Basic Mechanics I

Statics

Chapter 5
Distributed Forces, Centroid and Centers of gravity
 CVL 297: Basic Mechanics I

Chapter 5: Distributed Forces, Centroid

and Centers of gravity
Table of content

1. Introduction
2. Distributed forces
3. Center of gravity
4. Center of Mass
5. Centroid

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Introduction
▪ In this chapter, we will study the various common examples of forces distributed throughout volumes, over
areas, and along lines. In all these problems we often need to determine the resultant of the distributed forces
and the location of the resultant.

▪ Center of gravity: The earth exerts a gravitational force on each of the particles forming a body. These forces
can be replace by a single equivalent force equal to the weight of the body and applied at the center of gravity
for the body.

▪ The centroid of an area is analogous to the center of gravity of a body. The concept of the first moment of an
area is used to locate the centroid.

▪ After studying this chapter you will be able to:

➢ Find the resultants of distributed forces

➢ Locate centroid, center of gravity and center of mass for composite bodies

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Distributed forces
▪ Rather than being strictly concentrated, all real forces are spread out, or distributed, to some degree.

▪ Forces may be distributed by:

➢ Line (Example: The weight of a power transmission cable)

➢ Area (Example: Water pressure against a dam)

➢ Volume (Example: The self weight of a beam)

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Distributed forces
▪ Beams are structural members which offer resistance to bending due to applied loads

▪ Types of beams (With point loads):

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Distributed forces
▪ Example of a beam subjected to distributed load:

▪ For a beam subjected to a distributed load, we must frequently determine the equivalent point load (both
magnitude and location):

➢ The magnitude is the area under the load-distribution curve

➢ The location is at the centroid of the area
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Distributed forces
▪ For the simple load distributions shown, the areas and
horizontal centroid locations are easily determined.

▪ Note that it is not always necessary to find the centroid

of a composite shape like that shown in Figure (c). The
individual parts may be treated separately (here a
rectangle and triangle).

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Distributed forces
Example
The shown beam supports a distributed load as shown.
(a) Determine the reactions at the supports.

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Distributed forces
a = 3m The shown beam supports a distributed load
b = 11m as shown.
c = 9m (a) Determine the reactions at the support A.
W1= 50kN/m
W2= 40 kN/m

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Distributed forces
a = 3m
b = 11m
c = 9m
W1= 50kN/m
W2= 40 kN/m

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Center of Gravity
▪ Definition: the center of gravity is an imaginary point in a body of matter at which the entire weight of a body
may be considered as concentrated so that if supported at this point the body would remain in equilibrium in
any position

▪ Finding the center of gravity experimentally

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Center of Gravity
▪ With reference to the figure, we equate the moment of the weight W
about the y-axis to the sum of the moments about the y-axis of all the
element weights dW, or
‫𝑊𝑑𝑥 ׬‬
𝑥𝑊
ҧ = න 𝑥𝑑𝑊 or 𝑥ҧ =
𝑊

▪ Similarly, with axis relabeling in the case of the z-axis (to make it
horizontal), we obtain:

‫𝑊𝑑𝑦 ׬‬ ‫𝑊𝑑𝑧 ׬‬
𝑦ത = 𝑧ҧ =
𝑊 𝑊

▪ In each case, 𝑊 = ‫𝑊𝑑 ׬‬, where all infinite summations are over the entire body.

▪ Those formulas give the center of gravity.

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Center of Mass
▪ By substituting W=mg and dW =g dm, and letting the acceleration of
gravity be constant over the body, we obtain:

‫𝑚𝑑𝑥 ׬‬ ‫𝑚𝑑𝑦 ׬‬ ‫𝑚𝑑𝑧 ׬‬

𝑥ҧ = 𝑦ത = 𝑧ҧ =
𝑚 𝑚 𝑚
These formulas give the location of the center of mass.

▪ Note that the center of gravity and the center of mass, for ordinary sized
bodies, are essentially the same.

▪ But, due to the variation of g with altitude, the mass center of a mile high
uniform metal rod would be at its geometric center, where as the center of
gravity would be a bit lower

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Centroid
▪ Definition: the centroid is defined as the geometric center of a given shape. Its location is independent from
gravity and mass distribution. It is a property of only the geometry of a body.

