DEFLECTION OF BEAMS

The following are the standard cases for deflection of beamsCase

Slope

Deflection

Cantilever with Point Load

W
L

S = W.L2
2E
Will be 0 at support and
Max at load end

W must be in Newtons

= W.L3
3E

Will be 0 at support and

Max at load end

Cantilever with UDL

S = .L3
6E

UDL of N/m

= .L4
8E

L
Will be 0 at support and
Max at load end

UDL of N/m
Simply Supported with Load at centre
W

S = W.L2
16E

Will be 0 at support and

Max at load end

= W.L3
48.E

L
RA

RB

W must be in Newtons

Will be Max at ends

Will be Max at centre

Simply Supported with UDL

S = .L3
24E

UDL of N/m

= 5. .L4
384.E

L
RA

RB

UDL of N/m

Will be Max at ends

Will be Max at centre

Built in with central Point Load

S = 0

W
L

Will be 0 at ends and

centre

= __W.L3
192.E

Will be Max at centre

W must be in Newtons
Built in with UDL

S = 0
UDL of N/m
L
UDL of N/m

Will be 0 at ends and

centre

= _ .L4
384.E

Will be Max at centre

Worked Examples
A cantilever is made from 43 grade structural steel and is 3m long and made of 120mm tube
with a wall thickness of 20mm ( 80mm bore ). It carries a load of 500kg at the end.
Calculate1) The deflection
2) Stress
3) The stiffness
4) The natural frequency
_________________
This is the case belowCantilever with Point Load

S = W.L2
2E

= W.L3
3E

L
W must be in Newtons

Will be Max at B

Will be Max at B

For grade 43 steel, which is the normal Black Bar or hot rolled section, E will be 205GN/m 2 ( 205
x 109 ) with a yield stress of 275MN/m2.
W is 500kg = 500 x 9.81 = 4905N
The first step is to calculate the second moment of areaI = (D4 d4) = 3.142 ( 0.124 - 0.084 ) = 3.142 ( 0.0002074 0.00004096)
64
64
64
I = 3.142 ( 0.0001665 )
64
I = 0.00000817m4 or 8.17 x 10-6

1) For deflection
Deflection

= - W.L3
3E

= -_______ 4905 x 33__________

3 x 205 x 109 x 8.17 x 10-6

Deflection

= -_______ 4905 x 33_____ = ___ 132435_____

3 x 205 x 8.17 x 109-6
5024.55 x 10-3

Deflection

= -____44145_____ = 0.026m or 26mm

5024.55 x 1000

The deflection at the end will be 26mm.

2) Stress
Stress = M.y

Where M = bending moment

y = Radius
I = Second moment of area

The bending moment for a cantilever is given by W x L

Stress = M.y

= ( W x L ). R

= 4905 x 3 x 0.06
8.17 x 10-6

Stress = 108000000N/m2 or 108MN/m2

The yield stress is 275MN/m2 and we should not exceed 50 to 60% of yield stress depending on
type of load 60% for dead of fixed load and 50% for live load or one which is loaded and
unloaded. 50% of 275 is 137.5 MN/m 2 and 60% is 165 MN/m2. We only have 108 MN/m 2 so it is
perfectly safe.
The Factor of safety is given by FOS = Yeild stress = 275 = 2.54
Load stress
108
A minimum factor of safety of 1.67 to 2 is normally considered as acceptable ( 1.67 for dead
loads and 2 for live loads which correspond to 50 and 60% of yield.

3) Stiffness
The Stiffness is given by the formulaStiffness = __Load__
Deflection

= 4905N
0.026m

= 188634N/m or 188.6kN/m

Stiffness is the theoretical load to cause a deflection of 1m. The reason I say theoretical is that
the material will fail long before it can deflect by that amount.

4) Natural frequency
The natural frequency of any beam is given by the formulaNatural Frequency

= 1
__9.81___
2 deflection

Natural Frequency

= ___1____
__9.81_
2 x 3.142 0.026m

Natural Frequency

= __1__ x 377.3
6.284

= 19.42
6.284

Natural Frequency

3.09 cycles/second or Hertz

Example 2
A beam is 4m long and carries a point load in the centre of 2 Tonne and a UDL of
0.5Tonne/m. The beam is grade 43 steel and I section and 100mm wide at top, 160mm deep
and 10mm thick. Calculatea) Deflection
b) Natural frequency.
In this case, the loads are 2 Tonne = 2 x 1000 x 9.81 = 19620N
0.5 T/m = 0.5 x 1000 x 9.81 = 4905N/m
The first step is the second moment of area
I = BD3 bd3) = 0.1 x 0.163 - 0.09 x 0.143 ) = 0.0004096 - 0.0002469
12
12
12
I = 0.0001627
12
I = 0.0000135m4 or 13.6 x 10-6 m4
We can now divide it into two sections1) The point load
2) The UDL
Work out the deflections and add them together to give the total deflectionFor Point Load
Deflection

= - W.L3
48E

= -_______ 19620 x 43__________

48 x 205 x 109 x 13.5 x 10-6

Deflection

= -_______ 19620 x 43_____ = ___ 1255680_____

48 x 205 x 13.5 x 109-6
132840 x 10-3

Deflection

= -____44145_____ = 0.00945m or 9.4mm

5024.55 x 1000

Deflection

= -5 .L4 = -___5 x 4905 x 44__________

384E
384 x 205 x 109 x 13.5 x 10-6

For UDL

Deflection
Deflection

= -___ 24525 x 256_____

384 x 205 x 13.5 x 10-3
= 0.0059m or 5.9mm

The total deflection will be the two added together

Beam =

Point Load

Beam =

UDL

= 9.4mm + 5.9mm

15.3mm

Natural frequency
The natural frequency of any beam is given by the formulaNatural Frequency

= 1
__9.81___
2 deflection

Natural Frequency

= ___1____
__9.81_
2 x 3.142 0.0153m

Natural Frequency

= __1__ x 641.2
6.285

Natural Frequency

= 25.32
6.284

4.03 cycles/second or Hertz

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