Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Structural Mechanics 2
SHEAR IN BEAMS
[Reading Megson, Chapter 10]
INTRODUCTION
External loading of beams and frames causes internal actions consisting of bending moments, axial
forces and shear forces. The effects of bending moments and axial forces have been examined in
some detail in this and other courses (e.g. CIVIL 210 looked at the effects on timber members, CIVIL
250 considered bending of reinforced concrete members and CIVIL 211 has looked at the design of
steel members for axial load and bending moment.
These notes present an introduction to the effect of shear force on structural members, especially
the resulting magnitude and distribution of shear stress in typical steel members. The treatment is
confined to members loaded in a plane of cross-section symmetry (refer to Megson for more general
cases).
Although not true in all cases, the effects of bending moment tend to be more demanding on a member
than the effects of shear force, leading to a tendency to design for bending moment and its
associated effects (high flexural stresses leading to yielding, lateral-torsional buckling, etc) and then
check that shear is OK. The main effects of shear are to create shear stresses, placing increased
demand on the material of the beam, and shear strains resulting in an increase in deflection (usually
very small).
NEED

FOR SHEAR STRESS

C
Bending
action

Shear
action

T
R

R
My
I
Direct stress deduced
from strain (assuming
plane sections remain
plane, etc)

Shear stress must exist.

=
Stress

= ? How is it distributed?

Stress

Uniform, = S/A ?
R

Figure 1 Transverse shear stress needed for equilibrium

From Fig. 1 it is obvious that, in order to satisfy equilibrium, transverse (vertical) shear stress must
exist on an internal beam cross-section whenever shear force is present.
Similarly, by extracting a free body from a beam as shown in Fig. 2, it can be seen that longitudinal
shear stress is also needed to maintain equilibrium when shear force is present.

Beam_shear_notes.doc

p1

jwb 06/10/05

C
longitudinal shear stress
- equilibrates C
R

Figure 2 Longitudinal shear stress

The behaviour of a beam made from a stack of planks demonstrates the sliding that will occur
between the planks when they are not attached to each other.

sliding

Figure 3 Planks slide longitudinally unless connected.

If the planks were prevented from sliding by connecting them together, for example by adhesive
bonding, their tendency to slide would result in (longitudinal) shear stresses developing in the adhesive
as illustrated in Fig. 4. Extending the argument, we postulate that similar shear stresses must exist
even if the beam is fully solid rather than made from planks.
shear stresses develop,
resisting sliding tendency

cross-sections no longer
remain plane

planks bonded together

tp prevent sliding

Figure 4 Shear stresses develop at the interface of the bonded planks

DISTORTION

OF CROSS-SECTION

The Bernoulli-Navier assumption that plane sections remain plane, which is true in the case of pure
bending, is only approximately satisfied when shear force is present. However, we continue to use the
assumption along with formulas whose derivation depends on it, such as
=

My
I

(1)

Fig. 4 shows how cross-sections tend to distort as the result of shear strains caused by the shear
stresses whose presence we have just argued.
CALCULATION

OF SHEAR STRESS

The approach used is to calculate the flexural stresses using Equation 1 (despite the now incorrect
assumption on which it is based), and then deduce the accompanying shear stresses using an equilibrium
Beam_shear_notes.doc

p2

jwb 06/10/05

condition. We will confine our attention (for now) to beams loaded in a plane of symmetry (see Megson
for the more complicated general case)
Consider a free body slice of length z cut from a beam subject to any combination of bending moment
and shear force. Let the bm at the left side of the slice be M, increasing to M+dM at the right hand
side.
W1

W2

M+dM
bending moment

Figure 5 Element cut from beam for equilibrium consideration

Next, cut the slice on a horizontal plane, distance y from the neutral axis, isolating the shaded piece
shown in Fig. 6. Let the cross-sectional area of the shaded piece be denoted by A.

dy1

+d
dz z

y1

view from
below

Figure 6 Stresses acting on beam element

Equilibrium of isolated body (shaded)

bz + dA' +
z dA' = 0
z

A
A

divide by z:

(2)

z dA' = 0

but =

My1
I

, so

Beam_shear_notes.doc

b =

y1 dM
dA'
dz
A

p3

jwb 06/10/05

but we know that

dM
= S , the shear force,
dz

so

b =

and note that

y dA' = 1
1

st

S
y1 dA'
I A'

(3)

moment of area A about the neutral axis

A'

( y) =

(3) becomes

SA' y

(4)

