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Chapter 6
Geometric Properties and
Distributed Loadings
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Objectives

◼ To discuss the concept of center of gravity and

centroid for a body of arbitrary shape.

◼ To show how to locate the centroid for a line, an area, or

a volume.

◼ To determine the resultant of distributed loading.

◼ To determine the moment of inertia & polar moment of

inertia for an area.

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Terms

Centre of Gravity (CG) is the point which locates the resultant

weight of a system of particles or a body.

Centroid C is the point which defines the geometric center of

an object. This term is used in connection with figures like lines,
areas and volumes.

The centroid coincides with the CG of a body only if the material

composing the body is uniform or homogenous (density is
constant).

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6.1 CG for a System of Particles

Consider a system of n particles in space.

The weights of each particle (in z direction)
can be replaced by a single resultant
Weight WR = ΣW acting at point G.

To find the x coordinates of G, take

moments about the y-axis

Similarly we can sum the moments about

the x axis to find the y coordinate of G

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6.1 CG for a System of Particles

cont.

The coordinates of G for a system of

particles are:

Eqn 6.1 represents a balance between the sum of the moments of

all the particles of the system and the moment of the resultant
weight for the system.

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6.2 CG/Centroid of a Body

A rigid body is made of an infinite

number of particles. To apply the same
principles to the body, it is necessary to
use integration rather than a discrete
summation of terms.
We get the coordinates of G by simply
replacing Σ by ∫ and W by dW in (6.1),

If the body is made of homogenous material of specific weight γ,

we can replace dW by γdV (or γdA or γdL). The resulting formulas
define the centroids of a volume, area or line.

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6.2 CG/Centroid of a Body cont.

Volume: Replacing dW by dV

Area: Replacing dW by dA

Line: Replacing dW by dL

In (6.6) and (6.7), only two coordinates of C

need to be calculated if the area is a flat
surface or the line lies on a single plane.
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Important Points

1. In Eqn (6.6), are called the first moments of area

about the y and the x axis, respectively. Its values may be positive,
negative or zero depending on the coordinate system used.
2. Where a shape has an axis of symmetry, its centroid lies on that axis.
Where a shape has two or three axes of symmetry, the centroid lies at
the intersection of these axes.
3. In the case of curved lines or surface, the centroids will in general not
lie on the shape.

Line with 1 axis of Area with 2 axes of Volume with 3 axes of

symmetry symmetry symmetry

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Procedure for Analysis

1. Select a differential element (vertical, horizontal or polar) that

requires the least computational work for integration.
2. For lines, the element dL is a differential line segment; for areas
the element dA is either a thin rectangle or a sector; and for
volumes the element dV is either a thin disk or a plate.
3. The coordinates of the centroid C equal to the integral of first
moments of the element about each of the coordinate axes
divided by the total volume, area or length of the shape.
Centroids of common shapes of areas are provided in the
textbook.

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Example

Locate the centroid of a quarter circular arc by integration.

Solution:
The length of an arc element in
polar coordinates is dL= R⋅dθ, and
its centroid is located at

Integration:

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Example 6.1

Locate the y centroid for the area of the triangle.

Solution:
Consider a horizontal strip of length x and thickness dy. The area
of the element is dA = x dy and its centroid is located at a distance
from the x-axis.
Integration:

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Geometric Properties of Line and

Area Elements
Centroid location Centroid location Area Moment of Inertia

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Geometric Properties of Line and

Area Elements
Centroid location Centroid location Area Moment of Inertia

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6.3 Composite Bodies

A composite body may be divided into several parts, each part

having a simpler shape, such as a rectangle, triangle or semicircle.
Examples of such composite areas are the cross sections of beams
and columns.
Knowing the location of centroids of the individual parts, we can
treat each part like a segment and determine the centroid of
the composite body using the principle of moments.

This plate can be divided into four parts:

a rectangle (a), a triangle (b), a quarter
circle (c) & a semicircular hole (d). The
hole is considered as a part with negative
area.

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Example (Q6-25, pg 279)

Locate the y centroid of the bulb-tee cross section.

The area has an axis of symmetry →
the centroid lies along the y-axis.

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Example

Determine the 2 coordinates of the centroid C for the line that

consists of a circular arc and two straight lines.

Solution:
Segment 1 (circular arc):
L1 = 2θ⋅r = 2*1.231*0.6 = 1.477
x1 = 0.46 – 0.2 = 0.26

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Example

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Tutorial Session

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Practice Problem

Use the method of composite areas to calculate the centroid of the

trapezoidal area.

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6.4 Distributed Loads on Beams

In many cases, a surface area of a body is subjected to a

distributed load. Such forces may be caused by the weight of items
on the beam or by the pressure of wet concrete on the formwork.
How do we reduce each force system to a single force that will
exert the same external effect at the supports?

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6.3 Distributed Loads on Beams

cont.
The beam is subjected to a distributed
load w, which is a function of x and has
unit of force per unit length.

Magnitude of resultant force:

Consider an element of force of length dx.
The force magnitude dF is dF = w(x)⋅dx.
The total load on the beam is

Hence, the magnitude of the resultant

force is the total area A under the loading
curve.

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6.3 Distributed Loads on Beams

cont.

