C.4.

Principal Moments of Inertia

The moments of inertia of a plane area depend not only on the location of the
reference axis but also on the orientation of the axes about the origin. The
variation of these properties with respect to axis location are governed by the
parallel-axis theorem, as described in Section C.3. We now derive the equations
for transformation of the moments and product of inertia at any point of a plane
area.
The area shown in Fig C.6 has the moments and product of inertia I x, I y, I xy with
respect to the x and yaxes defined by Eqs. (C.4) and (C.6). It is required
to determine the moments and product of inertia I x,I y, and I xy about axes x
, y making an angle with the original x, y axes. The new coordinates of an
element dA can be expressed by projecting x and y onto the rotated axes (Fig.
C.6):

Equation a

Figure C.6. Rotation of axes.

Then, by definition

Upon substituting Eqs. (C.4) and (C.6), the foregoing becomes

Equation b

The moment of inertia I y may be found readily by substituting + /2 for in

the expression for I x. Similarly, using the definition I xy = AxydA, we obtain

Equation c

The transformation equations for the moments and product of inertia may be
rewritten by introducing double-angle trigonometric relations in the form

Equation C.12a

Equation C.12b

Equation C.12c

In comparing the expressions here and in Chapter 1, it is observed that

moments of inertia (I x, I y, I x,I y) correspond to the normal stresses ( x, y, x
, y) the negative of the products of inertia (I xy , I xy ) correspond to the
shear stresses (xy, xy), and the polar moment of inertia (Jo) corresponds to the
sum of the normal stresses ( x + y). Thus, Mohrs circle analysis and the
characteristics for stress apply to these properties of area.
The angle at which the moment of inertia I x of Eq. (C.12a) assumes an
extreme value may be obtained from the condition dI x/d = 0:

Equation d

The foregoing yields

Equation C.13

Here p represents the two values of that locate the principal axes about which
the principal or maximum and minimum moments of inertia occur.
When Eq. (C.12c) is compared with Eq. (d), it becomes clear that the product of
inertia is zero for the principal axes. If the origin of axes is located at the
centroid of the area, they are referred to as the centroidal principal axes. It was
observed in Section 3.2 that the products of inertia relative to the axes of
symmetry are zero. Thus, an axis of symmetry coincides with a centroidal
principal axis.
The principal moments of inertia are determined by introducing the two values
of p into Eq. (C.12a). The sine and cosine of angles 2p defined by Eq. (C.13)
are

Equation e

where
(C.12a), we obtain

. When these expressions are inserted into Eq.

Equation C.14

wherein I 1 and I 2 denote the maximum and minimum principal moments of

inertia, respectively.

Example C.5. Principal Moments of Inertia for Angular Section

Calculate the centroidal principal moments of inertia for the angular

section shown in Fig. C.7a. The dimensions are given in millimeters.

Figure C.7. Example C.5. (a) Angle section; (b) Mohrs circle
for moments of inertia.

Solution
Location of centroid: The x, y axes are the reference axes through the
centroid C (Fig. C.7a), the location of which has already been
determined in Example C.2. Again, the area is divided into
rectangles A1 and A2.
Moments of inertia: Applying the parallel-axis theorem, with reference
to the x and y axes, we have

The product of inertia about the xy axes is obtained as described

in Section C.3:

Principal moments of inertia: Equation (C.13) yields

Thus, the two values of p are 35.54 and 125.54. Using the first of
these values, Eq. (C.12a) results in I x = 1184(104) mm4. The principal
moments of inertia are, from Eq. (C.14),

or I 1 = I x = 1184(104) mm4 and I 2 = I y = 296(104) mm4. The

principal axes are indicated in Fig. C.7a as the xy axes.
The principal moments of inertia may also be determined readily by
means of Mohrs circle, following a procedure similar to that described
in Section 1.10, as shown in Fig. C.7b. Note that the quantities
indicated are expressed in cm4 and the results are obtained analytically
from the geometry of the circle.

Example C.6. General Formulation of Moments of Inertia for Angle

Section

Derive general expressions for the centroidal moments and product of

inertia for the angle section shown in Fig. C.7a. Write a computer
program for the centroidal principal moments of inertia.

Solution
Using the X, Y axes as reference (Fig. C.7a), Eqs. (C.3) yield

Equation f

Equation g

The transfer formula (C.9a) results in

Equation h

Similarly,

Equation i

Equation j

For convenience in programming, we employ the notation

and

Equations (h), (i), (j), (C.13), and (C.14) are thus

The required computer program, written in FORTRAN, is presented

in Table C.2, along with input data (from Example C.5) and output
values. The program was written and tested on a digital computer.

Table C.2. FORTRAN Program for Moments of Inertia