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Planar Approximations for a Two-Dimensional Beam Analysis

Created using ANSYS 14.0

Problem Specification

A simply-supported beam of rectangular cross-section is point loaded at some arbitrary point along its length as shown in figure below.



P = 10,000 lb, L = 100 in, a = 75 in, b = 3 in, h = 8 in

The material is structural steel with Young's modulus E= 2.9e7 psi and Poisson's ratio of 0.3. Using ANSYS Mechanical, find the finite-element solution for non-dimensionalized maximum deflection defined as:

Compare the finite-element solution for plane stress and plane strain to Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. Discuss the comparison between the finite-element and beam theory results. Note that the non-dimensionalized maximum deflection is independent of the Young's modulus.

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