INFLUENCE LINES FOR STATICALLY

DETERMINATE STRUCTURES

BY
ING. DR. E.K. NYANTAKYI
SENIOR LECTURER

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 INFLUENCE LINES FOR STATICALLY
DETERMINATE STRUCTURES - AN OVERVIEW

• Introduction - What is an influence line?

• Influence lines for beams
 Influence lines for reactions
 Influence lines for shear forces
 Influence lines for bending moments

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 3.1 INTRODUCTION TO INFLUENCE LINES
• Influence lines describe the variation of an analysis variable at a
point (reaction, shear force, bending moment, twisting moment, deflection, etc.) (say
at C in Figure below) ..
…
…
C
A B

• Why do we need the influence lines? For instance, when loads pass over a structure,
say a bridge, one needs to know when the maximum values of shear/reaction/bending-
moment will occur at a point so that the section may be designed

• Notations:
– Normal Forces - +ve forces cause +ve displacements in +ve directions
– Shear Forces - +ve shear forces cause clockwise rotation & - ve shear force
causes anti-clockwise rotation

– Bending Moments: +ve bending moments cause “cup holding water” deformed
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shape
 INFLUENCE LINES FOR BEAMS

• Procedure:
(1) Allow a unit load (either 1b, 1N, 1kip, or 1
tonne) to move over beam from left to right
(2) Find the values of shear force or bending
moment, at the point under consideration, as the
unit load moves over the beam from left to right
(3) Plot the values of the shear force or bending
moment, over the length of the beam, computed
for the point under consideration

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MOVING CONCENTRATED LOAD

Variation of Reactions RA and RB as functions of load position

1
x
A B

C
10 m

3m
MA =0
(RB)(10) – (1)(x) = 0
RB = x/10
RA = 1-RB
= 1-x/10
x 1

A B
C
RA=1-x/10 RB = x/10

A
C
RA=1-x/10 RB = x/10 5
RA occurs only at A; RB occurs only at B

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Influence
1-x/10
line for R A
x 10-x

x/10 1.0
Influence line
for R B
x 10-x

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Variation of Shear Force at C as a function of load position
0 < x < 3m (unit load to the left of C)

x 1.0

C B
A
3 ft

RA = 1-x/10 RB = x/10
10 m

x/10
Shear force at C is –ve, VC =-x/10

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3 < x < 10 m (unit load to the right of C)

C B
A
3m

RA = 1-x/10 RB = x/10

RA = 1-x/10 C

1 Shear force at C is +ve = 1-x/10

0.7
+ve

-ve 0.3
Influence line for shear at C 1

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Variation of Bending Moment at C as a function of load position
0 < x < 3.0 m (Unit load to the left of C)

C B
A
3m

RA = x/10
RA = 1-x/10
10 m

x/10 x/10

(x/10)(7) (x/10)(7)
C

x/10

Bending moment is +ve at C

x/10

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3 < x < 10 m (Unit load to the right of C)

1
xm

C B
A
3m

RA = 1-x/10 RA = x/10

10 ft

1-x/10

(1-x/10)(3) 1- x/10

1-x/10
(1-x/10)(3) (1-x/10)(3)
C

Moment at C is +ve

(1-7/10)(3)=2.1 m
Influence line for bending
Moment at C
+ve

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THANK YOU

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