47-16 The Civil Engineering Handbook, Second Edition
The deflection of a tangent at the center from a tangent at the right end, d
3
, is determined as ql
4
/128EI.
The difference between d
2
and d
3
gives the centerline deflection as (5/384) x (ql
4
/EI).
Curved Beams
The beam formulas derived in the previous section are based on the assumption that the member to which
bending moment is applied is initially straight. Many members, however, are curved before a bending
moment is applied to them. Such members are called curved beams. In the following discussion all the
conditions applicable to straight-beam formulas are assumed valid, except that the beam is initially curved.
Let the curved beam DOE shown in Fig. 47.13 be subjected to the load Q. The surface in which the
fibers do not change in length is called the neutral surface. The total deformations of the fibers between
two normal sections, such as AB and A
1
B
1
, are assumed to vary proportionally with the distances of the
fibers from the neutral surface. The top fibers are compressed, while those at the bottom are stretched,
i.e., the plane section before bending remains plane after bending.
In Fig. 47.13 the two lines AB and A
1
B
1
are two normal sections of the beam before the loads are
applied. The change in the length of any fiber between these two normal sections after bending is
represented by the distance along the fiber between the lines A
1
B
1
and A¢B¢; the neutral surface is
represented by NN
1
, and the stretch of fiber PP
1
is P
1
P ¢
1
, etc. For convenience, it will be assumed that
line AB is a line of symmetry and does not change direction.
The total deformations of the fibers in the curved beam are proportional to the distances of the fibers
from the neutral surface. However, the strains of the fibers are not proportional to these distances because
the fibers are not of equal length. Within the elastic limit the stress on any fiber in the beam is proportional
to the strain of the fiber, and hence the elastic stresses in the fibers of a curved beam are not proportional
to the distances of the fibers from the neutral surface. The resisting moment in a curved beam, therefore,
is not given by the expression sI/c. Hence the neutral axis in a curved beam does not pass through the
centroid of the section. The distribution of stress over the section and the relative position of the neutral
axis are shown in Fig. 47.13b; if the beam were straight, the stress would be zero at the centroidal axis
and would vary proportionally with the distance from the centroidal axis, as indicated by the dot–dash
line in the figure. The stress on a normal section such as AB is called the circumferential stress.
Sign Conventions
The bending moment M is positive when it decreases the radius of curvature and negative when it
increases the radius of curvature; y is positive when measured toward the convex side of the beam and
negative when measured toward the concave side, that is, toward the center of curvature. With these sign
conventions, s is positive when it is a tensile stress.
Circumferential Stresses
Figure 47.14 shows a free-body diagram of the portion of the body on one side of the section; the
equations of equilibrium are applied to the forces acting on this portion. The equations obtained are
FIGURE 47.13 Bending of curved beams.
D
Q
C
C
′
Q
O′
1
P′
1
Q
B′
B
1
B
P
P
1
O
O
1
N
N
1
A
A
′
A
1
Q
y
E
A
N
O
B
(a) (b)