CHAPTER 3

EQUILIBRIUM AND SUPPORT REACTIONS

The objective of this chapter is to review the basic concept of equilibrium of structures under
the action of forces and to develop the analysis of reactions exerted by supports on plane (two-
dimensional) structures subjected to coplanar force systems.

3.1 EQUILIBRIUM STRUCTURES

A structure is considered to be in equilibrium if, initially at rest, it remains at rest when

subjected to a system of forces and couples.

In order for a structure to be in equilibrium, all the forces and couples (including support
reactions) acting on it must balance each other, and there must neither be a resultant force nor a
resultant couple acting on the structure. Recall from statics that for a space (three-dimensional)
structure subjected to three-dimensional systems of forces and couples (Fig. 3.1), the conditions of
zero resultant force and zero resultant couple can be expressed in a Cartesian (xyz) coordinate system
as

These six equations are called the equations of equilibrium of space structures and are the necessary
and sufficient conditions for equilibrium. The first three equations ensure that there is no resultant
force acting on the structure, and the last three equations express the fact that there is no resultant
couple acting on the structure. For a plane structure lying in the xy plane and subjected to a coplanar
system of forces and couples (Fig. 3.2), the necessary and sufficient conditions for equilibrium can
be expressed as

These three equations are referred to as the equations of equilibrium of plane structures. The first two
of the three equilibrium equations express, respectively, that the algebraic sums of the x components
and y components of all the forces are zero, thereby indicating that the resultant

force acting on the structure is zero. The third equation indicates that the algebraic sum of the
moments of all the forces about any point in the plane of the structure and the moments of any
couples acting on the structure is zero, thereby indicating that the resultant couple acting on the
structure is zero. All the equilibrium equations must be satisfied simultaneously for the structure to
be in equilibrium. It should be realized that if a structure (e.g., an aerospace vehicle) initially in
motion is subjected to forces that satisfy the equilibrium equations, it will maintain its motion with a
constant velocity, since the forces cannot accelerate it. Such structures may also be considered to be
in equilibrium. However, the term equilibrium is commonly used to refer to the state of rest of
structures and is used in this context herein.

Alternative Forms of Equations of Equilibrium of Plane Structures

Although the equilibrium equations as expressed in Eq. (3.2) provide the most convenient
means of analyzing a majority of plane structures, the analysis of some structures can be expedited
by employing one of the following two alternative forms of the equations of equilibrium:

in which A and B are any two points in the plane of the structure, provided that the line connecting A
and B is not perpendicular to the q axis, and

in which A; B, and C are any points in the plane of the structure, provided that these three points do
not lie on the same straight line.

Concurrent Force Systems

When a structure is in equilibrium under the action of a concurrent force system—that is, the
lines of action of all the forces intersect at a single point—the moment equilibrium equations are
automatically satisfied, and only the force equilibrium equations need to be considered.

Therefore, for a space structure subjected to a concurrent threedimensional force system, the
equations of equilibrium are

Similarly, for a plane structure subjected to a concurrent coplanar force system, the
equilibrium equations can be expressed as
Two-Force and Three-Force Structures

The analysis of such structures and of structures composed of such members can be
considerably expedited by recalling from statics the following characteristics of such systems:

1. If a structure is in equilibrium under the action of only two forces, the forces must be equal,
opposite, and collinear. 2. If a structure is in equilibrium under the action of only three forces, the
forces must be
either concurrent or parallel.

3.2 EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FORCES

The forces and couples to which a structure may be subjected can be classified into two
types:

• external forces and

• internal forces.

External Forces

External forces are the actions of other bodies on the structure under consideration.

Applied forces, usually referred to as loads (e.g., live loads and wind loads), have a tendency
to move the structure and are usually known in the analysis.

Reaction forces, or reactions, are the forces exerted by supports on the structure and have a
tendency to prevent its motion and keep it in equilibrium. The reactions are usually among the
unknowns to be determined by the analysis.

The state of equilibrium or motion of the structure as a whole is governed solely by the
external forces acting on it.

Internal Forces

Internal forces are the forces and couples exerted on a member or portion of the structure by
the rest of the structure.

The internal forces always occur in equal but opposite pairs, because each member or portion
exerts back on the rest of the structure the same forces acting upon it but in opposite directions,
according to Newton’s third law.
3.3 TYPES OFSUPPORTS FOR PLANE STRUCTURES

Supports are used to attach structures to the ground or other bodies, thereby restricting their
movements under the action of applied loads.