▪ In a similar fashion, we can derive the centroid locations of volumes, areas, and lines as:

Volumes Areas Lines

‫𝑉𝑑𝑥 ׬‬ ‫𝐴𝑑𝑥 ׬‬ ‫𝐿𝑑𝑥 ׬‬

𝑥ҧ = 𝑥ҧ = 𝑥ҧ =
𝑉 𝐴 𝐿

‫𝑉𝑑𝑦 ׬‬ ‫𝐴𝑑𝑦 ׬‬ ‫𝐿𝑑𝑦 ׬‬

𝑦ത = 𝑦ത = 𝑦ത =
𝑉 𝐴 𝐿

‫𝑉𝑑𝑧 ׬‬ ‫𝐴𝑑𝑧 ׬‬ ‫𝐿𝑑𝑧 ׬‬

𝑧ҧ = 𝑧ҧ = 𝑧ҧ =
𝑉 𝐴 𝐿 15
Centroid
▪ Consider the disk of half steel and half aluminum:

▪ The centroid of the body is at its geometric center as shown.

▪ The mass center is offset to the right

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Centroid
▪ Example: Centroid of a triangular area. Determine the distance from the base of a triangle of altitude h to the
centroid of its area.

▪ The x-axis is taken to coincide with the base.

▪ A differential strip of area dA=x dy is chosen.

▪ By similar triangles x/(h- y)=b/h.

𝐴𝑦ത = න 𝑦𝑐 𝑑𝐴

ℎ
𝑏ℎ 𝑏(ℎ − 𝑦) 𝑏ℎ2
𝑦ത = න 𝑦 𝑑𝑦 =
2 0 ℎ 6

ℎ
𝑦ത =
3

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Centroid
▪ Example: Centroid of a triangular area. Determine the distance from the base of a triangle of altitude h to the
centroid of its area.

▪ This same result holds with respect to either of the other two sides of
the triangle considered a new base with corresponding new altitude.

▪ Thus, the centroid lies at the intersection of the medians, since the
distance of this point from any side is one-third the altitude of the
triangle with that side considered the base.

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Centroid
▪ Example: Determine the Centroid location of the area shown

𝑦 ‫𝐴𝑑𝑥 ׬‬ ‫𝑥𝑑𝑦𝑥 ׬‬
‫𝐴𝑑 𝑐𝑦 ׬‬ ‫ ׬‬2 𝑦𝑑𝑥
𝑦ത = = 𝑥ҧ = =
‫𝐴𝑑 ׬‬ ‫𝑥𝑑𝑦 ׬‬ ‫𝐴𝑑 ׬‬ ‫𝑥𝑑𝑦 ׬‬

1 4 4
‫׬‬ (3𝑥 2 )2 𝑑𝑥 ‫׬‬0 𝑥(3𝑥 2 )𝑑𝑥
=2 4
0
= 4
‫׬‬0 3𝑥 2 𝑑𝑥 ‫׬‬0 3𝑥 2 𝑑𝑥

4 4
1 𝑥5 9 𝑥4
3 4ฬ
2 (9) 5 ฬ0 (4) 5
72 3(4)5
= 4 = 10 3 = = 0
4 = =3
𝑥3 (4) 5 𝑥3 4(4)3
3 3ฬ 3 3ฬ
0 0

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Centroid

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Centroid

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Composite technique
▪ Suppose the body in the figure is divided into three parts as shown.

▪ The moment principle gives

𝑚1 + 𝑚2 + 𝑚3 𝑔𝑋ത = 𝑚1 𝑔𝑥1 + 𝑚2 𝑔𝑥2 + 𝑚3 𝑔𝑥3

▪ Where 𝑋ത is the x-coordinate of the mass center of the entire body.

▪ Generalizing, we have the mass center relationships:

σ 𝑚𝑥ҧ σ 𝑚𝑦ത σ 𝑚𝑧ҧ

𝑋ത = 𝑌ത = 𝑍ҧ =
σ𝑚 σ𝑚 σ𝑚

▪ Similar relationships exist for the centroids of volumes, areas, and lines. For example, for area centroid we have:

σ 𝐴𝑥ҧ σ 𝐴𝑦ത σ 𝐴𝑧 ҧ
𝑋ത = 𝑌ത = 𝑍ҧ =
σ𝐴 σ𝐴 σ𝐴 22
Sample problem 1
SOLUTION:
1) Divide the area into a triangle, rectangle, and semicircle with a circular
cutout.

