Need help with some keywords to search with

[perfectchaos180]

I am doing a research project on "How does the shape of a beam effect how much stress it can take?" Right now I have to search through a database and find some abstracts related to my topic. The problem is, I don't know what keywords I should be searching to find some good information on beams or steel related to my topic. So I was wondering if anybody can think of some good keywords to search with. Any help is appreciated.

 

[TVP45]

I think you might look in vain. Shape is not the parameter you need to look at. Do you have a copy of Machinery's Handbook or (better) the AISI Steel Construction Manual? And, you will need to define some of the conditions, i.e., what kind of stress and type of support.

 

[perfectchaos180]

The topic is something I am going to research myself, and do experiments on, etc. But for the first stage of our project our teacher told us to go get abstracts relating to it. So just anything to do with beams that could give me more information that might help me going into my project. But when I search for "beams" I get so many different things so I was just looking for some keywords to help get to those abstracts. And no I don't have books or anything, and I haven't decided on the stress or support yet.

 

[TVP45]

OK, here's a couple sites to start out with:
http://www.engineersedge.com/beam_calc_menu.shtml
http://structsource.com/analysis/types/beam.htm
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~struct/courseware/461/461_lectures/461_lecture28/461_lecture28.html
www.feh.osu.edu/SummerInstitute/2006/Bridge Design Fundamentals.ppt -
Good luck

 

[FredGarvin]

I am doing a research project on "How does the shape of a beam effect how much stress it can take?"

This is not a good way to phrase this statement. The allowable stress a beam can take is solely a function of the material. I think what you really want to look at is how does the shape of a beam effect how much load can a beam take.

Look up the basic stress calculations for beam bending. From that you'll see that, apart from material properties, one very important aspect you can change is the cross sectional area moment of inertia. The higher that number is, the greater loads you can apply with the same resultant stress.