Ib

REMEMBER!
This formula, which defines the shear stress acting at distance y from the neutral axis, has been
deduced from the requirement for longitudinal shear stresses that will equilibrate the out-of-balance
bending stresses. Note that the bending stresses will only be out of balance if the bending moment is
changing in magnitude along the beam. However, since

shear force = rate of change of bending moment

one can conclude that bending moment will be varying whenever there is a non-zero shear force.
VERTICAL

OR

TRANSVERSE

SHEAR STRESS

OK, we have found the longitudinal shear stress what about the transverse shear stress shown in
Fig.1?

b
z

Figure 7 Equilibrium requires transverse and longitudinal shear stresses to be equal

Considering a small cube of material extracted from one of the positions shown in Fig. 7, the shear
stresses acting on the top and bottom faces creates an anti-clockwise moment that can only be
equilibrated by clock-wise shear stresses acting on the vertical faces. This is a general result and the
vertical and horizontal shear stresses acting on the sides of the cube are known as complementary
shear stresses, and will always be equal. In other words, if there is a shear stress acting in a particular
direction at some point in a body it will always be accompanied by an equal shear stress acting at 90
degrees.
Beam_shear_notes.doc

p4

jwb 06/10/05

EXAMPLE - Solid, rectangular cross-section

b
A

SA' y

Ib
d

1 d
Sb y + y
2
2
2

=
bd 3
b
12

i.e.

3(d 2 4 y 2 )
2bd 3

d/2
y
I

d/2

So t varies as square of y (parabolically), ranging from a maximum at y=0 (neutral axis) to zero
y = d / 2 (top and bottom surfaces).

varies parabolically
with distance from
neutral axis

max

Figure 8 Shear stress variation with depth in a rectangular beam

at y = 0
Noting that

max =

3S
2bd

S
S
= = average shear stress,
bd A
max =

NOTE that

3 S
= 1.5 average
2 bd

total shear force

S
=
area
bd

Beam_shear_notes.doc

p5

jwb 06/10/05

EXAMPLE - Simply supported timber beam

5 kN/m (total)
100
300
element (see note)

6m
15 kN

shear force

15 kN
bending moment

22.5 kNm
Calculate the maximum shear stress due to the action of shear force in the timber beam shown above.
I=

bd 3
0.1 0.33
=
= 225 10 6 m 4
12
12

Maximum shear force = 15 kN (at either end).

Maximum shear stress
Occurs on neutral axis:
=

100

150
y = 75

SA' y

Ib
15,000 (0.1 0.15) 0.075
=
Pa
225 10 6 0.1
= 0.75 MPa

0.75 MPa

150

15 kN

Note
=0

Higher shear stress values associated with the longitudinal direct

stresses at the point of maximum bending moment will exist.

=0
= 15

Consider an element cut from the beam at the point of maximum

bending moment (mid-span), see Figure at top of page. The stresses on
this element are as follows.
Longitudinal stress,

max=7.5

M
22.5
=
kPa = 15 MPa
Z 0. 1 0. 3 2 / 6

Direct stresses acting in orthogonal directions are all zero, and since
the shear force at this point is zero the vertical and longitudinal shear
stresses are also zero. This means that the longitudinal stress is a
Beam_shear_notes.doc

=0

p6

90
y = 0

1 = 15

jwb 06/10/05

principal stress and Mohrs circle for stress at this point in the beam will

= 7.5 MPa ,
2
acting at 45 to the longitudinal axis. This shear stress is much larger than the
shear stress due solely to shear force at the end of the beam.

therefore be as shown, revealing a maximum shear stress of max =

SHEAR

= 7.5

45

= 15
= 7.5

STRESS AT A FREE SURFACE

Consider a small cube of material with one face lying in the surface of a beam.
If the surface is free i.e. there are no surface tractions applied to it then the shear stress in all
directions on the surface must be zero. Thus . 1 = 2 = 0, and their complementary shear stresses 3
and 4 must also be zero.
We conclude that the shear stress perpendicular to any free surface must be zero.
However, there is no reason why the shear stresses 5 and 6 should be zero - they are free to assume
any value necessary to satisfy equilibrium. So we could also conclude that the shear stress adjacent to
a free surface acts in a direction tangential to the surface.

2
3

4
6

1 = 2 = 0 (free surface)
3 = 4 = 0 (complementary to 1, 2)
5, 6

Figure 9 Shear stresses at a free boundary

SHEAR FLOW, q

Referring again to the beam slices shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the sketch to
the right shows a unit length of slice on which the average shear stress
was shown to be
=

SA' y
Ib

(4)

This average shear stress, acting on the area (b 1) generates the

longitudinal force per unit length, b kN/m, needed to equilibrate the
out-of-balance flexural stresses and is known as the shear flow, q.
From equation 4,
Shear flow

q = b =

Beam_shear_notes.doc

SA' y
I

(5)

p7

1
b

jwb 06/10/05

Shear flow is often the quantity being sought from analysis. It can be related to shear stress over the
width, b, of the strip it acts on by simply dividing by the width to get = q / b (but note that this
assumes the stress is uniform over the width, b).

