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I have a continuous beam across a center column (not sure whether I've draw it correctly or not)

enter image description here

The Displacement and force diagram is as shown:

enter image description here

The first diagram is the bending moment, second the axial force, the third is the displacement.

Now, what is the boundary condition at $R_A$, $R_B$ and $R_C$?

From what I can infer, it seems to be

$w(0)=w(L)=w(2L)=0$ (corresponds to the deflection at the three support)

$M(0)=M(2L)=0$, or $\frac{d^2w(0)}{dx^2}=\frac{d^2w(2L)}{dx^2}=0$ (corresponds to the moment).

But I suspect that I am still missing some boundary conditions in order to derive the complete displacement/force diagram for the continuous beam. Are there any boundary conditions that I've missed?

Graviton
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1 Answers1

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Well you are missing the compatibility of slopes at the middle support:

$$\frac{dw(L^-)}{dx} = \frac{dw(L^+)}{dx}$$

In the case of symmetric geometry & loading, the slope of the beam at the middle support will be zero.

Since the bending moment has no derivative at x=L, you will need to derive the deflections of the two halves separately and 'join' them with compatibility.

Update: derivation of beam deflection formula:

Starting from the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation (assuming constant EI), and taking x from the outer supports towards the center: $$ q = EI \frac{dw^4}{dx^4} $$

Integrating four times:

$$ EI \frac{d^3 w}{dx^3} = q x + A $$ $$ EI \frac{d^2 w}{dx^2} = q \frac{x^2}{2} + Ax +B $$ $$ EI \frac{d w}{dx} = q \frac{x^3}{6} + A\frac{x^2}{2} + Bx + C $$ $$ EI w = q \frac{x^4}{24} + A\frac{x^3}{6} + B\frac{x^2}{2} +Cx + D$$

Noticing the problem is symmetric the boundary conditions are: $$ w(0)=w(L) = 0$$ $$ \frac{d w(L)}{dx} = 0 $$ $$ \frac{d^2 w(0)}{dx^2} = 0 $$

Therefore we can immediately see that: $ B = D = 0$

We now have two equations with two unknowns (A,C). Solving we find: $$ A = -\frac{3 L q}{8}$$ $$ C = \frac{L^3 q}{48}$$

We can now substitue all the constants back into the equation for w. Simplifying results in:

$$ w = \frac{q x}{48EI} (L-x)^2 (L+2 x) $$

Which is identical to the result referenced here (note their coordinate system has x=0 at the centre). Also notice how this is exactly the same result as a propped cantilever. This is due to symmetry, meaning that the beam slope at the center is zero (which is the same boundary condition as a cantilever support).

You can also substitute into the bending moment equation:

$$ M = EI \frac{d^2 w}{dx^2} = \frac{1}{8} q x (4 x-3 L) $$

atom44
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