2) Calculate the area and the centroid of each part with respect to the axes.
Be sure to reference everything to the same x-y system.

3) Find the total area by subtracting the area of the circular cutout.
QUESTION:
4) Compute the coordinates of the area centroid.
For the plane area shown, determine
the location of the centroid.

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Sample problem 1

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Sample problem 1

X =  x A + 757.7 10 3 mm 3
=
 A 13.828 103 mm 2
X = 54.8 mm

Y =  y A + 506.2 103 mm 3
=
 A 13.828 103 mm 2
Y = 36.6 mm

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Sample problem 2
SOLUTION:
1) Divide the area into a triangle, rectangle with a semicircular and a
rectangular cutout.

2) Calculate the area and the centroid of each part with respect to the axes.
Be sure to reference everything to the same x-y system.

3) Find the total area by subtracting the area of the semicircular and
QUESTION: rectangular cutout.
For the plane area shown, determine
4) Compute the coordinates of the area centroid.
the location of the centroid.

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Sample problem 2

σ 𝐴𝑥ҧ 959
ത
𝑋= = = 7.5 in
σ𝐴 127.9

σ 𝐴𝑦ത 650
𝑌ത = = = 5.08 in
σ𝐴 127.9
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Sample problem 3

QUESTION:
Locate the centroid of the wire
shown in the figure.

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Sample problem 4

SOLUTION:
• Form the machine element from a rectangular parallelepiped and
a quarter cylinder and then subtracting two 1-in. diameter
cylinders.

QUESTION:
Locate the centroid of the steel
machine element shown in the
figure. The diameter of each hole
is 1in.

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Sample problem 4

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Sample problem 4

(
X =  x V  V = 3.08 in 4 ) (5.286 in 3 )
𝑋ሜ = 0.583 in.

(
Y =  yV  V = − 5.047 in 4 ) (5.286 in 3 )
𝑌ሜ = − 0.955 in.

𝑍ሜ = ෍ 𝑧𝑉
lj ൘෍ 𝑉 = 8.555 in4 Τ 5.286 in3
𝑍ሜ = 1.62 in.

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Sample problem 5
QUESTION:
Locate the center of mass of the bracket-and-shaft combination. The vertical face is made from sheet metal which
has a mass of 25 kg/m2. The material of the horizontal base has a mass of 40 kg/m2, and the steel shaft has a
density of 7.83 Mg/m3.

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Sample problem 4
▪ From Table D/3 for Part 1 we have

▪ For Part 3 we see from Table D/3 that the centroid of the triangular mass is one-
third of its altitude above its base.

1
𝑚1 = 𝜋 ∗ 0.052 ∗ 25 = 0.098 𝐾𝑔
2
𝑚2 = 0.15 ∗ 0.15 ∗ 25 = 0.562 𝑘𝑔
1
𝑚3 = − ∗ 0.1 ∗ 0.075 ∗ 25 = − 0.093 𝑘𝑔
2
𝑚4 = 0.1 ∗ 0.15 ∗ 40 = 0.6 𝑘𝑔
𝑚5 = 𝜋 ∗ 0.022 ∗ 0.15 ∗ 7.83 ∗ 1000 = 1.475 𝑘𝑔
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Distributed forces
Example
The shown beam supports a distributed load as shown.
(a) Determine the reactions at the supports.

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Distributed forces

The shown beam supports a distributed load as shown.

(a) Determine the equivalent concentrated load.
(b) Determine the reactions at the supports.
a. Equivalent Concentrated Load.
Divide the area under the load curve into two triangles and
construct the table below. To simplify the computations and
tabulation, the given loads per unit length have been converted
into kN/m.

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Distributed forces
The shown beam supports a distributed load as shown.
(a) Determine the equivalent concentrated load.
(b) Determine the reactions at the supports.

Bx = 0.0

-18 x 3.5 + By x 6 = 0.0 By = 10.5 kN

18 x 2.5 – Ay x 6 = 0.0 Ay = 7.5 kN

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