LECTURE NOTES
STRUCTURAL THEORY
by
ENGR. RYAN D. TABADA CE, RMP
Department of Civil Engineering
School of Engineering Technology
J.H CERRILES STATE COLLEGE
MATI, SAN MIGUEL
ZAMBONGA DEL SUR
Virtual Work
Method
The virtual work method, also referred to as the method of virtual force or
unit-load method, uses the law of conservation of energy to obtain the
deflection and slope at a point in a structure. This method was developed
in 1717 by John Bernoulli. To illustrate the principle of virtual work,
consider the deformable body shown in Figure. First, applying a virtual or
fictitious unit load Pv = 1 at a point Q, where the deflection parallel to the
applied load is desired, will create an internal virtual or imaginary
load f and will cause point Q to displace by a certain small amount. Then,
placing the real external loads P1, P2, and M on the same body will cause
an internal deformation, dS, and an external deflection of point Q to Q’ by
an amount ∆.
Fig. Deformable body.
Upon placement of the real load, the point of application of the virtual
load also displaces by ∆, and the applied unit load performs work by
traveling the distance ∆. The work done by the virtual forces are as
follows:
External work done by the unit load P v
Internal work done by the virtual load f
Applying the principle of conservation of energy by equating equation
8.1 and equation 8.2 suggests the following:
External work done = Internal work done
Where
Mv = 1 = external virtual unit moment.
f = internal virtual load.
θ = external rotational displacement caused by real loads.
dS = internal deformation caused by real loads.
Virtual Work Formulation for the Deflection and Slope of
Beams and Frames
To develop the equations for the computation of deflection of beams
and frames using the virtual work principles, consider the beam
loaded as shown in Figure 8.2a. The deflection at point C due to the
applied external loads is required. First, removing the
loads P and W and applying a virtual unit load Pv = 1 will cause
elementary forces and deformations to develop in the bar, and a small
deflection to occur at C, as follows:
Fig. 8.2. Loaded beam.
The stress acting on the differential cross-sectional area dA at a
distance x from the left-end support due to a virtual unit load is as
follows:
Where;
m = internal virtual moment at the section at a distance xe from the
left-end support due to the virtual unit load.
I = moment of inertia of the section.
The force acting on the differential area due to the virtual unit load is
written as follows:
The stress due to the external loads P1 and P2 on the beam is written
as follows:
The deformation of a differential beam length dx at a distance x from
the left-end support is as follows:
The work done by the force f acting on the differential area due to the
deformation of the differential beam length dx is as follows:
The internal work done by the total force in the entire cross-sectional
area of the beam due to the applied virtual unit load when the differential
length of the beam dx deforms by δ can be obtained by integrating with
respect to dA, as follows:
The internal work done W in the entire length of the beam due to the
i
applied virtual unit load can now be obtained by integrating with respect
to dx, which is written as follows:
The external work done W by the virtual unit load due to the deflection
e
∆ at point C of the beam caused by the external loads is as follows:
The principle of conservation of energy is applied to obtain the
expression for the computation of the deflection at any point in a beam
or frame, which is written as follows:
Where;
1 = external virtual or imaginary unit load on the beam or frame in the
direction of the required deflection ∆.
∆ = external displacement at the specified point on a beam or frame
caused by the real loads.
M = internal moment in the beam or frame caused by the real load,
expressed in terms of the horizontal distance x.
m = internal virtual moment in the beam or frame caused by the external
virtual unit load, expressed with respect to the horizontal distance x.
E = modulus of elasticity of the material of the beam or frame.
I = moment of inertia of the cross-sectional area of the beam or frame
about its neutral axis.
Similarly, the following expression can be obtained for the computation
of the slope at a point in a beam or frame:
Where;
θ = slope or tangent rotation at a point on a beam or frame.
mθ = internal virtual moment in the beam or frame, expressed with
respect to the horizontal distance x, caused by the external virtual unit
moment applied at the point where the rotation is required.
Procedure for Determination of Deflection in Beams and Frames by the
Virtual Work Method
•Determine the support reactions in the real system using the
equations of static equilibrium.
•Write an expression for the moment in the real structure as a function
of the horizontal distance x. The number of the equations will depend
on the number of regions of the beam due to discontinuous loading.
