A beam’s deflection, bending quest,

the Double Integration’s best,

we start with loads and moments bright,
to trace the curve from left to right.

From simply supported beams so fine,

to cantilevered strength, we find the line,
integrate twice, the path we choose,
with math and constants, we can’t lose.

Elastic shapes and curves reveal,

the secrets beams in stress conceal,
with Double Integration, we define,
the beam’s true path, a graceful line.

This lecture is a written adaptation of the video lecture on An Introduction to the Double
Integration Method featured in our online Structural Analysis I course.

©2024 Educative Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved.

Structural Analysis I Lecture Notes

Lecture 5.2: Double Integration Method

(Introduction)
This lecture explains the Double Integration Method used to calculate beam deflection.
With this method, we can find an algebraic equation for the elastic curve of a statically
determinate beam.

Let's look at a simply supported beam with a general load. Figure 5.34 shows the elastic
curve of this beam. Our objective is to find the equation that describes this elastic curve.
V(x)

A B x

Figure 5.34: A simply supported beam and its elastic curve.

Let's represent the beam's deflection using a function named v. We want to write v using a
mathematical expression. The deflection changes along the x-axis, so we need to define v as
a function of x.

It's important to note that v equals zero at the pin and roller supports. However, the func-
tion gives a non-zero value at other positions on the beam.

To start writing the equation, we draw a tangent line to the elastic curve at an arbitrary
point on the x-axis. Figure 5.35 shows this step.
V(x)
dx
A B x
dv

tangent line

Figure 5.35: The slope of an elastic curve at an arbitrary point in a beam.

Notice that the tangent line and the horizontal and vertical axes form a right triangle. We
can label the sides of this right triangle as dx and dv (see Figure 5.35). Using these labels, we
can express the angle between the tangent line and the horizontal axis, which we'll call θ,
as follows.
tan( )  dv / dx [5.1]

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Structural Analysis I Lecture Notes

Since beams typically have small deflections, we can assume that θ is a small angle. This
means we can say that the tangent of θ is equal to θ itself as long as θ is measured in radi-
ans. In other words, we can write θ = tan(θ). Using this assumption, we can rewrite Equa-
tion [5.1] as follows.
tan( )  dv / dx   [5.2]
Or,
dv   dx [5.3]
If we integrate both sides of Equation [5.3], the following equation results.

 dv    dx  v    dx [5.4]

To find an algebraic expression for v, we need to calculate ∫θ dx. But before integrating, we
first need to write θ in terms of x. We can do this by expressing θ using the beam's bending
moment equation, already written in terms of x.

Let's look at how a beam segment deforms when a positive bending moment is applied, as
illustrated in Figure 5.36.

compression

tension

Figure 5.36: The deformed shape of a beam segment due to a positive bending moment .
The beam segment's concave-up deformation shows that the top fibers are compressed
while the bottom fibers are stretched in tension. Figure 5.37 depicts how a plane in the mid-
dle of the beam divides the compression and tension zones.

compression zone

tension zone

Figure 5.37: The compression and tension zones in a typical beam segment.
Figure 5.38 illustrates two adjacent planes, A and B, in the compression zone of the beam
segment. Plane A is located at the outer surface of the segment, so its fibers experience
more compression compared to the fibers on plane B, which lie beneath plane A. The
amount of compression a fiber undergoes decreases as it gets closer to the middle of the

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Structural Analysis I Lecture Notes

beam. In other words, fibers nearer the beam's midpoint experience less compression.

plane A

plane B

Figure 5.38: Two compression planes in a beam segment.

The fibers in the beam segment's tension zone behave similarly. Fibers nearer to the beam's
middle are stretched less than those closer to the segment's outer surface. As a result, there
must be a surface inside the beam where the fibers are neither compressed nor stretched.
This surface, called the neutral surface, separates the tension zone from the compression
zone (see Figure 5.39).
neutral surface compression

tension

Figure 5.39: The neutral surface in a beam.

