Internal forces members

There are two reasons why engineers need to calculate forces.

1. To design a machine that will apply a controlled force, e.g. a

motor, or a machining process;

2. To design members that can support forces without failure.

Failure occurs when internal forces in part of a structure get too large.

Frames

Its best to illustrate this using a simple example. Calculate the

internal forces in each member of the frame shown below.

D
j

A 300 B 300 C i
W

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Theres a simple recipe to follow here

1. Cut out each joint, and draw positive tension forces acting on the
cut ends of the members, as well as any reaction or external
forces;

2. Balance forces for each joint

3. Solve the equations resulting from step (2) for unknown member
forces
TBD j
TAD j

TAB i
RAx A 0
i B TBC
30
TAB W
RAy

TCD j
300 300
i D TCD
300 TAD
C j
TBC RCy TBD
i

We have eight equations, and eight total unknowns 3 reaction

components and 5 internal forces

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This procedure is straightforward, but a big pain.

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 3D

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A few remarks on general procedure

1. Equilibrium equations in 3D problems will have i,j,k components

2. We get huge numbers of equations to solve in 3D problems. A

computer is almost essential to solve them.

3 This procedure is more complicated.

In both the examples we just solved, we found exactly the right

number of equation for the unknown member forces and unknown
reaction forces. Does this always happen?

Unfortunately, no. In fact, force balance will only provide the correct
number of equations in very special structures. Here, we specify the
conditions necessary for this to happen. We also discuss what it
means when there arent the same number of unknowns as
equations.

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Maxwell s conditions.

Let M denote the number of members in the structure

Let R denote the number of unknown reaction force components
Let J denote the number of joints in the structure.

In a 2D structure, we will have the same number of equations as

unknowns if M+R=2J

In a 3D structure, we will have the same number of equations as

unknowns if M+R=3J.

A 300 B 300 C
W

2D structure
M = 5 members
R = 3 reaction force components
J = 4 joints
No. unknowns = M+R = 8
No. equations = 2J=8
3D structure
M = 9 members
R = 6 reaction force components
J = 5 joints
No. unknowns = M + R = 15
No. equations = 3J = 15

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Classifying structures as statically determinate, statically
indeterminate, or mechanisms.

A structure is said to be Statically determinate if all member forces

and reaction forces can be calculated using equilibrium equations for
each joint. Two conditions must be satisfied for this to be the case:

1. Maxwells condition must be satisfied, i.e. M+R=2J for 2D

structures or M+R=3J for 3D structures.

2. The equations must have a unique solution.

A structure is said to be statically indeterminate if the equilibrium

equations can be satisfied, but the member forces or reaction forces
cannot be determined uniquely. Two conditions must be satisfied for
this to be the case

1. There must be more member forces and reaction components

than equations: M+R>2J for 2D structures or M+R>3J for 3D
structures.

2. The equations must have more than one solution. This is

almost always the case if (1) is satisfied.

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A structure is said to be a mechanism if it is impossible to satisfy the
equilibrium equations at every joint. Two conditions must be satisfied
for this to be the case:

1. There must be fewer member forces and reaction components

than equilibrium equations: M+R<2J for 2D structures; or
M+R<3J for 3D structures

2. The external loading must be such that equilibrium is not

satisfied at one or more joints. This is almost always the case if
(1) is satisfied.

Some 2D examples where Maxwells equation is sufficient to classify

the structures are shown below

M=4 R=3 J=4 M=5 R=3 J=4 M=8 R=3 J=5 M=5 R=4 J=4
M+R=7 2J=8 M+R=8 2J=8 M+R=11 2J=10 M+R=9 2J=8
M+R<2J M+R=2J M+R>2J M+R>2J
Mechanism Determinate Indeterminate Indeterminate

An example where Maxwells equation doesnt work is shown

below
FD C
M=4 R=4 J=4
M+R=8 2J=8
M+R=2J
A B ????????

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Short-cuts for analyzing pin jointed frames

Zero Force Members

Sometimes, you can see by inspection that forces in some

members of a structure must be zero. These members can then
be removed from the calculation.

Heres how to spot zero force members:

1. If only two members meet at a joint, and no external force acts

on the joint, the forces in both members must be zero. For
example, this rule would tell us that the forces in members AD
and CD of the structure must be zero. We could remove these
members before starting calculations.

j 200N 200N
C C
D
100N 100N

2
j
i i
A B A B
2 2

2. If (i) only three members meet at a joint, and (ii) two of the
members are parallel, and (iii) no external force acts on the joint,
the force in the non parallel member must be zero. This rule
would tell us that BD in the structure below is a zero force
member.

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 F D F D

A 300 B 300 C A 300 300 C

So why the heck would anyone design a structure with zero

force members in it? To torture engineering students, mostly.
But there are other reasons too.

One reason is that most structures are designed to withstand

many different kinds of force (gravity, wind loading, etc). You
might be analyzing only the effect of one force (weight,
perhaps). The weight may not induce forces in some members,
but these members could be crucial in providing strength against
wind loading.

A more subtle reason is that zero force members are often

added to prevent the structure from collapsing by buckling. We
will discuss failure mechanisms in structural members in the next
section. We will see that if the compression force in a member
exceeds a critical value, the member will buckle. The critical
force depends on the length of the member a short member is
much stronger than a long one. In fact, halving the length of a
member will increase its buckling resistance by a factor of four.

For example, the structure shown below will almost certainly fail
by buckling in member BC.
F C

A 300 300 B

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 You could increase the strength of the structure by a factor of
four by adding the zero-force member AD shown below
F C
D
150
A 150 300 B

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The method of sections

The method of sections is a fantastic short cut for calculating forces in

a few members of a structure.

The idea is very simple we can calculate forces in members by

(i) creating an imaginary cut through the structure,

(ii) drawing the forces acting on the ends of the cut members, and
(iii) then conducting a force and moment balance for one of the two
parts of the structure.

The only minor drawback of this trick is that you have to compute the
reaction forces acting on the structure first (by conducting a force and
moment balance for the whole thing.

Lets work through an example to show how this works.

For the frame shown below, Calculate;

the magnitude and the nature of the forces in DE ,FE,CD,CF and GF

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