118
BEAMS
AND
CABLES
If the beam has more than three reaction components, which is quite common in
practice, then the three equations of equilibrium applied to the complete beam are not
sufficient to evaluate these reactions, and additional information is required. Sometimes
this extra information is available in the form of a hown bending moment at some point
other than a support. For instance, the beam may contain one or more internal hinges.
If a hinge is assumed to be frictionless, the bending moment must be zero at that
location. It is then possible to consider the freebody to one side of the hinge and thus
obtain an extra equation.
For all reactions to be determined using only the principles of statics, the number
of
internal hinges must be the same
as
the extra number of equations required. For instance
a beam with five reactions must contain
two
hinges
so
that these
two
~~~~tiu~~
of
cu~~itio~,
together with the three equations of external equi~ibrium are equal to the
number of reactions. If there are more than
two
hinges (in this case) the beam is not
stable and will collapse under certain loads. If there are less than
two
hinges the reactions
cannot be determined by statics alone and the solution is not the subject
of
this book.
Such beams are not statically determinate.
A
beam such
as
that shown in Figure
8.3
may be used in bridge construction. It is often
more economical than
two
simply supported beams
AB
and
BC.
There are four
reactions, and these cannot be determined unless either the freebody
AD
or
DC
is
considered in addition to overall equilibrium, To avoid extensive arithmetic, it is
important to write the equilibrium equations in
a
suitable sequence.