ABSTRACT
This chapter describes several kinds of beam loading patterns: concentrated loads, uniformly distributed loads, linearly varying distributed loads, and concentrated moments. It focuses on free-body diagrams of parts of beams and shows the internal shearing forces. The chapter utilizes the laws of beam diagrams to relate the load, shearing force, and bending moment diagrams to each other and to draw the diagrams. It also utilizes the theorem of three moments to analyze continuous beams having three or more supports and carrying any combination of concentrated and distributed loads. Prior to studying the actual shearing stresses and bending stresses, the chapter helps students to visualize and to compute the values for the internal shearing forces and bending moments themselves. When analyzing a beam to determine reactions, internal shearing forces, and internal bending moments, it is helpful to classify the manner of loading, the type of supports, and the type of beam.