EXAMPLE - Shear flow at a joint in a fabricated timber beam

200

A timber beam is made from 2 x 200 x 50 sections, nailed together as shown

in the figure.

50

If the maximum shear force in the beam is 10.0 kN, what nail spacing is
needed?

37.5

(Each nail can safely transfer a force of 1.4kN.)

Section properties:

200
162.5

y =

(200 50)(100 + 225)

= 162.5mm
2(200 50)

200 50 3
50 200 3
+ 200 50 62.5 2 +
+ 200 50 62.5 2
12
12
= 113.5 10 6 mm 4

I=

50

At the interface between the two sections:

Shear flow

q=

SA' y 10 200 50 62.5

=
= 0.055 kN / mm
I
113.5 10 6

Required nail spacing =

1. 4
= 25.5 mm
0.055

Specify one nail every 25mm

EXAMPLE - Shear stress at a joint in a fabricated timber beam

If the beam was fabricated by adhesive bonding instead of nailing, what is the
required glue strength? (normally specified as a shear stress) Also, what is the
maximum shear stress due to the 10kN shear force and how does the shear
stress vary over the cross-section?

Measuring shear strength of glue

Shear stress on neutral axis (maximum):

SA' y
Ib
10 162.5 50162.5 / 2
=
113.5 10 6 50
= 1.17 MPa

0.275MPa
1.1MPa
1.17MPa

Shear stress just below interface:

q
(re - using result from previous example)
b
0.055
=
50 10 -3
= 1.1 MPa

Vertical shear stress

- close to web, not
along flanges

Shear stress just above interface:

Beam_shear_notes.doc

p8

jwb 06/10/05

0.055
200 10 3
= 0.275 MPa

So required glue strength = 1.1MPa (since glue area is only 50mm wide)
Stress distributed as shown in the figure.
NOTE
The analysis above suggests that the shear stress on the underside of the flange has a magnitude of
1.1MPa, whereas it must be zero since this is a free surface.
We conclude that Equation 4 applied in this way, provides only an approximation to the vertical shear
stress in the portion of the flanges close to the web. The precise distribution of shear stress in the
area above the web can not be determined by Equation 4. However, when the flanges are thin
compared with the overall depth of the beam (often true) the vertical shear stress above and below (if
applicable) the web is very small.

THIN-WALLED SECTIONS

Metallic beams frequently have walls that are thin compared with overall cross-section dimensions.
Such beams are classified as thin-walled.
Consider a thin-walled I-beam. Applying Equation 4 to such a section would give a distribution of
vertical shear stress as shown in the Figure (similar calculation to the previous example).

max

= 0!

Figure 10 Shear stress in a thin-walled I-beam?

Again, the vertical shear stresses in the flanges, if permitted, would imply surface tractions along the
inner faces.
The correct procedure for determining the shear stress in the flanges is to consider the equilibrium
of an element as shown in Figure 11.
Thus, the shear stress at the position where the flange is cut will be given by
=

SA' y
IT

So we still use the same shear stress formula, but slice the flange to expose the face on which the
major component of the shear stress acts (vertical face rather than a horizontal face). There will also
be a vertical shear stress, but of negligible magnitude.
Beam_shear_notes.doc

p9

jwb 06/10/05

horizontal flange shear stress

T

y
unbalanced flexural stress

Figure 11 Calculation of horizontal flange shear stress

Shear flow in an I-beam

At positions 1 and 2 shear flow will be
SA' y
=
q1 = q2 =
I

b t d T
S
T

2 2
I

T
3

At position 3 shear flow becomes

dT
S(bT )

q3 =
q1 + q2
I

And at position 4 (neutral axis), the shear flow is

d 2T d 2T
St

2 4
q4 = q3 +
I

- adding the contribution of the top half of the web to the value calculated at position 3.
Shear stress
At each position the shear stress can be obtained as = q / thickness .
Before plotting, we note that if position 1 was moved further left along
the flange the only term that changes in the calculation is A, which
varies linearly with position along the flange, reaching zero at the outer
tip (making q zero there). Hence the plot shown to the right. The bottom
flange would have shear flows (and stresses) of identical magnitude to
q4
the top flange.

q 1 q2
q3

If the walls were very thin, the shear flow would become continuous at
junctions, similar to water flowing in open channels, with
q3 = q1 + q2