In a two-dimensional analysis of a beam, the neutral surface is referred to as the neutral
axis. Figure 5.40 shows a two-dimensional representation of a beam and its neutral axis.
When the beam bends, all its fibers change in length except for the fiber along the neutral
axis.

neutral axis

Figure 5.40: The neutral axis in a beam.

Let's examine a thin slice of a beam. We'll call the width of this beam slice dx (see Figure
5.41).
V(x)

A x
dx

Figure 5.41: A thin slice of a beam.

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Structural Analysis I Lecture Notes

Figure 5.42 illustrates the deformed shape of the thin slice, which is assumed to be a result
of a positive bending moment being applied.

radius of curvature

r
dθ

ds

Figure 5.42: A deformed beam segment due to a positive bending moment.

Let's call the arc length along the neutral axis of the beam slice ds (see Figure 5.42). We can
assume that the arc is part of a circle with radius r. This radius is known as the radius of
curvature. We can write the following relationship between r, ds, and dθ using basic geom-
etry.
rd  ds [5.5]

Figure 5.43 illustrates dθ as the difference between the slopes at the two ends of the beam
segment.

negative slope positive slope

Figure 5.43: The relationship between dθ and the end slopes in a beam segment.
Since the length ds is measured along the beam's neutral axis, it is equal to dx (i.e., ds = dx).
This means that the length of the fiber along the neutral axis stays the same, even though
the segment has a concave-up deflection. Therefore, we can rewrite Equation [5.5] as fol-
lows.
r d  dx [5.6]

Or,
1
d  dx [5.7]
r
If we integrate both sides of Equation [5.7], we get Equation [5.8].

Dr. Structure 5
Structural Analysis I Lecture Notes

1
  dx [5.8]
r
Equation [5.8] expresses θ in terms of the radius of curvature (r), which can be written in
terms of the bending moment (M).

The deflection of a beam segment is directly proportional to the absolute value of the bend-
ing moment in that segment. In other words, a larger bending moment results in a larger
deflection. Moreover, the radius of curvature (r) of the segment is inversely proportional
to the absolute value of the bending moment (M). This means that as the bending moment
increases, the radius of curvature decreases, as shown in Figure 5.44.

r2 r2
r1 r1

M2 M2
M1 M1

M1r1  M 2r2  constant

Figure 5.44: The relationship between the bending moment and radius of curvature in a beam segment.
The product of M and r is constant for a linear elastic material. This constant depends on
the beam's geometry and material properties. More specifically, M × r = E × I, where E rep-
resents the material's modulus of elasticity, and I represents the moment of inertia of the
beam's cross-section about the bending axis (see Figure 5.45).

y
axis of bending

cross-section of the beam

Figure 5.45: The axis of bending in a typical beam segment subjected to gravity load in the y-direction.
We can express the relationship between r, M, E, and I using the following equation.
1 M
= [5.9]
r EI

By substituting Equation [5.9] into Equation [5.8], we can rewrite the equation as follows.

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Structural Analysis I Lecture Notes

1 M
  dx    dx [5.10]
r EI

Since v = ∫θ dx (see Equation [5.4]), we can use Equation [5.10] to write:

M 2
v   d x [5.11]
EI
Equation [5.11] allows us to express v in terms of x, since the bending moment (M) is an
algebraic expression in terms of x. Let's look at two examples to see how Equation [5.11] is
used in practice.

Consider a cantilever beam of length L with a concentrated load P applied at its free end,
as illustrated in Figure 5.46. We aim to find the equation that describes the beam's elastic
curve.
P

A B x

Figure 5.46: A cantilever beam subjected to a concentrated load.

Figure 5.47 illustrates the free-body diagram of the beam, which we can use to write the
following equation for the bending moment: M(x) = Px - PL, where 0 ≤ x ≤ L.