•Create a virtual system by removing all the loads acting on the beam
and applying a unit load or a unit moment at the point where the
deflection or slope is desired.
•Write the moment expression for the virtual system in terms of the
distance x.
•Substitute the moment expressions into equation 8.1 and integrate to
obtain the value of deflection or slope at the point considered.
Virtual Work Formulation for the Deflection of
Consider the Trusses
truss shown in Figure 8.3 for the development of the
virtual work expression for the determination of the deflection of
trusses. The truss is subjected to the loads P1, P2, and P3, and the
vertical deflection ∆ at joint F is desired. First, remove the loads P1, P2,
and P3, and apply a vertical virtual unit load Pv = 1 at joint F, as shown
in Figure 8.3b. The virtual unit load will cause the virtual internal axial
load ni to act on each member of the truss. Applying the forces P1, P2,
and P3 will cause the deflection ∆ at joint F and the internal
deformation δLi in each member of the truss.
Fig. 8.3. Sample truss.
Using the law of conservation of energy, the work by the virtual unit
load at joint F and the virtual internal axial loads on the members of the
truss can be written as follows:
External work = internal work
But, for a member with length Li, area Ai, and material Young’s modulus Ei, the
deformation is written as follows:
Thus, the virtual work expression for the deflection of a truss can be
written as follows:
Where;
1 = external vertical virtual unit load applied at joint F.
n = internal axial virtual force in each truss member due to the virtual
unit load, Pv = 1.
N = axial force in each truss member due to the real loads P1, P2,
and P3.
∆ = external joint displacement caused by the real loads.
δL = deformation of each truss member caused by the real loads.
Procedure for Determination of Deflection in Trusses by the Virtual Work
Method:
•Determine the support reactions in the real system with the applied
loads using the equations of equilibrium.
•Determine the internal forces N in truss members caused by the
external loads on the real system.
•Remove all the external loads on the real system and apply a virtual
unit load on the joint in the truss in the direction of required deflection.
•Determine the internal virtual forces n in the members of the truss
caused by the external virtual unit load placed in the joint where the
deflection is desired.
•Calculate the deflection ∆ in the joint of the truss caused by the real
loads using equation 8.17.
Example 1.
Using the virtual work method, determine the deflection and the slope at
a point B of the cantilever beam shown in Figure 8.4a. E = 29 ×
103ksi, I = 600 in4.
Fig. 8.4. Cantilever beam.
Table 8.1. Bending moments at portions of the
beam.
Deflection at B. The deflection at the free end of the beam is determined
by using equation 8.1, as follows:
Therefore,
Slope at B. The slope at the free end of the beam is determined by
using equation 8.2, as follows:
Therefore,
Example 2.
Using the virtual work method, determine the deflection at B and the
slope at C for the simply supported beam subjected to a concentrated
load, as shown in Figure. EI= constant. E = 29 × 103ksi. I = 24 in4.
Fig. Simply supported beam.
Table 8.2. Bending moments at portions of the beam.
Deflection at B. The deflection at B can be determined by
using equation 8.1, as follows:
Therefore,
The positive value indicates deflection in the direction of the applied
virtual load.
Slope at C. The slope at C can be determined by using equation 8.2, as
follows:
Therefore,
Example 3.
Using the virtual work method, determine the slope at joint A of the
frame shown in Figure. E = 29 × 103ksi and EI = 700 in4.
Fig. Frame.
Table 3. Bending moments at portions of the beam.
Slope at A. The slope at A can be determined by using equation 8.2, as
follows:
Therefore,
Example 4.
Using the virtual work method, determine the horizontal deflection at
joint B of the truss shown in Figure 8.9a. E = 12000 ksi and A = 3 in2.
Fig. Truss.
Support reactions. The reactions are computed by the application of the
equations of equilibrium, as follows:
Joint A.
+ → ∑ Fx = 0
FAE – 90 = 0
FAE = 90 kips
Joint B.
Joint C.
Joint D.
Horizontal deflection at B. The desired horizontal deflection at
joint B is computed using equation 8.17, as presented in Table 4.
Table 4. Horizontal deflections.
