Lecture 40:

Beam Deflection
A loaded beam deflects by an amount that depends on several factors including:
the magnitude and type of loading
the span of the beam
the material properties of the beam (Modulus of Elasticity)
the properties of the shape of the beam (Moment of Inertia)
the beam type (simple, cantilever, overhanging, continuous)

Deflection may or may not be critical. Excessive deflection may result in cracked plaster,
objectionable appearance, or sags in flat roofs which then "pond". It may transfer loads to
non- bearing members under the beam such as partitions, doors, windows, etc., which in
turn may cause partitions to crack or doors and windows to stick. A floor beam which
deflects excessively is apt to be "springy", creating an undesirable walking surface, even if
it is in no danger of failing. A springy floor is especially unsatisfactory for a room housing
sensitive instruments.

A general rule for limiting deflection of simple spans for floor construction, or for plastered
ceilings, is that the deflection should not exceed the span (in inches) divided by 360 (max
D= L/360). The deflection for exposed ceiling beams at the roof is often allowed to be 50%
to 100% greater (l/240 or l/180). Codes usually specify that these deflections are based on
live load only, but experience shows that this is sometimes excessive. A conservative
approach is to limit the deflection to these values for total load in lightweight construction
(such as wood and steel). These guidelines are general and apply in most cases, but
certainly not all. For example, the springiness of a floor is influenced more by the mass of
the floor than by the total deflection; more dead load could cause more deflection, but
probably less springiness.

Formulas given in tables will be used to compute deflection for some loading conditions;
these will be expanded to approximate deflections for other conditions. The deflection
formulas will not be derived. In deflection formulas, "w" refers to pounds per inch of
length of loading (not pounds per foot). "W" refers to the total distributed load. The beam
length is in inches. Most mistakes in computing deflections are caused by using the length
in feet instead of inches and/or using "w" to mean pounds per foot instead of pounds per
inch. Also, convert any distributed load "w" to "W".
There are four parts to deflection formulas:

1. COEFFICIENT, which takes into account:

Type of beam
simple, cantilever, overhanging, etc.
Loading condition
2. LOAD FACTOR
Distributed loads "W" (total weight)
Distributed loads "w" (weight per inch of length)
Concentrated loads "P" (weight of one concentrated load)

3. LENGTH FACTOR
L^3 (inches) usually for load factor "P" and "W"
L^4 (inches) usually for load factor "w"
La, Lb (inches) used to locate some types of loads

(There is some confusion about the symbol "L" and "l";. Lower case "l" is often used to
indicate length in inches and upper case "L" for length in feet. However, lower case "l" can
be confused with the number "1" which causes more serious problems. Therefore, in this
class, "L" refers to inches in these deflection formulas.)

4. STIFFNESS FACTOR
1/EI
E = material stiffness (modulus of elasticity)
I = stiffness of the section based on the geometry of the section (moment of inertia).

CAUTION: The most common mistake in computing deflection is caused by using "w" as
load per foot instead of load per inch. The derivation of the deflection formulas uses the
unit of inches for all the factors in the formula. Uniformly distributed beam loads "w" are
normally described as load per foot which must be converted to the proper load per inch
value before insertion into the deflection formula. If "W" is used for the total distributed
load instead of the load per unit of length ("w") this conversion is not necessary.
Note that W = wL; will simplify many of the formulas.

The following are equations for finding the deflection of the more common beam types and
their associated loading. Note how the co-efficient reflects the stiffness of the system and
the loading.
Example Problem

Beam Deflection
Given:
the 24' long simply supported beam with a 2k/ft load distributed over it's entire length and a
16k concentrated load at the midspan. The distributed load includes the self weight of the
W21x62 beam.
E = 29,000 ksi
I = 1330 in^4
Determine:
the actual deflection of the beam and compare it with an allowable deflection of 1/360th of
the span (l/360).

Solution:
The loading is a combination of a distributed load and a concentrated load. The deflection
for each of these loading cases should be found independently and then combined to give a
total deflection. Be careful with units since not all given information has consistent unit
designation.

First determine the deflection based solely on the distributed load.

delta = 5wL^4/384 EI
= (5)(2kip/ft)(24^4ft)(12in/ft)^3/(384)
(29,000ksi)(1330in^4)
= .387 in
Second, determine the deflection based solely on the concentrated load:
delta = PL^3/48 EI
= (16kips)(24^3ft)(12in/ft)^3/(48)(29,000ksi)
(1330in^4)
= .206 in
Add these two deflections to determine the total deflection:
.387in + .206in = 0.593in
compare this to the allowable deflection:
span/360 = (24ft)(12in/ft)/360 = 0.8 in

0.593in < 0.8in - OK