P
P

A B x
L
PL

Figure 5.47: The free-body diagram for a cantilever beam.

Using the moment equation, we can expand Equation [5.11] as follows.

M 2 1
v  x    d x   Px  PL  d x
2
[5.12]
EI EI

After integrating the right-hand side of Equation [5.12], we obtain:

1 1 
v x   2
  Px  PLx  C1  dx [5.13]
EI 2 
Integrating the right-hand side of Equation [5.13] gives Equation [5.14].

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Structural Analysis I Lecture Notes

1 1 3 1 
v x   Px  PLx 2  C1x  C2  [5.14]
EI  6 2 

Equation [5.14] has two integration constants: C1 and C2. They can be determined using the
imposed boundary conditions on the beam. These conditions are:

The beam's deflection at x = 0 is zero.

The slope of the elastic curve at x = 0 is zero.

Using Equation [5.14], the first boundary condition can be written as follows.
1 1 1 
v 0  P  03  PL  02  C1  0  C2   0 [5.15]
EI  6 2 
Solving Equation [5.15] for C₂, we find that C₂ = 0.

To apply the second boundary condition, we need an algebraic expression for the slope of
the elastic curve. Since the slope is the first derivative of the deflection, we can obtain the
slope equation by differentiating Equation [5.14] with respect to x, like this:
dv 1 1 2 
 x    Px  PLx  C1  [5.16]
dx EI  2 

Then, we can write the second boundary condition as:

1 1 
 0  P  02  PL  0  C1   0 [5.17]
EI  2 

Equation [5.17] gives us C₁ = 0. Therefore, the deflection equation for the cantilever beam
simplifies to:
1 1 3 1 
v x    Px  PLx 2  [5.18]
EI  6 2 

This equation represents the elastic curve for the beam shown in Figure 5.46. The equation
is valid for any x value between 0 and L.

Now, let's consider the simply supported beam shown in Figure 5.48. Assuming the beam
has a constant EI, we aim to find its deflection equation.

100 N/m

A B

10 m

Figure 5.48: A simply supported beam subjected to a uniformly distributed load.

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Structural Analysis I Lecture Notes

The moment equation for the beam can be written as shown in Figure 5.49.

100 N/m

A B
10 m

500 N 500 N
100 N/m

A M (x ) 500x x2 0  x  10
x
M
500 N

Figure 5.49: The free-body diagram and moment equation for a simply supported beam.
Using the beam's moment equation, we can rewrite Equation [5.11] as follows.

v  x   
M 2
EI
d x
1
EI
 2 2
 500x  50x d x  [5.19]

Integrating the right-hand side of Equation [5.19] with respect to x twice, we get the follow-
ing algebraic expression for v:

1  250 3 25 4 
v x   x  x  C1x  C2  [5.20]
EI  3 6 

To determine the integration constants C₁ and C₂, we need to apply a pair of boundary con-
ditions. The boundary conditions for the simply supported beam are:

1. The deflection of the beam at x = 0 is zero.

2. The deflection of the beam at x = L is zero.

Using the first boundary condition, we can write the following equation:

1  250 25 4 
v 0   03   0  C1  0  C2   0 [5.21]
EI  3 6 
Solving Equation [5.21] for C₂, we get C₂ = 0.

The second boundary condition yields the following equation.

1  250 25 
v 10    103   104  C1  10   0 [5.22]
EI  3 6 
Solving Equation [5.22] for C1, we get C1 = (-12500)⁄3. Therefore, the deflection equation for
the beam can be written as follows.

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Structural Analysis I Lecture Notes

25x  x3 
v x   2
 10x   500  [5.23]
3EI 2 
 

Equation [5.23] is valid for any x value between 0 and L meters, where L is the length of the
beam. We can use this equation to calculate the deflection of the beam at any point along
the x-axis or to graph the beam's elastic curve whenever necessary.

Lecture 5.2 10