DEFLECTION

• Because the design of beams is frequently

governed by rigidity rather than strength. For
example, building codes specify limits on
deflections as well as stresses. Excessive
deflection of a beam not only is visually
disturbing but also may cause damage to
other parts of the building. For this reason,
building codes limit the maximum deflection
of a beam to about 1/360th of its spans.
 A number of analytical methods are available
for determining the deflections of beams.
Their common basis is the differential
equation that relates the deflection to the
bending moment. The solution of this
equation is complicated because the bending
moment is usually a discontinuous function,
so that the equations must be integrated in a
piecewise fashion.
 Consider two such methods in this text:
 Method of double integration. The primary
advantage of the double- integration method
is that it produces the equation for the
deflection everywhere along the beams.
 Moment-area method The moment- area
method is a semi graphical procedure that
utilizes the properties of the area under the
bending moment diagram. It is the quickest
way to compute the deflection at a specific
location if the bending moment diagram has a
simple shape.
 The method of superposition, in which the
applied loading is represented as a series of
simple loads for which deflection formulas are
available. Then the desired deflection is
computed by adding the contributions of the
component loads (principle of superposition).
DOUBLE INTEGRATION METHOD
 DOUBLE INTEGRATION METHOD
 Figure 6.1 (a) illustrates the bending
deformation of a beam, the displacements
and slopes are very small if the stresses are
below the elastic limit. The deformed axis of
the beam is called its elastic curve. Derive the
differential equation for the elastic curve and
describe a method for its solution.
 DOUBLE INTEGRATION METHOD
a. Differential equation of the elastic curve
As shown, the vertical deflection of A, denoted
by v, is considered to be positive if directed in the
positive direction of the y-axis - that is, upward in
Fig . 6.1 (a). Because the axis of the beam lies on
the neutral surface, its length does not change.
Therefore, the distance , measured along the
elastic curve, is also x. It follows that the
horizontal deflection of A is negligible provided
the slope of the elastic curve remains small.
Consider next the deformation of an
infinitesimal segment AB of the beam axis, as
shown in Fig. 6.1 (b). The elastic curve A’B’ of
the segment has the same length dx as the
undeformed segment.
 If we let v be the deflection of A, then the
deflection of B is v +dv, with dv being the
infinitesimal change in the deflection segment
are denoted by θand θ+dθ. From the
geometry of the figure,
 The approximation is justified because θis
small. From Fig. 6.1 (b), dx = ρ d θ (a)
 where ρ is the radius of curvature of the
deformed segment. Rewriting Eq. (a) as 1/ ρ=
d θ /dx and substituting θfrom Eq. (6.1),

When deriving the flexure formula in Art. 5.2,

we obtained the moment-curvature
relationship


Where:M is the bending moment acting on the

segment, E is the modulus of elasticity of the
beam material, and I represents the modulus
of inertia of the cross-sectional area about the
neutral (centroidal) axis.

Substitution of Eq.(5.2b) into Eq.(6.2)yields

 which the differential equation of the elastic
curve. The product EI, called the flexural
rigidity of the beam, is usually constant along
the beam. It is convenient to write Eq. (6.3a)in
the form

EI v ”= M
Where the prime denotes differentiation with
respect to x ; that is, dv /dx = v ’, d2 v /dx2 = v
 b. Double integration of the
differential equation
 If EI is constant and M is a known function of
x, integration of Eq. (6.3b) yields

 A second integration gives

 b. Double integration of the
differential equation
 where C1 and C2 are constants of integration
to be determined from the prescribed
constraints (for example, the boundary
conditions) on the deformation of the beam.
Because Eq. (6.5) gives the deflection v as a
function of x, it is called the equation of the
elastic curve.
 b. Double integration of the
differential equation
 In Eq. (6.5), the term gives the shape of the
elastic curve. The position of the curve is
determined by the constants of integration :
C1 represents a rigid-body rotation about the
origin and C2 is a rigid-body displacement in
the y-direction. Hence, the computation of the
constants is equivalent to adjusting the
position of the elastic curve so that it fits
properly on the supports
 b. Double integration of the
differential equation
• If the bending moment of flexural rigidity is
not a smooth function of x, a separate
differential equation must be written for each
beam segment between the discontinuities.
This means that if there are n such segments,
two integrations will produce 2n constants of
integration (two per segment). There are also
2n equations available for finding the
constants.
 b. Double integration of the
differential equation
 The elastic curve must not contain gaps or
kinds. In other words, the slopes and
deflections must be continuous at the
junctions where the segments meet. Because
there are n-1 junctions between the n
segments, these continuity conditions give us
2(n-1) equations.
 b. Double integration of the
differential equation
Two additional equations are provided by the
boundary conditions imposed by the supports,
so that there are a total of 2 (n-1)+2 = 2n
equations.
. Procedure for double integration
 The following procedure assumes that EI is
constant in each segment of the beam:
Sketch the elastic curve of the beam,
taking into account the boundary conditions
zero displacement at pin supports as well as
zero displacement and zero slope at built-in
(cantilever ) supports.
 . Procedure for double integration
 Use the method of sections to determine the
bending moment M at an arbitrary distance x
from the origin. Always show M acting in the
positive direction on the free-body diagram. If
the loading has discontinuities, a separate
expression for M must be obtained for each
segment between the discontinuities.
. Procedure for double integration
 By integration the expressions for M twice,
obtain an expression for EI x v in each
segment. Do not forget to include the
constants of integration.
 Evaluate the constants of integration from the
boundary integration and the continuity
integration on slope and deflection between
segments.
. Procedure for double integration
 Frequently only the magnitude of the
deflection, called the displacement, is
required. We denote the displacement by δ;
that is
NOTE: ∫ x^n dx = x^n+1 / n+1
EXAMPLE
The cantilever beam AB of length L shown in
Fig. (a) carries a uniformly distributed load of
intensity w0, which includes the weight of the
beam.
(1) Derive the equation of the elastic curve.
(2) Compute the maximum displacement if
the beam is a W12 x 35 section using L= 8 ft,
w0= 400 lb/ft, and E= 29 10^6 psi.
Deflection
 The dashed line in Fig. (a) represents the
elastic curve of the beam. The bending
moment acting at the distance x from the left
end can be obtained from the free-body
diagram in Fig. (b) (note that V and M are
shown acting in their positive directions):
 Substituting the expression for M into the
differential equation EIv’’= M, we get

