Addis Ababa Science and

Technology University

Chapter Two
Force System
Engineering Mechanics
Content

2. FORCE SYSTEMS
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Resolution of a Force
2.2.1. Coplanar Force Systems (2-D)
2.2.2. Non-Coplanar Force Systems (3-D)
2.3. Moment, Couple & Force-Couple systems
2.3.1. 2-D
2.3.2. 3-D
2.4. Resultants
 2.1 Introduction
• A force can be defined as the action of one body on another
that changes/tends to changes the state of the body acted
on. And described by magnitude, direction and point of
application.
• A force can be applied on a body as;
• Contact force:- Applied by direct mechanical contact of the
acting body on the acted one (Created by push and pull).
 2.1 Introduction
• Remote action (Body force):- Applied
by remote action as in gravitational,
electrical, Magnetic, etc. forces.
 2.1 Introduction
• A force may also be classified as

• Concentrated and

• Distributed

• Concentrated when area of application is negligible

• A force can be distributed over

• Area, as in the case of mechanical contact

• Volume, when considering body forces such as weight

• A line, in the case of the weight of a suspended cable.

The gravitational force this plane
is distributed over the entire
volume of the airplane
KN/m3

Representation of a force
distributed over an area
KN/m2

Representation of a force
distributed over a line
KN/m
 2.1 Introduction
• External and Internal Effects
• We can separate the action of a force
on a body into two effects,
internal(strain & stress) and external.
(applied & reactive)
 2.1 Introduction
• Principle of Transmissibility
• When dealing with mechanics of rigid body,
we are only concerned about the net effects
of external
• In such cases it is not necessary to restrict
the action of an applied force to a given
point.
 2.1 Introduction

• Principle of transmissibility states that a

force may be applied at any point on its
given line of action without altering the
resultant effect of the force external to
the rigid body on which it acts.
 2.1 Introduction
• Classification of Force System
• A system of forces can be grouped into
different categories depending on their
arrangement in space
• Collinear forces:- are coplanar forces
acting on the same line

• Coplanar Forces:- are forces which act

on the same plane.
 2.1 Introduction
• Concurrent forces:-Are forces whose
lines of action intersect at a point

• General forces:-
 2.2. Resolution of a Force

2.2.1. Coplanar Force Systems (2-D)

Resolution is the reverse of composition. It is thes

t ⃗
𝐴 ⃗
𝐴
=

⃗
𝐴𝑡 =
∅ ∅
𝜃 𝛼 For rectangular coordinate
n
𝜃 system
⃗
𝐴𝑛
 2.2.1. Resolution of a Force
• Resolution is the reverse of composition
• Rectangular Component
• The most common two-dimensional
resolution
• Rectangular components of a force are the
components of the force along the
rectangular coordinate axes.
•
2.2.2. Non-Coplanar Force Systems (3-D)
• Rectangular components

• Many problems in mechanics requires

analysis in 3 dimension
• To solve such problems it is necessary to
resolve the force into its three mutually
perpendicular components.
• A force F in 3-d system has a rectangular
components Fx, Fy, Fz
Rectangular Components
 Rectangular Components
• In solving three-dimensional problems,
one must usually find the x, y and z
scalar components of a given or
unknown force. In most cases, the
direction of a force is described;

1. By two points on the line of action of

the force, or
2. By two angles which orient the line of
action.
 Rectangular Components
1. ) Specification by two points on the line of action of
the force.
If the coordinates of two point, say A&B, on the line of
action of the force are known and the direction of the
force is from A to B, the force may be written as

Thus the x, y, and z scalar components

of F are the scalar coefficients of the
unit vectors i, j, and k, respectively.
Rectangular Components
• 2. By two angles which orient the line of
action.
Example on TWO-DIMENSIONAL FORCE
SYSTEMS
• The forces F1, F2, and F3, all of which act on point A of
the bracket, are specified in three different ways.
Determine the x and y scalar components of each of the
three forces and Compute the resultant force, R.
Example on TWO-DIMENSIONAL FORCE
SYSTEMS
Example on THREE-DIMENSIONAL FORCE SYSTEMS
Example: The rigid pole and cross-arm assembly is supported by
the three cables shown. A turnbuckle at D is tightened until it
induces a tension T in CD of 1.2 kN. Express T as a vector.
Example on THREE-DIMENSIONAL FORCE SYSTEMS
Rectangular Components
Dot product
• It is possible to express the rectangular components of a force
with the aid of the vector operation known as the dot or scalar
product.

• This product can be viewed as either

1. The orthogonal projection of of P on the direction of Q
multiplied by Q, or
2. As the orthogonal projection of of Q in the direction of P
multiplied by P
2.3. Moment, Couple & Force-Couple systems
• Moment
• In addition to moving a body in the direction of
application, a force also tends to rotate
• This tendency of a force to rotate a body about a
given axis is known as the moment
• The axis of rotation maybe any line which neither
intersect nor is parallel to the line of action of the
force
 Moment
• The moment or rotational tendency of a force is proportional to
magnitude of the force and the moment arm d, which is the
perpendicular distance from the axis to the line of action of the force.

