Chapte 6 Bendin of open

r closed thin-
and g beam
, walled s
Reading
s:
Megson Chapter 8
Rivello Chapter 7
Timoshenko and Goodier Chapter
11
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
6.1 Introduction
Two distinct classes of load for an aircraft:
 Ground loads: all loads encountered by the
aircraft
duringasmovement
such orlanding
taxiing and transportation and
on the ground
loads, towing
hoisting loads,
 Air loads: loads imposed on the structure during
flight by maneuvers and gusts.
The two classes of loads are divided into：
• surface forces which act upon the surface of the
structure, e.g. aerodynamic and hydrostatic pressure,
• body forces which act over the volume of the structure
and are produced by gravitational and inertial effects.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

Aircraft usually consist of fuselage, wings and tailplane.

The fuselage contains crew and payload, the wings provide the lift
and the tailplane is the main contributor to directional control.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

The force on an aerodynamic surface (wing, vertical or

horizontal tail) results from a differential pressure
distribution caused by incidence, camber or a
combination of both.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
 Basically, all air loads are the resultants of the
pressure distribution over the surfaces of the skin
produced by steady flight, maneuver or gust
conditions.

 Generally, these resultants cause direct loads,

bending, shear and torsion in all parts of the
structure in addition to local, normal pressure
loads imposed on the skin.

 Therefore wings, tailplane and the fuselage are each

subjected to direct, bending, shear and torsional
loads and must be designed to withstand critical
combinations of these.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
 An aircraft is basically an assembly of stiffened shell
structures ranging from the single cell closed section fuselage
to multicellular wings and tail-surfaces each subjected to
bending, shear, torsional and axial loads. The cellular
components are termed closed section beams.
 Other, smaller portions of the structure consist of thin-walled
channel, T-, Z-, or I-sections, which are used to stiffen the
thin skins of thecellular components and provide support for
internal loads from floors, engine mountings etc. Structural
members such as these are known as open section beams.
 we shall investigate the stresses and displacements in thin-
walled open and single cell closed section beams produced by
bending, shear and torsional loads.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
 We shall show that the value of direct stress at a
point in the cross-section of a beam subjected to
bending depends on the position of the point, the
applied loading and the geometric properties of the
cross-section.
 It follows that it is of no consequence whether or
not the cross-section is open or closed.

 The basic assumptions of the theory are that plane

sections of beams remain plane after displacement
produced by the loading and the material of the beam
is homogeneous and linearly elastic.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
6.2 Sign conventions and resolution of bending moments

Positive directions for the loads and moments applied externall

y;
Positive directions of the components of displacement u, v and w.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

Positive internal forces and moments are in the same direction

and sense as the externally applied loads whereas on the
opposite face they form an opposing system.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

A bending moment M applied in any longitudinal plane

parallel to the z axis may be resolved into components M x and
My by the normal rules of vectors.
Mx = Msinθ My =
Mcosθ
For θ < π/2
Mx and My are both positive.
For θ ,
> π/2 M is positive and M is negative.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
6.3 Direct stress distribution due to bending
Consider a beam having the
arbitrary cross-section shown in Fig.
The beam supports bending
moments Mx and My and bends
about some axis in its cross-section
which is therefore an axis of zero
stress or a neutral axis (NA).

Suppose that the origin of axes coincides with the centroid C of

the cross-section and that the neutral axis is a distance p from C.
The direct stress z on an element of area A at a point (x, y)
and a distance  from the neutral axis is:
z =
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
If the beam is bent to a radius of curvature  about the neutral
axis at this particular section then, since plane sections are
assumed to remain plane after bending,
z =/
z
=E / 
The beam supports pure bending moments so that the resultant
normal load on any section must be zero. Hence
∫A z dA = or ∫A  dA =
0 0
It follows that the neutral
axis passes through the
centroid of the cross-section,
i.e., p=0
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
Suppose that the inclination of the neutral axis to Cx is 
(measured clockwise from C x ), then for the line with a distance 
from the neutral axis:
 =xsin +
z = +ycos
E (x sin ycos)/
The moment resultants of the internal direct stress distribution
have the same sense as the applied moments Mx and My.
Thus Mx =∫A z My =∫A z
ydA, xdA

Substituting for z gives

Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

Solving for E sin/  and and substituting them yields

E cos/ 

Alternatively,

If My = 0 the moment Mx produces a stress which

varies
with both x and y; similarly for My if Mx = 0.
In the case where the beam cross-section has either (or both)
Cx
area or
I x yCy as anThen
is zero. axis of
thesymmetry the product
formula above second
reduces to……moment of
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

Further, if either My or Mx is zero then

The x axis becomes the neutral axis when My=0 and the y
axis becomes the neutral axis when M x =0.

The position of the neutral axis depends on the form of the applied
loading as well as the geometrical properties of the cross-section.

Where is the neutral axis for a general case?

Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

The neutral axis always

passes through the centroid of
area of a beam’s cross-section.

At all points on the neutral

axis the direct stress is zero.

Hence
When  is positive, xNA and yNA are of opposite sign.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
Example: A beam having the cross-
section shown in Fig. is subjected to a
bending moment of 1500Nm in a
vertical plane. Calculate the maximum
direct stress due to bending stating the
point at which it acts.

