side.

Note: if the moment does not vary, i.e. pure bending, then there will be no shear
stresses to consider!

Considering an element of area

on the cross-section at distance from the N.A.,
the horizontal force acting on this area is equal to
, and this is equal to

Therefore, the total horizontal force acting on the shaded area on the cross-section (at
a distance x from the y axis) is equal to

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(1)

Similarly, the total horizontal force acting on the shaded area on the cross-section (at
a distance
from the y axis) is equal to

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(2)

Finally, the horizontal force acting on the bottom of the shaded area on the beams
side view is
(3)

where

is the area of the bottom surface of the shaded area.

The equilibrium of forces in the horizontal direction yields:

Therefore:

Note that

(4)

is constant at the section thus it was taken out of the integration.

The above equation can be rewritten as follows:

(5)

( )
However, by definition: V

(6)
where V is the applied shear force at the section.

Note also that the integral,

is the first moment of area of the portion of the
cross-sectional area with respect to the N.A.

Denoting this moment of area as Q, i.e.

, and substituting Q and V , the

formula for the horizontal / longitudinal shear stress is:

(7)

( )

The above equation is also known as the shear formula and can be used to determine
the shear stress at any point on the cross-section.

Note that V and I are constants, while Q and t are variables.

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NED University of Engineering & Technology Engineering

Department of Petroleum Engineering

Example 1
Determine the maximum shear stress for the following rectangular
section, which is subject to a maximum shear force F.

Solution
From symmetry, the neutral axis is at mid height, i.e. at h/2. This can be shown by
considering the following sketch.

Shear stress at this section is

( )
Where

is the moment of area about the neutral axis. Now

(

)
(

Hence,

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By: Dr. Huma Khalid

NED University of Engineering & Technology Engineering

Department of Petroleum Engineering

which is the equation for the shear stress distribution on a rectangular cross-section. This is a
parabola equation, as plotted on Figure.

which is 50% higher than the average shear stress (i.e. the applied shear force V divided by
the cross-sectional area ).
Note
The present formula for shear shows that shear stresses are maximum at the N.A. and zero at
the outer fibres. This is in contrast with normal (i.e. bending) stresses which are maximum at
the outer fibres and zero at the N.A. This is depicted in the following sketch.

A 3D view of the shear stress distribution is depicted below (note the stress is
constant/uniform along the width of the cross-section):

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NED University of Engineering & Technology Engineering

Department of Petroleum Engineering

Example 2
Determine the maximum shear stress for the following triangular section, which is subject to
a maximum shear force F.

Its centroid from top fibre is at

Distance of the shaded area from NA is

Moment of inertia of the section

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By: Dr. Huma Khalid

NED University of Engineering & Technology Engineering

Department of Petroleum Engineering

Hence at
At centroid

Where

is the average shear stress.

Thus in triangular section shear stress is zero at extreme fibres, it is maximum of

at mid depth and has a value
at neutral axis.
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By: Dr. Huma Khalid

NED University of Engineering & Technology Engineering

Department of Petroleum Engineering

Example 3
The two boards shown below are to be glued together. Determine the minimum strength
of the adhesive used. The bonded beam spans 5 m between two simple supports and is
loaded by a uniformly distributed load of 4 kN/m.

Solution

Considering the bonded section, its total height is:

,
and its width
. The N.A. is at mid height; therefore the two boards are
glued at a distance
from the N.A. Therefore
from eq. (9), the shear stress at the bonding surface is:
[

For the composite section, the second moment of area is:

For a simply supported beam of span

maximum shear force is:

Therefore, the shear stress at the bonding surface is:

[

under a uniformly distributed load

This is the minimum strength required for the adhesive used.

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, the

NED University of Engineering & Technology Engineering

Department of Petroleum Engineering

Example 4
Determine the maximum and minimum shear stresses on the web of the following I
section, which is subject to a maximum shear force V.

Solution
From symmetry, the neutral axis is at mid height, i.e. at h/2. This is shown in the following
sketch.

Eq. (7) is used to calculate the shear stress at a distance

calculating the value of Q:

from the N.A. We start by

where the area of the flange

[ (

and the N.A.

)]

Similarly, the area of the web

and the distance between

[ (

)]

can be simplified to:

Hence,

[ (

)(
[

The second moment of area of the whole section is:

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) and the distance between

and the N.A.

)] [
]

)] which

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Therefore, the shear stress is:

which is the equation for the shear stress distribution. The maximum shear stress is at
the N.A. Thus, substituting
in eq. yields:

Similarly, the minimum shear stress on the web is

i.e.:

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS for I beams

For I beams of typical proportions, the shear stresses in the web account for 90 to
98% of the total shear stresses. Similarly, for I beam of typical proportions, the
flanges account for ~90% of the normal bending stresses. These observations are
depicted below.

Therefore, for design purposes the shear stresses can be assumed to be carried by the
web alone, whilst the normal stresses are carried out by the flanges alone.

A further approximation usually adopted in design is to calculate the average shear

stress by dividing the applied shear force V by the web area (i.e.
in Fig. 10), thus:

This means the parabolic part of the shear stress (defined by a dotted line in above
Fig.) is being replaced by a straight line somewhere between the maximum and
minimum stresses.

This is a valid simplification since, for I beams of typical proportions, the average
shear stress is within 10 % of the actual maximum shear stress.

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By: Dr. Huma Khalid

NED University of Engineering & Technology Engineering

Department of Petroleum Engineering

EXAMPLE PROBLEMS
1) Calculate the maximum shear stress for a rectangular section of depth 500 mm and breadth
300 mm. The section is used in a beam loaded as shown in the sketch below.

2) The rectangular section of Problem 1 above is replaced by I section shown below. Calculate
the maximum normal (bending) and shear stresses assuming that the bending stresses are
carried solely by the flanges, whilst the shear stresses are carried solely by the web.

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