Shear Stress in Beams

Abstract

The shearing force at any cross-section of a beam will set up a shear stress on transverse sections which in general will vary across the section. In the following analysis it will be assumed that the stress is uniform across the width (i.e. parallel to the neutral axis), and also that the presence of shear stress does not affect the distribution of bending stress. The latter assumption cannot be strictly true, as the existence of shear stress will cause a distortion of transverse planes, which will no longer remain plane (see Para. 9.7).