FR acts through a point C under the area of

the loading curve. The distance x can be
located by equating the moments of FR and
the distributed load about point O.

Therefore, the resultant force has a line of

action which passes through the centroid C
of that area.

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Example 6.8

Determine the magnitude and location of the equivalent resultant

force on the beam.

Solution:
1. Consider the trapezoidal loading as two separate loads (one
rectangular and one triangular)
2. Find F1 and F2 for each of these two loadings and the
respective line of action.
3. Find the magnitude and location of the resultant force FR
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Example 6.8 cont.

F1 = ½×50×9=225 kN x1= 9/3 = 3 m

F2 = 50×9 =450 kN x2=½×9 =4.5 m
Resultant load FR = F1 + F2 = 675 kN

Alternatively, divide the trapezoidal loading into two triangular areas

F1= ½×100×9=450 kN x1= 9/3 =3 m

F2= ½×50×9 =225 kN x2=9(2/3)=6 m
→ FR = 675 kN, x=4m

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Example 6.8 cont.

Important points:
1. The resultant FR is equivalent to the given distributed load,
only as far as the external forces are concerned.
2. The resultant FR may be used for determining support
reactions (where these are statically determinate).
3. It must NOT be used for determining internal forces or
deflections.

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6.5 Moments of Inertia for Areas

The area moment of inertia represents the second moment of the

area about an axis. It is used in formulas related to strength and
stability of structural members.
Consider the area A which lies in the x-y
plane. By definition, the moments of
inertia (Ix , Iy) of the area are
determined by the integral

Ix is called the second moment of area A about the x-axis.

Iy is called the second moment of area A about the y-axis.

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6.5 Moments of Inertia for Areas

cont.
We can also formulate the second moment of area about an axis ⊥ar to
the plane of the area (at pole O) using the integral JO = ∫r2 dA.
JO is called the polar moment of inertial.

Note that Ix, Iy and JO are always positive and the dimension is
[L4]. Therefore, the units are in mm4, m4.

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Example 6.11

Determine the moment of inertia for the rectangular area about (a)
the centroidal axes, (b) the base, and (c) the z’ axis passing
through C.

Solution:
(a) Moment of Inertia about x’ axis:
Consider a horizontal strip of thickness dy’.
Since dA = b⋅ dy’, then

Moment of inertia about y’ axis:

Iy’ may be found by interchanging the
dimensions b and h in the above result. i.e.,

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Example 6.11 cont.

(b) The MoI about axis xb passing

through the base of the rectangle is
determined in the same way as in (a)
but with a different integral limit.

(c) The polar moment of inertia about C:

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Example 6.13

Determine the moment of inertia for the circular area about:

(a) the x axis, (b) the z axis passing through O.

Solution:
(a) Consider a horizontal strip of thickness
dy. Since dA = 2x⋅ dy

(b) The polar moment of inertia about O:

By symmetry, Iy = Ix = πa4/4
J0 = Ix + Iy = πa4/2

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Example 6.13 cont.

Solution II:
Consider a vertical strip of height 2y and
thickness dx.
The centroid for the element happens to
lie on the x axis, so

Integrating with respect to x yields

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Concept of the Moment of Inertia

Consider three different cross-sectional shapes for the beam RS.

All sections have the same total area. Assuming they are made of
same material, they will have the same mass per unit length.
For the given vertical loading P on the beam, which shape will
develop less internal stress and deflection?
Why?

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6.6 Parallel-Axis Theorem

Consider an area with the centroid C.

The x’ and y’ axes pass through C.
We want to determine the moment of
inertia of the area about the x-axis,
which is parallel to, and located at a
distance dy from the x’ axis.
centroid

∫A y’2 dA, = moment of inertia about the centroidal x’ axis, I x

∫A y’ dA = 0, because C is the centroid of the area

∫A dy2 dA = A dy2
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6.6 Parallel-Axis Theorem cont.

The theorem states that the moment of inertia of an area about an

axis is equal to the moment of inertia about a parallel centroidal
axis plus Area*d2, where d is the distance between the // axes.
This theorem is very useful especially when working with
composite areas.

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6.8 Moments of Inertia for

Composite Areas
Consider a composite area A made of several
common shapes A1, A2, etc. The MoI of A1, A2 …
about their centroidal axes are given in most
engineering handbooks

Using these data and the parallel-axis theorem, the MoI for the
entire area A about a reference axis equals to the algebraic sum
of the moments of inertia of the areas A1, A2, etc., with respect
to the same axis.
If a composite area has a hole, its MoI is found by subtracting
the MoI for the hole from the MoI of the entire area without hole.

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Example 6.14

Determine the moment of inertia about the x-

axis of the rectangular area with and without
the central circular hole.
Solution: Apply the parallel-axis theorem to
each area.
Circle:

MoI for rectangular area:

MoI for rectangular area with hole:

Ix = 112.5×106 - 11.4×106 =101×106 mm4
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Practice Problem

Two W200×46 rolled sections may be welded at A and B in either

of the 2 ways shown. For each arrangement, determine the MoI of
the built-up section with respect to the horizontal centroidal axis.

Properties of rolled section:

See Appendix D

Be careful with the axes

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Thank You !

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