The types of supports commonly used for plane structures are depicted in Fig. 3.3. These
supports are grouped into three categories, depending on the number of reactions (1, 2, or 3) they
exert on the structures. The figure also gives the types of reactions that these supports exert, as well
as the number of unknowns that the various supports introduce in the analysis. Figures 3.4 through
3.6 illustrate roller, rocker, and hinged supports.
3.4 STATIC DETERMINACY, INDETERMINACY, AND INSTABILITY

Internal Stability

A structure is considered to be internally stable, or rigid, if it maintains its shape and remains
a rigid body when detached from the supports.

Conversely, a structure is termed internally unstable (or nonrigid) if it cannot maintain its
shape and may undergo large displacements under small disturbances when not supported externally.
Some examples of internally stable structures are shown in Fig. 3.7. Note that each of the structures
shown forms a rigid body, and each can maintain its shape under loads. Figure 3.8 shows some
examples of internally unstable structures. A careful look at these structures indicates that each
structure is composed of two rigid parts, AB and BC, connected by a hinged joint B, which cannot
prevent the rotation of one part with respect to the other.

The term rigid structure as used here implies that the structure offers significant resistance to
its change of shape, whereas a nonrigid structure offers negligible resistance to its change of shape
when detached from the supports and would often collapse under its own weight when not supported
externally.
Static Determinacy of Internally Stable Structures

An internally stable structure is considered to be statically determinate externally if all its

support reactions can be determined by solving the equations of equilibrium.

Since a plane internally stable structure can be treated as a plane rigid body, in order for it to
be in equilibrium under a general system of coplanar loads, it must be supported by at least three
reactions that satisfy the three equations of equilibrium (Eqs. 3.2, 3.3, or 3.4).
 Some examples of externally statically determinate plane structures are shown in Fig. 3.9. It
should be noted that each of these structures is supported by three reactions that can be determined
by solving the three equilibrium equations.

If a structure is supported by more than three reactions, then all the reactions cannot be
determined from the three equations of equilibrium. Such structures are termed statically
indeterminate externally. The reactions in excess of those necessary for equilibrium are called
external redundants, and the number of external redundants is referred to as the degree of external
indeterminacy. Thus, if a structure has r reactions (> 3), then the degree of external indeterminacy
can be written as
Figure 3.10 shows some examples of externally statically indeterminate plane structures.

If a structure is supported by fewer than three support reactions, the reactions are not
sufficient to prevent all possible movements of the structure in its plane. Such a structure cannot
remain in equilibrium under a general system of loads and is, therefore, referred to as statically
unstable externally. An example of such a structure is shown in Fig. 3.11. The truss shown in this
figure is supported on only two rollers. It should be obvious that although the two reactions can
prevent the truss from rotating and translating in the vertical direction, they cannot prevent its
translation in the horizontal direction. Thus, the truss is not fully constrained and is statically
unstable. The conditions of static instability, determinacy, and indeterminacy of plane internally
stable structures can be summarized as follows:

where r = number of reactions. It should be realized that the first of

three conditions stated in Eq. (3.8) is both necessary and sufficient in
the sense that if r < 3, the structure is definitely unstable. However,
the remaining two conditions, r =3 and r > 3, although necessary, are not
sufficient for static determinacy and indeterminacy, respectively. In
other words, a structure may be supported by a sufficient number of
reactions (r ≥ 3) but may still be unstable due to improper arrangement
of supports. Such structures are

referred to as geometrically unstable externally. The two types of reaction arrangements that cause
geometric instability in plane structures are shown in Fig. 3.12. The truss in Fig. 3.12(a) is
supported by three parallel reactions. It can be seen from this figure that although there is a
sufficient number of reactions (r = 3), all of them are in the vertical direction, so they cannot
prevent translation of the structure in the horizontal direction. The truss is, therefore, geometrically
unstable. The other type of reaction arrangement that causes geometric instability is shown in Fig.
3.12(b).

Static Determinacy of Internally Unstable Structures—Equations of Condition

Consider an internally unstable structure composed of two rigid members AB and BC

connected by an internal hinge at B, as shown in Fig. 3.13(a). The structure is supported by a
roller support at A and a hinged support at C, which provide three nonparallel nonconcurrent
external reactions.

The structure can, however, be made externally stable by replacing the roller support at A by
a hinged support to prevent the horizontal movement of end A of the structure. Thus, as shown in
Fig. 3.13(b), the minimum number of external reactions required to fully constrain this structure is
four.
These two equations of condition can be used in conjunction with the three equilibrium equations to
determine the five unknown external reactions. Thus, the structure of Fig. 3.13(c) is statically
determinate externally.

