3 - Force System Resultants

Engineering Mechanics
Statics
Soran University
Faculty of Engineering
Civil Engineering Department
Yousif J. Bas
1ST SEM (2021-2022)

Force System Resultants
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
 To explain the Moment of Force
 To explain the Principle Moment
 To explain the Moment of a Couple
 To explain the Reduction of Simple Distributed Loading
Expected Outcomes
 Able to solve the problems of MOF and MOC in the
mechanics applications by using principle of moments
Hibbeler R. C., Engineering Mechanics , Statics, 13th edition, 2013

Chapter Outline
 Moment of a Force (MOF)
 Principle of Moment
 Moment of a Couple (MOC)
 Reduction of a Simple Distributed Loading

Moment of a Force
When a force is applied to a body it will

produce a tendency for the body to rotate
about a point that is not on the line of
action of the force. This tendency to rotate
is sometimes called a torque , but most
often it is called the moment of a force or
simply the moment.
Application of Moment (turning effect)
Moment factor
Magnitude of Moment.
consider the force F and point O which lie in the
shaded plane as shown below. The moment MO
about point O , or about an axis passing through
O and perpendicular to the plane, is a vector
quantity since it has a specified magnitude and
direction. The magnitude of MO is
where d is the moment arm or perpendicular

distance from the axis at point O to the line of
action of the force. Units of moment magnitude
consist of force times distance, e.g., N.m
Direction of Moment.
The direction of MO is defined by its moment axis , which is perpendicular
to the plane that contains the force F and its moment arm d. The right-hand rule is used to
establish the sense of direction of MO.
Resultant Moment.
For two-dimensional problems, where all the forces lie
within the x–y plane, the resultant moment (MR)O about
point O (the z axis) can be determined by finding the
algebraic sum of the moments caused by all the forces
in the system.
As a convention, we will generally consider positive moments as
counterclockwise since they are directed along the positive z axis (out of the
page). Clockwise moments will be negative . Doing this, the directional sense of
each moment can be represented by a plus or minus sign. Using this sign
convention, the resultant moment in the figure is therefore
If the numerical result of this sum is a positive scalar, (MR)O will be a

counterclockwise moment (out of the page); and if the result is negative, (MR)O
will be a clockwise moment (into the page).
Example:
For each case illustrated in the figure below, determine the moment
of the force about point O .
Example:
Determine the moments of the 800 N force acting on the frame

about points A, B, C and D.
Example:
Determine the resultant moment of the four forces acting on the rod
shown in the figure below about point O .
Solution:
Principle of Moments
A concept often used in mechanics is the principle of moments , which states
that the moment of a force about a point is equal to the sum of the moments
of the components of the force about the point .
This method is generally easier than

finding the same moment using MO = Fd.
Example:
Determine the moment of the force in the figure below about point O.
Solution:
Example:
Force F acts at the end of the angle bracket in the figure below. Determine the
moment of the force about point O.
Solution:
Example:
Determine the moments of the 100N force acting on the
Frame about point O
Solution:
Moment of a Couple
A couple is defined as two parallel forces that have
the same magnitude, but opposite directions,
and are separated by a perpendicular distance d
The moment of a couple, M is

defined as having a magnitude of
where F is the magnitude of one of the forces and d is the perpendicular

distance or moment arm between the forces. The direction and sense of
the couple moment are determined by the right-hand rule, where the
thumb indicates this direction when the fingers are curled with the sense
of rotation caused by the couple forces. In all cases, M will act
perpendicular to the plane containing these forces.
Equivalent Couples
If two couples produce a moment

with the same magnitude and
direction , then these two couples
are equivalent . For example,
the two couples shown in the Figure
are equivalent because each couple
moment has a magnitude of
M = 30 N(0.4 m) = 40 N(0.3 m) = 12 N.m ,
and each is directed into the plane of the page. Notice that larger forces
are required in the second case to create the same turning effect because
the hands are placed closer together.
Resultant Couple Moment
Since couple moments are vectors,

their resultant can be determined by
vector addition. For example, consider
the couple moments M1 and M2 acting
on the pipe in Fig. a . Since each couple
moment is a free vector, we can join their
tails at any arbitrary point and find the resultant
couple moment, MR = M1 + M2 as
shown in Fig. b .
Application (Moment of a Couple )
When you grip a vehicle's

steering wheel with both
hands and turn, a couple
moment is applied to the
wheel
Example
Example
Two couple sacton the beam with the geometry shown.

Determine the magnitude of F so that the resultant couple
moment is 1.5 kN.m clockwise
Solution
Reduction of a Simple Distributed
Loading
Sometimes, a body may be

subjected to a loading that is
distributed over its surface. For
example, the pressure of the
wind on the face of a sign, the
pressure of water within a tank,
or the weight of sand on the
floor of a storage container, are
all distributed loadings .
Example
Replace the distributed loading with an equivalent resultant

force, and specify its location on the beam measured from
point O.
Example
The loading on the beam as shown. Determine equivalent

force and couple moment acting at point O
Solution

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Engineering Mechanics

1ST SEM (2021-2022)

Hibbeler R. C., Engineering Mechanics , Statics, 13th edition, 2013

 Moment of a Couple (MOC)

 Reduction of a Simple Distributed Loading

When a force is applied to a body it will

where d is the moment arm or perpendicular

If the numerical result of this sum is a positive scalar, (MR)O will be a

Determine the moments of the 800 N force acting on the frame

This method is generally easier than

The moment of a couple, M is

where F is the magnitude of one of the forces and d is the perpendicular

If two couples produce a moment

Since couple moments are vectors,

When you grip a vehicle's

Two couple sacton the beam with the geometry shown.

Sometimes, a body may be

Replace the distributed loading with an equivalent resultant

The loading on the beam as shown. Determine equivalent

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