EIv’’ = -wox^2 / 2

Successive integrations yield:

First:
EIv’= - wox^3 / 6 + C1
Second:
EIv= - wox^4 / 24 + C1x +C2
 The constants C1 and C2 are obtained from
the boundary conditions at the built-in end B,
which are:
(support prevents rotation at B).
Substituting v0 = 0 and x = L into Eq. (a), we get

C1= woL^3 / 6
(support prevents deflection at B).
With v= 0 and x = L, Eq. (b) becomes
 If we substitute C1 and C2 into Eq. (b), the
equation of the elastic curve is

From Table B-6 in Appendix B, the properties

of a W12 35 shape are I = 285 in.4 and S =
45.6 in^3 (section modulus). From the result
of Part 1, the maximum displacement of the
beam is (converting feet to inches)
 To get a better appreciation of the
magnitude of the displacement, let us
compute the maximum bending stress in the
beam. The magnitude of the maximum
bending moment, which occurs at B, is
 Mmax = woL^2 / 2. Therefore, the maximum
bending stress is
EXAMPLE
 The simply supported wood beam ABC in Fig.
(a) has the rectangular cross section shown.
The beam supports a concentrated load of
300 N located 2 m from the left support.
Determine the maximum displacement and
the maximum slope angle of the beam. Use E
= 12 GPa for the modulus of elasticity. Neglect
the weight of the beam. (Note that the
reactions at A and C have already been
computed by equilibrium analysis.)
 The moment of inertia of the cross-sectional
area is

 Therefore, the flexural rigidity of the beam is

 The elastic curve is shown by the dashed line

in Fig. (a). Because the loading is
discontinuous at B, the beam must be divided
into two segments: AB and BC. The
 bending moments in the two segments of the
beam can be derived from the free-body
diagrams in Fig. (b). The results are.
 Because the expressions for bending
moments in segments AB and BC are different,
they must be treated separately during double
integration. Substituting the bending
moments into Eq. (6.3b) and integrating twice
yields the following:

 The four constants of integration, C1 to C4,
can be found from the following boundary and
continuity conditions:
 Substituting the values of the constants and
EI into Eqs. (a)–(d), we obtain the following
results:
 The maximum displacement occurs where
the slope of the elastic curve is zero. This
point is in the longer of the two segments—
namely, in AB. Setting v’ = 0 in segment AB, we
get.

The corresponding deflection is

 The negative sign indicates that the deflection
is downward, as expected. Thus, the
maximum displacement is.

By inspection of the elastic curve in Fig. (a),

the largest slope occurs at C. Its value is
 According to the sign conventions for slopes,
the positive value for v’ means that the beam
rotates counterclockwise at C (this is
consistent with the sketch of the elastic curve
in Fig. (a)). Therefore, the maximum slope
angle of the beam is.
EXAMPLE
 The cantilever beam ABC in Fig. (a) consists of
two segments with different moments of
inertia: Io for segment AB and 2Io for segment
BC. Segment AB carries a uniformly
distributed load of intensity 200 lb/ft. Using E
= 10 x10^6 psi and Io = 40 in^4, determine the
maximum displacement of the beam
 The dashed line in Fig. (a) represents the
elastic curve of the beam. The bending
moments in the two segments, obtained from
the free-body diagrams in Fig. (b), are
 Substituting the expressions for M into Eq.
(6.3b) and integrating twice yield the following
results:
 The conditions for evaluating the four
constants of integration follow:
 The maximum deflection of the beam occurs
at A—that is, at x = 0. From Eq. (b), we get

 The negative sign indicates that the deflection

of A is downward, as anticipated. Therefore,
the maximum displacement is