164 FORCES AND MOMENTS TRANSMITTED BY SLENDER MEMBERS SEC. 3.

6 SINGULARITY FUNC

Inserting these boundary conditions into (a) and (c) leads to

C3 =0 C4 = LC2 = Y2w o a 2
w a2
C!=C 2 -wo a C2 =Y2-t- (f)

C! = Y2w o a (L -
a)2 = -
(L+b)
Y2wo a -L-'­
The shear-force and bending-moment diagrams can be constructed from
woa
V!=woX--(L+b)
. 2L
(g)
wa 2
V2 =Y2T
and
woa 2
Mb! = + 2L (L + b)x - Y2 w ox
2 (h)
2 woa x
Mb2 = Y2wo a - Y2 - L ­
as shown in Fig. 3.16b and c.
Clearly, if the loading requires separate representations for a number Flg.3.17 Family of s
of segments each with its own differential equation form it becomes very
awkward to carry along the additional arbitrary constants which are later
eliminated by matching the V's and M 's at the junctions of the segments. j~(x) = <x- a)"
In the next section a notation is introduced which greatly facilitates the
handling of multisegment problems. When n ~ 0 the not
sion in the pointed bracket
3.6 SINGULARITY FUNCTIONS expression in the pointed t
Ln the foregoing section we demonstrated how the relatively routine procedure just (x-a)". Thusther:
of integration could be used to obtain shear-force and bending-moment diagrams one idiosyncrasy that the~
for beams with distributed loads. Where there are concentrated-force and concen­ is called the unit step stc
trated-moment loadings or where the distributed load suddenly changes its magni­ unit ramp starting at x =
tude, we have seen that the procedure just outlined becomes fairly cumbersome
unless a special mathematical apparatus is available to handle discontinuous load­ ( <x - a)" dx = .
ings. In this section we introduce a family of singularity functions specifically .. - Y..

designed for this purpose.

Figure 3.17 shows five members of the family.! The first two mem
To emphasize this , the (
1 This use of a family of singularity functions is common in engineering and physics. Our These functions are zero
notation is patterned after that used by W. H. Macauley, Note on the Deflection of Beams, Mes.
are, however, infinite! in
Math., vol. 48, pp . 129-130, 1919. A review of the use of such functions for beam problems is
found in W. D. Pi lkey , Clebsch's Method for Beam Deflections, J. £"09. £duc ., vol. 54, pp. 170-[ 74,
1964. 1 For a rr' ore rigorous treatme
SEC. 3.6 SINGULARITY FUNCTIONS 165

O~----~~--------~
X= a

o~------~--------
x =a
..
( x_a )'

0
x= a

L.
( x-a /

Fig. 3.17 Family of singularity functions. 01

I.(x) = <x - a)' (3.15)

When 11 ~ 0 the notation (3.15) has the following significance: If the ex.pres­
sion in the pointed brackets is negative (i.e., if x < a) , t he value off.(x) is zero . if the
expression in the pointed brackets is positive (i.e., if x> a), then the value ofI.(x) i
just (x -at. Thus the pointed brackets are like ordinary brackets except for the
one idiosyncrasy that they are blind to negative quantities. The function <x - 0)°
is called the unit step starting at x = a, and the function <x - a)' is called the
unit ramp starting at x = a. The integration law for these functions is

f_ _<x - a)' dx
x <x - a)'+'
= --'-----'---
n + 1
n~O (3 16)

The first two members of the family shown in Fig. 3. 17 are exceptional.
To emphasize this, the exponent is written below the bracket instead of above.
These functions are zero everywhere except at x = a where they are infinite. They
are, however, infinite' in such a way that

, For a IT! ore rigorous treatment see Probs. 3.44, 3.45, and 3.46 at the end of this chapter.
 SEC. 3.6 SINGULARITY FUNCTI'
166 FORCES AND MOMENTS TRANSMITTED BY SLENDER MEMBERS

(<Xl (x - a)-2 dx = (x - 0 )-1

(3.17) (a)
( <Xl ( x - a)-1 dx = (x - a)o

The function ( x - a ) _[ is called the unit concentrated load or the unit impulse
function. In physics texts it is known as the Dirac delta fU:"lction. The function
(x - a ) _ 2 is called the unit concentrated m oment or the unit doublet function.
The integration laws (3.16) and (3.17) permit us to obtain shear forces
and bending moments by integration from any loading distribution which we are (b)
able to represent in terms of the family (3.15). Figure 3.18 illustrates some
examples of load-intensity distributions and how they are represented by singularity
functions. Most practical cases of beam loading can be built up by superposition
of the cases shown in Fig. 3.18. The following examples illustrate the process.
(c) V
Example 3.7 We consider the problem studied in Example 3.6 again, but we
shall utilize the singularity functions.
U'
In Fig. 3. 19b the load intensity q is given in a form which permits easy Rn- :;;
translation into the singularity functions . The load q = -wo , which stops
vt w,
(d) -R A ' 2
q(x) ~ Mo ( x-a >_2

x
X= a

(e)

r
X= a x
q(x) - W o ( x-a t ,

(f)

X= a x
Fig. 1.19 Exa mple J:

at x = 0 in Fig. 3.1
q(x) =2 ( x-a ) ' mentary load q = ~
b
distributed load a f
load-intensity rune
Fig.l.18 Examples of loading intensities represented by singularity q(x) = - 11'0 + 11'0<.
functions .