• The axis of rotation, axis O-O, of the body is normal to the plane of
the body formed by the force and position vector.

magnitude of moment can be obtained by:

M=Fxd
 Moment
The cross product
• Useful when dealing with complex 2-
dimensional and 3-dimensional problems.
• The moment of a force F about a point
maybe represented by the cross-product
expression.
M=rXF
• Where r is the position vector from point of
rotation to any point on the line of
application of the force
• The magnitude of this expression is
M = rFsin
 Moment
Moment calculation
1) Moment arm rule: Moment is the scalar product of force

magnitude with a distance which is perpendicular to the line of

action of the force, i.e M=Fd

2) Vector Approach: Use of the Cross-Product M=rXF where r is

Position vector locating the point of application of the force vector

F. Where F is a force written in the form of vector.

 Moment
3 Varignon's theorem
• One of the most important principles in
mechanics
• states “the moment of a force about
any point is equal to the sum of the
moments of the components of the
force about the same point.”
 Couple
• The moment produced by two equal and
opposite and non-collinear forces

• These two forces can’t be combined in to

a single force of the same effect on the
body, as their sum in every direction is
zero
• Their only effect is to create a tendency of
rotation
 Couple
• The combined moment of the two forces
about an axis normal to their plane and
passing through any point such as o in their
plane is the couple, M.
 Couple

The magnitude of the couple M F (a  d )  Fa

Fd
 Couple
• Equivalent Couples
• Changing the value of F and d does not
change a given couple as long as the
product Fad remains the same.
• Likewise, a couple is not affected if the
forces act in a different but parallel plane.
 Force-Couple System
• The effect of a force on a body is the tendency to
push or pull and to rotate the body.
• The representation of this dual effect can be
facilitated by replacing the given force by an
equal and parallel force and a couple to
compensate for the change in the moment of the
forces.
 Example

Solution:
We apply two equal and opposite
80-lb forces at O and identify the
counterclockwise couple

[M =F*d];
M = 80(9 sin 60) = 624 lb-in.
 Resultant

Most problems in mechanics deal with a system of forces, and it is

usually necessary to reduce the system to its simplest form to describe
its action. The resultant of a system of forces is the simplest force
combination which can replace the original forces without altering the
external effect on the rigid body to which the forces are applied.
♠ Equilibrium of a body is the condition in which the resultant of all
forces acting on the body is zero. This condition is studied in
statics. When the resultant of all forces on a body is not zero, the
acceleration of the body is obtained by equating the force resultant
to the product of the mass and acceleration of the body. This
condition is studied in dynamics. Thus, the determination of
resultants is basic to both statics and dynamics.
 Resultant

♠ The most common type of force system occurs when the forces
all act in a single plane, say, the x-y plane, as illustrated by the
system of three forces F1, F2, and F3 in Fig. 2/13a. We obtain
the magnitude and direction of the resultant force R by forming
the force polygon shown in part b of the figure, where the
forces are added head-to-tail in any sequence. Thus, for any
system of coplanar forces we may write
 Example
♠ We Determine the resultant of the four forces and one couple
which act on the plate shown.

Solution: Point O is selected as a

convenient reference point for
the force–couple system which is
to represent the given system.

Also determine the final line of action of R such that R alone represents the
original system.
 Homework exercise
1) Determine and locate the resultant R
of the two forces and one couple
acting on the I-beam.

2) If the resultant of the two forces

and couple M passes through point O,
determine M.

3Replace the two forces and

couple by an equivalent couple M
and resultant force R at A.
 2.3.2. Moment and Couple 3-
D
• Varignon's theorem
• Vtheorem introduced in two-dimension can be
easily extended to three dimensions.
2.3.2. Moment and Couple 3-D
• Couples in Three Dimensions
• If the vector r joins any point B on the line of action of to any
point A on the line of action of . The combined moment (couple)
of the two forces about O is;

• Magnitude of M
2.3.2. Moment and Couple 3-D
• The moment of the couple, , is the same about all points. Thus,
The moment of a couple is a free
vector,
whereas the moment of a force about a
point (which is also the moment about a
defined axis through the point) is a
sliding vector whose direction is along
the axis through the point.
A couple tends to produce a pure
rotation of the body about an axis
normal to the plane of the forces which
constitute the couple.
2.3.2. Moment and Couple 3-D

• Force-Couple System
• It is possible to carry out replacement of
a force by its equivalent force-couple
system in three dimensions.
 2.4. Resultants
• The resultant of a force system is the
simplest force combination that can
replace the original forces without
altering the external effect of the
system on the rigid body to which the
forces are applied.
• The equilibrium of a body is the
condition where the resultant if all
forces that act on it is zero.
 2.4. Resultants
• The resultant can be computed by using
the parallelogram rule or using
analytical methods.
 2.4. Resultants
• The algebraic method can be used to obtain the
resultant force and its line of action.
Steps
1. Choose a convenient reference point and move
all forces to that point. Also determine the couple
resulting from the transfer of forces.
2.4. Resultants (2D)

2. Addall forces at the point chosen to

form the resultant force R and add all the
couples to form the resultant couple M.
Then the single force-couple system can
be obtained.
2.4. Resultants
3. The line of action of the resultant force
R can be obtained by determining the
arm distance d required to create the
moment M
2.4. Resultants
• The resultant of a force system is the simplest force combination
• Any system of forces may be replaced by its resultant force R and
the resultant couple M

• The magnitude of the resultants and their components are

2.4. Resultants

• The point O selected as the point of concurrency for the force is

arbitrary
• The magnitude and direction of M depend on the particular point
O selected
• However the magnitude and direction of R are the same no
matter which point is selected.
2.4. Resultants
• Resultant of special force system
• Concurrent Forces. When forces are concurrent at a point only is
used because there is no moment about the point of concurrency.

• Parallel Forces. For a of parallel forces not all in the same plane,
the magnitude of the resultant force R is simply the algebraic sum
of the given forces.
The position of its line of action is obtained from the principle of
moments by requiring that
• Coplanar Forces.
2.4. Resultants
• Wrench Resultant. When the resultant
couple vector is parallel to the
resultant force R the resultant is called
a wrench.
 2.4. Resultants
• Any general force system may be represented
by a wrench applied along a unique line of
action.
Thank you