Beam_shear_notes.doc

p10

jwb 06/10/05

SHEAR CENTRE

b
T
S
d
t

Consider a thin-walled channel section supporting a shear force, S, as shown in the figure above.
td3
+ 2 bT (d / 2) 2
12
td3 bTd2
=
+
12
2

I=

Shear stress in flanges

SA' y S(xT )(d / 2)
=
IT
IT
Sxd
=
2I

f =

b
f

(6)

x
d/2

(thus, f varies linearly with x)

Resultant force in flange due to shear stress, f:
b

Sf =

dA = Tdx =
f

Sxd
Tdx
2I

SdTb2
=
4I

Alternatively, recognise that the shear stress (and shear flow) varies linearly along the flange and
w
take
Sf = (mean stress) (area)

Sf

mean = max( f ) / 2

= 0.5 max( f ) bT

max( f )

S[bT (d / 2)]
bT
2IT
Sb2Td
=
4I
=

Sf

Force in bottom flange will be the same (but acting in opposite direction).

Shear stress in web

w =

SA' y
It
S[bT

Beam_shear_notes.doc

d
d
d
1
+ t y + y
2
2
2
2
It

p11

(7)

d/2
y

jwb 06/10/05

Resultant force in web due to shear stress w:

d/2

Sw = 2

dA, where dA = tdy

=
=

substitute

I=

d/2

2S
I

Sf

d t d2
y 2 dy
bT +
2 2 4

S bTd2 td3

+
I 2
12

Sw = S

td3 bTd2
to get
+
12
2

Sw = S

(As expected, since Sw, as the only vertical shear force, must equilibrate the applied force, S.)

Sbd
2I
from(6)
=

SbdT
2It
- from (7) with y = d/2
=

max

S
d2 t
=
bTd +

2It
4

Sf =

SdTb2
4I

Sw = S

- from (7) with y = 0

Sf

Figure 12 Summary of shear stresses and resultant forces

Consider now the resultant of the three forces (Sw and the two Sfs).
It must
1.

Be a vertical force of magnitude Sw.

2.

Have a moment about any point = the sum of the moments of Sw, Sf and Sf about the same point.

Let the resultant act through a point S, at some distance, e, from the centre-line of the web.
Taking moments about the web centre-line,

Sf

d
d
Sw e = Sf + Sf
2
2
Sf
e=
d
Sw

e
Sw

Substituting for Sw, Sf and I gives

S
Sf

Beam_shear_notes.doc

p12

jwb 06/10/05

or, if T = t,

e=

3b2T
dt + 6bT

e=

3b2
6b + d

e.g. if T = t = 6mm, b = 80mm and d = 250mm, then e = 26.3mm.

NOTE
1.

The curious fact that the shear centre (of a channel) lies outside the section.

2.

If a section has an axis of symmetry the shear centre

will lie on that axis.

3.

It follows from Note 2 that if a section is doubly

symmetric (2 axes of symmetry) then the shear centre
must lie on their intersection. In this case the shear
centre will coincide with the centroid.

An applied load that does not act vertically through the

shear centre of the beam will result in a torque =
reaction
W e , where W is the load, and e is the eccentricity of through
the load with respect to the shear centre.
shear
centre
For an eccentric load as described in Note 4, the beam
will twist, with the cross-section rotating about the
shear centre as shown in Fig. 12.

5.

load

S
member twists about
shear centre
(as well as bending)

Figure 13 A member will attempt to

twist if not loaded
through its shear centre

EXAMPLES

OF SHEAR FLOW

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 14 Examples of shear flow in thin-walled open sections

Beam_shear_notes.doc

p13

jwb 06/10/05

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 14 Further examples, including a thin-walled closed section

Note that the channel section in Fig. 13(c) has returns or edge stiffeners at the flange tips to help
control flange buckling. The shear flow in these returns acts in the opposite direction to the shear
flow in the web consequently the shear force in the web will have to be greater than the applied
shear force.
Note also in Fig. 14(c) and (d) that the shear centre must lie at the point where all the legs of the
section meet. Thus, if an angle section is not to twist under transverse load it must be loaded through
its corner. And of course any of the sections shown will twist if not loaded through their shear centre.
300

EXAMPLE Welded box beam

A 600mm x 300mm welded box beam is to be fabricated by welding 20mm
thick flange plates to 12mm thick web plates as shown in the sketch.

20

The beam will be subject to a maximum, factored shear force of 1750kN.

Determine maximum shear stress in the web

Determine the demand on each weld in units of kN per mm length of

weld.

