Solution
Figures (b) and (c) show the shear force and bending moment diagrams for the beam.
We see that the maximum shear force Vmax ¼ W=2 occurs over the supports, and the
maximum bending moment Mmax ¼ WL=8 occurs at midspan.
Design for Shear The maximum value of W that does not violate the shear stress
criterion tatw is obtained by setting tmax ¼ tw in Eq. (5.9):
tw ¼
3
2
Vmax
A
¼
3
2
W=2
bh
which gives
W ¼
4
3
bhtw (a)
Note that this value of W is independent of the length of the beam.
Design for Bending Letting smax ¼ sw in Eq. (5.4b), we get
sw ¼
jMjmax
S
¼
WL=8
bh2=6
¼
3
4
WL
bh2
yielding
W ¼
4
3
bh2
L
sw (b)
which is the maximum W that does not violate the bending stress criterion sasw.
Observe that W decreases with increasing L.