Arch Bridge Shear and Bending Moment?

[burtdawg14]

This is my first course in Engineering and the professor told us today that we have to do shear and bending moment diagrams for an arch bridge. Anyone have any clue on how to do this? He gave us no information on how to do it and nothing in a book. Please help??

 

[burtdawg14]

I basically just need to know where to even start? I have never done much in Statics

 

[burtdawg14]

Could someone help me get started with this?

 

[mdub12]

i don't think he has given you any assignment yet, he's just telling you what your going to be doing

 

[DeeNos]

Hi there,

Congratulations on starting your engineering course! Shear and bending moment diagrams are important tools in structural analysis and design, and it's great that you have the opportunity to learn about them in your first course.

To create a shear and bending moment diagram for an arch bridge, you will need to follow a few steps:

1. Draw a free-body diagram of the arch bridge, showing all the external forces acting on it. This will include the weight of the bridge, any live loads (such as cars or pedestrians), and any support reactions at the ends of the bridge.

2. Cut the bridge at a specific location and draw the resulting section. This section will help you determine the internal forces (shear and bending moment) at that location.

3. Apply the equations of equilibrium to the section to determine the internal forces. This will involve solving for the reactions at the ends of the bridge and then using the equations of equilibrium (sum of forces and sum of moments) to find the internal forces.

4. Plot the shear and bending moment diagrams by plotting the internal forces along the length of the bridge. The shear diagram will show the variation of shear force along the bridge, while the bending moment diagram will show the variation of bending moment.

It's important to note that the shape of the arch bridge will affect the distribution of internal forces and thus the shape of the shear and bending moment diagrams. Therefore, it's important to understand the basic principles of structural analysis and to consider the geometry and loading conditions of the bridge in order to accurately create the diagrams.

I recommend consulting your textbook or reaching out to your professor for more guidance and resources on creating shear and bending moment diagrams for an arch bridge. Good luck with your studies!