600

12

Section property:
300.20 3
12.560 3
I = 2
+ 300.20.290 2 +
12
12

= 1.361 10 9 mm 4

Maximum shear stress in web

This will occur at the neutral axis, so we slice the beam horizontally there:

max =

SA' y
Ib

1,750,000 [(300 20 290 ) + 2(280 12 140 )]

1.361 10 9 (12 + 12)

= 144 MPa

300
20
300

Note that b in the formula has been replaced by the sum of the widths of
the web plates (24mm), since this is the total width of material available to
carry the shear stress at the slice location. The assumption is made that
Beam_shear_notes.doc

p14

12

jwb 06/10/05

the stress in each web will be the same (justified on symmetry grounds in this case). If the webs were
of different thickness or there was some other lack of symmetry then we could only calculate the
total shear flow at the slice. Determining how it was divided up between the webs would need further
consideration. We leave such further consideration to later courses (or read about it in Megson
Section 10.5).
Force carried by weld
For this we need to determine the shear flow at the junction of the weld
and the top flange hence we slice the beam at that level and apply the
standard shear flow formula:

300
20
300

SA' y 1,750 300 20 290

=
= 2.23 kN / mm
q=
I
1.361 10 9

12

Since there are two identical welds cut by the slice we

apportion half the shear flow to each, giving for each weld a
demand of 1.12 kN/mm .

Required size of weld

Knowing the force/mm that the weld has to resist we can work
out the required size of the weld. To conform to the
requirements of the Steel Structures Standard, NZS3404, a
fillet weld will need to have a minimum size given by the table
below.

1.12kN/mm
force on weld

Note that welds are classified as GP (General Purpose) or SP

(Structural Purpose), with different strength reduction
factors () reflecting the standard of weld inspection and
hence confidence in the likely performance. It is generally
more economical to use smaller SP welds than larger GP welds.

Design Capacity per unit length of weld

(kN/mm)
Weld Size
(mm)

GP weld
( = 0.6)

SP weld
( = 0.8)

0.522

0.696

0.626

0.835

0.835

1.11

10

1.04

1.39

12

1.25

1.67

weld size

Note: The tabulated values are for E41XX electrodes (ultimate tensile stress, fuw = 410MPa)
From the table select 8mm weld size, SP category, strength = 1.11kN/mm ,
compared with demand = 1.12kN/mm near enough .

Beam_shear_notes.doc

p15

jwb 06/10/05

EXAMPLE - Shear stress and shear centre of a curved section

The problem here is to find the shear stress distribution and shear centre of a semi-circular, thinwalled section, due to a vertical shear force, S. Although no new principles are required, the curved
geometry makes the application of the standard shear flow equation more difficult.
SECTION PROPERTIES

Area

A = rt

Centroid
By inspection, the centroid lies on a horizontal line through the centre
of the defining circle. The position of the centroid on this line is not
needed when the load is vertical.

2nd moment of area

I=

y dA
2

= (r cos ) 2 rtd

y=rcos

= r 3 t cos 2 d
0

r 3 t
=
2

SHEAR

FLOW AT A TYPICAL POINT

Consider a typical point at distance, s from the lower end of the section. Let
be the angle corresponding to this point as shown in the figure.
The shear flow is given by
q=

SAy

where Ay is Q, the first moment of the shaded area about the neutral
r

axis and can be found directly from the definition.

Q=

ydA

area

= (r cos )(tr d)
0

= tr 2 sin

q()

dA

And so

Beam_shear_notes.doc

p16

jwb 06/10/05

Str 2 sin
r 3 t / 2
2S sin
=
r

q() =

q
t
2S sin
=
rt

( ) =

Thus the shear flow and shear stress both vary sinusoidally around the perimeter of the section, with
maximum shear stress = 2 x mean shear stress (S/A).
SHEAR CENTRE

The shear flow (or shear stress) gives rise to a resultant shear force that acts through the shear
centre. The moment of the resultant shear force acting at the shear centre must be the same about
every point in the plane of the cross section.
Let the resultant shear force act at a point whose distance from the centre of the semi-circle is e.
Moment of the shear flow about the centre of the circle
For convenience in calculation we select the centre of the circle as the reference point about which
the moment of the shear flow, m, will be summed.

moment of shear flow, m = r(qds)

A

qr d
2

=
=

2Sr 2
r
4Sr

sin d
0

d
qds

S must act at a point such that it has the same moment, and so
4Sr

4r
e=

ds

Se =

Further check: Calculate the resultant vertical component of q(s) by integrating (qds)sin around the
curve. The result should equal S.

Beam_shear_notes.doc

p17

jwb 06/10/05