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Metric and Imperial Units

Page last modified on: 04/07/2024 05:28:38

The above beam design and deflection equations may be used with both imperial and metric units. As with all calculations/formulas care must be taken to keep consistent units throughout with examples of units which should be adopted listed below:

Notation

• FBD = free body diagram
• SFD = shear force diagram
• BMD = bending moment diagram


• E = modulus of elasticity, psi or MPa
• I = second moment of area, in⁴ or m⁴
• L = span length under consideration, in or m
• M = maximum bending moment, lbf.in or kNm
• R = reaction load at bearing point, lbf or kN
• V = maximum shear force, lbf or kN
• w = load per unit length, lbf/in or kN/m
• ∆ = deflection or deformation, in or m
• x = horizontal distance from reaction point, in or m