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Mechanical Engineering vocabulary · Mechanics and Materials

Bending moment

Meaning in mechanical engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In mechanical engineering, bending moment means: The turning effect of the loads that makes a beam or shaft bend at a certain point. It equals force times distance and is given in N·m or kN·m.

In Turkish: eğilme momenti

How it is used

Used in strength of materials, structural design and shaft calculations. Engineers draw a bending moment diagram, find the maximum bending moment and use it to calculate bending stress. For a simply supported beam with a central load P and span L, the maximum is PL/4.

Example sentences

  1. The maximum bending moment occurs at the middle of the span.

  2. Draw the shear force and bending moment diagrams before you size the beam.

Common collocations

  • bending moment diagram
  • maximum bending moment
  • shear force
  • bending stress
  • deflectionHow far a beam, shaft or other part bends or moves away from its original position when a load is applied, usually measured in millimeters.
  • stressThe internal force inside a material divided by the area it acts on. It shows how hard a part is being pulled, pushed, bent or twisted and is measured in MPa or psi.
  • loadA force, weight or pressure that acts on a part or structure. Loads can be steady or changing and are the starting point of most strength calculations.
  • torqueA turning force that makes something rotate around an axis, such as a shaft or a bolt. It equals force times distance and is measured in newton meters (N·m).

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Mechanics and Materials

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