The position of the centroid of the section may be found by

taking moments of areas about some convenient point. Thus

The next step is to calculate the section properties referred to

axes Cxy.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

Since Mx 1500Nm and M y = 0. From

=

Then in which the units are N and mm.

z will be a maximum at F where x = –8mm, y = –66.4mm.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
6.4 Load intensity, shear force and bending moment relationships
Consider an element of length z of a beam of unsymmetrical
cross-section subjected to shear forces, bending moments and a
distributed load of varying intensity, all in the y plane.
z

For equilibrium of the element in the y direction,

Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

Taking moments about A,

Combining these results into a single expression,

Similarly for loads in the xz plane,

Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
6.5 Deflections due to bending
A beam bends about its neutral axis whose inclination relative
to arbitrary centroidal axes can be determined. Suppose that at
some section of an unsymmetrical beam the deflection normal to
the neutral axis (and therefore an absolute deflection) is .
From the usual approximate
expression for curvature,

The components u and v of 

are in the negative directions
of the x and y axes so that
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

Substituting for sin/ and cos/ yields

The first equation above shows that Mx produces

curvatures, that is deflections, in both the xz and yz planes even
though My = 0; similarly for My when Mx = 0.

Thus, an unsymmetrical beam will deflect both vertically

and horizontally even though the loading is entirely in a vertical
plane. Similarly, vertical and horizontal components of deflection
in an unsymmetrical beam are produced by horizontal loads.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
It is instructive to rearrange the formula above as follows

i.e.

For a beam having either Cx or Cy (or both) asan axis of

symmetry, I xy =0 and the formulae above reduce to

which are the equations of symmetrical bending theory.

Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
Example: Determine the horizontal and vertical components of
the tip deflection of the cantilever.

Mx = W(L– My =
z), 0

Integrating with respect to z,

The constants of integration
A and B are found from the
boundary conditions, viz.
u'=0 and u=0 when z=0.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
A= B =
0, 0
The deflected shape of the beam in the xz plane is given by

At the free end of the cantilever (z=L) the horizontal component

of deflection is

Similarly, the vertical component of the deflection at the free

end of the cantilever is
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

The actual deflection f.e. at the free end is then given by

at an angle of tan-1uf.e./vf.e. to the vertical.

If either Cx or Cy is an axis of symmetry, I xy =0.

They are the well-known results for the bending of a cantilever

having a symmetrical cross-section and carrying a concentrated
vertical load at its free end.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
6.6 Approximations for thin-walled sections
The thickness t of thin-walled sections is often small
compared with their cross-sectional dimensions so that stresses
may be regarded as being constant across the thickness.
We may neglect squares and higher powers of t in the
computation of sectional properties and take the section to be
represented by the mid-line of its wall.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
Therefore, for the purpose of
calculating section properties we
may regard the section as being
represented by a single line.

Consider an inclined thin section.

Similarly,
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

These expressions are approximate in that their derivation

neglects powers of t2 and upwards.

Properties of thin-walled
curved sections are found in a
similar manner. For the
semicircular section,
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
Example: Determine the direct
stress distribution in the thin-
walled Z-section produced by a
positive bending moment M x .
The section is antisymmetrical
with its centroid at the mid- point
of the vertical web.

The section properties are calculated as follows

Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
Substituting these values in the expression for the direct stress,

On the top flange y=h/2,

0≤x≤h/2
which is linear.

In the web −h/2≤y≤h/2 and x=0. Again the distribution is of

linear form.

The distribution in the lower flange

may be deduced from antisymmetry.
The complete distribution
is then as shown in Fig.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams
How about applicability of bending theory?

 The expressions for direct stress and displacement derived in

this chapter are based on the assumptions that the beam is of
uniform, homogeneous cross-section and that plane sections
remain plane after bending.
 The latter assumption is strictly true only if the bending
moments Mx and My are constant along the beam.
 However, shear stresses in beams whose cross-sectional
dimensions are small in relation to their lengths are
comparatively low so that the basic theory of bending may be
used with reasonable accuracy.
Chapter 6 Bending of open and closed, thin-walled
beams

 In thin-walled sections shear stresses produced by

shear loads are not small and must be calculated,
although the direct stresses may still be obtained from
the basic theory of bending so long as axial constraint
stresses are absent.

 Deflections in thin-walled structures are assumed to

result primarily from bending strains; the
contribution of shear strains may be calculated
separately if required.
 Homework set 3
1. A section of an angle purlin is shown in the figure. A
bending moment of 3000 Nm is applied to the purlin in a
plane at an angle of 30ºto the vertical y axis. If the sense of
the bending moment is such that its components Mx and
My both produce tension in the positive xy quadrant,
calculate the maximum direct stress in the purlin stating
clearly the point at which it acts.
 Homework set 3
2. A uniform thin-walled beam ABD of open cross-section is
simply supported at points B and D with its web vertical. It
carries a downward vertical force W at the end A in the plane of
the web. The wall thickness t and Young’s modulus E are
constant throughout.
Derive expressions for the vertical and horizontal components of
the deflection of the beam midway between the supports B and D.