Bending

In engineering mechanics, bending (also known as flexure) characterizes the behavior of a slender structural element subjected to an external load applied perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the element.

The structural element is assumed to be such that at least one of its dimensions is a small fraction, typically 1/10 or less, of the other two. When the length is considerably longer than the width and the thickness, the element is called a beam. For example, a closet rod sagging under the weight of clothes on clothes hangers is an example of a beam experiencing bending. On the other hand, a shell is a structure of any geometric form where the length and the width are of the same order of magnitude but the thickness of the structure (known as the 'wall') is considerably smaller. A large diameter, but thin-walled, short tube supported at its ends and loaded laterally is an example of a shell experiencing bending.

In the absence of a qualifier, the term bending is ambiguous because bending can occur locally in all objects. To make the usage of the term more precise, engineers refer to the bending of rods, the bending of beams, the bending of plates, the bending of shells and so on.

Read more about Bending:  Quasistatic Bending of Beams, Dynamic Bending of Beams, Quasistatic Bending of Plates

Famous quotes containing the word bending:

    “And then I ran to get away,
    But when I stopped and turned to see,
    The tree was bending to the side
    And leaning out to look at me.”
    —Elizabeth Madox Roberts (1880–1941)

    “Go bind thou up young dangling apricots
    Which, like unruly children, make their sire
    Stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight.
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    Go thou, and like an executioner
    Cut off the heads of too-fast-growing sprays
    That look too lofty in our commonwealth.
    All must be even in our government.
    You thus employed, I will go root away
    The noisome weeds which without profit suck
    The soil’s fertility from wholesome flowers.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “No ray is dimmed, no atom worn,
    My oldest force is good as new,
    And the fresh rose on yonder thorn
    Gives back the bending heavens in dew.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)