Centre of Advanced Design Engineering

ENG4082 Mathematics and Mechanics

FORCES
AND PIN-
JOINTED
FRAME
NOTES

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 Centre of Advanced Design Engineering
ENG4082 Mathematics and Mechanics

RESOLUTION OF FORCES

Introduction

If a body is at rest (or at moving at constant velocity) it is said to be in a state of

constant equilibrium. The branch of mechanics called STATICS deals with the
analysis of forces when a body is static - it finds applications in the fields of bridge
and building design, loading on parts of machinery which do not move.

Two Forces (2D)

If a body is in equilibrium, and only two forces are applied, then the forces must be
EQUAL and OPPOSITE. An example is GRAVITY - when you are standing still
gravity is attracting you to the centre of the earth, but you are not moving. The
REACTION force from the ground keeps you stationary - it is this force that you
perceive as your weight. A skydiver in free-fall feels weightless because there is no
reaction force - not because there is no gravity.

Resolution of Forces

An important tool used frequently by engineers is RESOLUTION. This splits a

component such as velocity or a force into two components, which are usually at
right angles to each other. Resolution is based on the laws of trigonometry.

For a right angled triangle, the sides are referred to as the HYPOTENUSE,
OPPOSITE and ADJACENT.

HYPOTENUSE, h
OPPOSITE, o

ANGLE

ADJACENT, a

The laws of trigonometry are

A force is resolved using these rules

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 Centre of Advanced Design Engineering
ENG4082 Mathematics and Mechanics

FY
F FY = 30 Sin 60o = 25.98 N
FX = 30 Cos 60o = 15.0 N
60o

FX

Triangle of Forces

One of the most elementary examples of statics is when three forces are acting on a
body. If the body is not moving, then the body must be in equilibrium. The value of
an unknown force may be found by resolving all the forces into horizontal and vertical
components. The total force up must equal the total force down, and similarly the left
component must equal the right component.

EXAMPLE Find the value and angle of the unknown force acting on the point P,
assuming it is in equilibrium

6N

120o
10 N

More Than Three Forces

The principle may be extended to a case when four or more forces are acting on a
body - however the force must be coplanar. The geometric method with more than
three forces are referred to as the force polygon. An example of this is when several
forces act on an aircraft, e.g. lift, drag, thrust, gyroscopic.

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ENG4082 Mathematics and Mechanics

Other Applications

A knowledge of statics is important in the design of structures such as bridges. It is

usual to assume that the structure is PIN JOINTED i.e. all joints are free to rotate.
Since a structure is in static equilibrium then forces can be resolved in order to
determine the forces in each member. If a link is in tension it is called a tie, and if in
compression, a strut.

Example

The lifting members of a crane can be modelled using a pin-jointed frame as shown
below. For the system determine the load in the members AB and BC, stating if it is
a tie or strut. Take g = 9.81 m/s2.

A
20o

B
C
500 kg

Pin-jointed Frame

FAB o
20
B
FCB

TAB

Resolving vertically at B

Resolving horizontally at B

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 Centre of Advanced Design Engineering
ENG4082 Mathematics and Mechanics

Struts and Ties

Structural members which carry loads can be categarised depending whether they
experience compressive or tensile loads, namely compressive loads produces a
strut and tensile designated as a tie. The mode of failure of struts can also be
categorised. A ductile strut which is subjected to a tensile load failure in a manner
described in a simple tensile test. i,e, a linear portion followed by a plastic stage. A
strut subjected to a compressive load can fail in two distinct ways. A short, thick
member are generally termed as a column and these fail by crushing when the yield
strength of the material is exceeded. Long, slender columns, however, fail by bulking
some time before the yield stress of the material is reached.

A summary of the failure loads for different loading cases is as follows

LOADING CASE MAXIMUM EULER LOAD

Pin-jointed at both ends 2 EI
L2
One end free, one end built-in 2 EI
4L2
Both ends fixed 4 2 EI
L2
One end built-in, the other 2 2 EI
pinned L2

Where E = Youngs Modulus of the material,

I = Second moment of area for bending,
L = Length of strut. The second moment of area for circular
D 4
cross-section is given by the expression I where
64
D = diameter

Comparison Of Euler Theory With Experimental Results

A diagram comparing the theoretical Euler load is given in Fig.1. It can be seen that
for mid-range of strut i.e. neither short or long neither Euler results nor the yield
stress are close to experimental values, each suggesting a critical which is in excess
of that which is required for failure a very unsafe situation.
The Rankine-Gordon formula has been derived to attempt to obtain closer values in
this range of slenderness values., namely : -

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ENG4082 Mathematics and Mechanics

yA
PR where
1 a( L / k ) 2

A = Area,
L = Length of strut
y = yield stress,
a = experimental constant for different materials
k = radius of gyration (0.25d for a circular cross-section in bending )

Euler

For structural steels, curves

coincide at L/k = 80

y Yield or collapse stress

Curves coincide
Experimental
at L/k = 120

50 100 150
Slenderness Ratio, L/k

Fig.1 Failure stress versus Slenderness ratio

MATERIAL YIELD STRESS, a

y Pinned ends Fixed ends
(MN/m2)
Low carbon steel 315 1/7500 1/30000
Cast iron 540 1/1600 1/64000
Timber 35 1/3000 1/12000

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ENG4082 Mathematics and Mechanics

Pin - Jointed Frames : Worked Examples

Calculate the forces in the links in the following cases. Indicate if the links are ties or
struts.

1.

(AC = 345.1N (tie), BC = 256.1N)

2.

(AC = 2636N, BC = 1721N)

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3.

(FAC = 11.7kN, FBC = FCD = 13.9kN, 120)

4.

(AB = -17.5 kN, BC = -7.5 kN BE = -10.0 kN, AE = 15.2 kN, CE = 7.5 kN,
CD = -7.5 kN, DE = 8.0 kN, DF = -12.5 kN, EF = 10.8 kN)

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ENG4082 Mathematics and Mechanics

5. A diagrammatic representation of a pin-jointed lifting tackle frame is as shown

below.. The lifting tackle is used to move a mass of 2000 kg. The cross-section
of both elements, AB and BC, is 40mm in diameter. Assuming that g = 9.81m/s 2
for the system determine : -

a) Load in each member indicating if it is a strut or a tie,

b) Direct stress in member BC,
c) Failure load of member AB as predicted by Euler given that E = 207 GN/m2
and length of the member, L, is 1.5m,
d) Stress safety factor for the member BC assuming that the yield strength of
the material is 315 MN/m2.

60

2000kg
a) TBA = - 34 kN (strut)

30 TBC = 19.6 kN
b) 15.6 MN/m2
c) 114 kN
A d) 20.2

Lifting Tackle Configuration

6. Calculate the loads in each menber. Hint resolve forces vertically and
horizontally and take moments about one vertical support load.

Take AB = 5m 10kN
AC = 4m
BC = 3m C
6kN

A

B
FAH

FAV FB

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