For an externally indeterminate structure, the degree of external indeterminacy is expressed as

Alternative Approach

An alternative approach that can be used for determining the static instability,
determinacy, and indeterminacy of internally unstable structures is as follows:

1. Count the total number of support reactions, r. 2. Count the total number of internal forces,
fi, that can be transmitted through the internal hinges and the internal rollers of the structure.
Recall that an internal hinge can transmit two force components, and an internal roller can
transmit one force component. 3. Determine the total number of unknowns, r + fi. 4. Count the
number of rigid members or portions, nr, contained in the structure. 5. Because each of the
individual rigid portions or members of the structure must be in equilibrium under the action of
applied loads, reactions, and/or internal forces, each member must satisfy the three equations
of equilibrium (ΣFx = 0, ΣFy = 0, and ΣM =0). Thus, the total number of equations available
for the entire structure is 3nr. 6. Determine whether the structure is statically unstable,
determinate, or indeterminate by comparing the total number of unknowns, r + fi, to the total
number of equations. If

For indeterminate structures, the degree of external indeterminacy is given by

Applying this alternative procedure to the structure of Fig. 3.13(b), we can see that for this
structure, r = 4, fi = 2, and nr = 2. As the total number of unknowns (r + fi =6) is equal to the total
number of equations (3nr = 6), the structure is statically determinate externally. Similarly, for the
structure of Fig. 3.13(c), r =5, fi = 1, and nr = 2. Since r + fi = 3nr, this structure is also statically
determinate externally.
3. 5 COMPUTATION OF REACTION

The following step-by-step procedure can be used to determine the reactions of plane
statically determinate structures subjected to coplanar loads.

1. Draw a free-body diagram (FBD) of the structure.

a) Show the structure under consideration detached from its supports and
disconnected from all other bodies to which it may be connected. b) Show each
known force or couple on the FBD by an arrow indicating its
direction and sense. c) Show the orientation of the mutually perpendicular xy coordinate
system
to be used in the analysis. d) At each point where the structure has been detached from a support,
show the unknown external reactions being exerted on the structure. The type of
reactions that can be exerted by the various supports are given in Fig. 3.3. e) To
complete the FBD, draw the dimensions of the structure, showing the
locations of all the known and unknown external forces.
2. Check for static determinacy. Using the procedure described in Section 3.4,
determine whether or not the given structure is statically determinate externally. 3. Determine
the unknown reactions by applying the equations of equilibrium and
condition (if any) to the entire structure. 4. Apply an alternative equilibrium equation that
has not been used before to the
entire structure to check the computations.

3.6 PRINCIPLE OF SUPERPOSITION

The principle of superposition simply states that on a linear elastic structure, the
combined effect of several loads acting simultaneously is equal to the algebraic sum of the
effects of each load acting individually.

For example, this principle implies, for the beam of Example 3.2, that the total reactions
due to the two loads acting simultaneously could have been obtained by algebraically summing, or
superimposing, the reactions due to each of the two loads acting individually.

The principle is valid for structures that satisfy the following two conditions:

1. The deformations of the structure must be so small that the equations of equilibrium can
be based on the undeformed geometry of the structure; and 2. The structure must be
composed of linearly elastic material; that is, the stress strain
relationship for the structural material must follow Hooke’s law.

Linear elastic structures, the structures that satisfy these two conditions respond linearly to
applied loads. Engineering structures are generally designed so that under service loads they
undergo small deformations with stresses within the initial linear portions of the stress-strain
curves of their materials.

3.7 REACTIONS OF SIMPLY SUPPORTED STRUCTURES USING PROPORTIONS

Consider a simply supported beam subjected to a vertical concentrated load P, as shown in

Fig. 3.26. By applying the moment equilibrium equations, ΣMB = 0 and ΣMA = 0, we obtain the
expressions for the vertical reactions at supports A and B, respectively, as

where, as shown in Fig. 3.26, a = distance of the load P from support A (measured positive to the
right); b = distance of P from support B (measured positive to the left); and S = distance between
supports A and B. The first of the two expressions in Eq. (3.13) indicates that the magnitude of the
vertical reaction at A is equal to the magnitude of the load P times the ratio of the distance of P from
support B to the distance between the supports A and B. Similarly, the second expression in Eq.
(3.13) states that the magnitude of the vertical reaction at B is equal to the magnitude of P times the
ratio of the distance of P from A to the distance between A and B. These expressions involving
proportions, when used in conjunction with the principle of superposition, make it very convenient to
determine reactions of simply supported structures subjected to series of concentrated loads, as
illustrated by the following example.
PROBLEMS

3.1 through 3.4 Classify each of the structures shown as externally unstable, statically
determinate, or statically indeterminate. If the structure is statically indeterminate externally,
then determine the degree of external indeterminacy.
3.5 through 3.13 Determine the reactions at the supports for the beam shown.
3.16 through 3.41 Determine the reactions at the supports for the structures shown.