Engineering ToolBox - Resources, Tools and Basic Information for Engineering and Design of Technical Applications!

This is an AMP page - Open full page! for all features.

Area Moment of Inertia - Typical Cross Sections I

Sponsored Links

Area Moment of Inertia or Moment of Inertia for an Area - also known as Second Moment of Area - I, is a property of shape that is used to predict deflection, bending and stress in beams.

Area Moment of Inertia - Imperial units

  • inches4

Area Moment of Inertia - Metric units

  • mm4
  • cm4
  • m4

Converting between Units

  • 1 cm4 = 10-8 m4 = 104 mm4
  • 1 in4 = 4.16x105 mm4 = 41.6 cm4

Example - Convert between Area Moment of Inertia Units

9240 cm4 can be converted to mm4 by multiplying with 104

(9240 cm4) 104 = 9.24 107 mm4

Area Moment of Inertia (Moment of Inertia for an Area or Second Moment of Area)

for bending around the x axis can be expressed as

Ix = ∫ y2 dA                          (1)

where

Ix = Area Moment of Inertia related to the x axis (m4, mm4, inches4)

y = the perpendicular distance from axis x to the element dA (m, mm, inches)

dA = an elemental area (m2, mm2, inches2)

The Moment of Inertia for bending around the y axis can be expressed as

Iy = ∫ x2 dA                          (2)

where

Iy = Area Moment of Inertia related to the y axis (m4, mm4, inches4)

x = the perpendicular distance from axis y to the element dA (m, mm, inches)

.

Area Moment of Inertia for typical Cross Sections I

Solid Square Cross Section

The Area Moment of Inertia for a solid square section can be calculated as

Ix = a4 / 12                        (2)

where

a = side (mm, m, in..)

 

Iy = a4 / 12                         (2b)

Solid Rectangular Cross Section

The Area Moment of Ineria for a rectangular section can be calculated as

Ix = b h3 / 12                          (3)

where

b = width

h = height

 

Iy = b3 h / 12                           (3b)

.

Solid Circular Cross Section

The Area Moment of Inertia for a solid cylindrical section can be calculated as

Ix = π r4 / 4

    = π d4 / 64                            (4)

where

r = radius

d = diameter

 

Iy = π r4 / 4

    = π d4 / 64                             (4b)

Hollow Cylindrical Cross Section

The Area Moment of Inertia for a hollow cylindrical section can be calculated as

Ix = π (do4 - di4) / 64                            (5)

where

do = cylinder outside diameter

di = cylinder inside diameter

 

Iy = π (do4 - di4) / 64                          (5b)

Square Section - Diagonal Moments

The diagonal Area Moments of Inertia for a square section can be calculated as

Ix = Iy = a4 / 12                   (6)

.

Rectangular Section - Area Moments on any line through Center of Gravity

Rectangular section and Area of Moment on line through Center of Gravity can be calculated as

Ix = (b h / 12) (h2 cos2 a + b2 sin2 a)                  (7)

Symmetrical Shape

Area Moment of Inertia for a symmetrical shaped section can be calculated as

Ix = (a h3 / 12) + (b / 12) (H3 - h3)                       (8)

Iy = (a3 h / 12) + (b3 / 12) (H - h)                       (8b)

.

Nonsymmetrical Shape

Area Moment of Inertia for a non symmetrical shaped section can be calculated as

Ix = (1 / 3) (B yb3 - B1 hb3 + b yt3 - b1 ht3)                       (9)

Area Moment of Inertia vs. Polar Moment of Inertia vs. Moment of Inertia

  • "Area Moment of Inertia" is a property of shape that is used to predict deflection, bending and stress in beams
  • "Polar Moment of Inertia" as a measure of a beam's ability to resist torsion - which is required to calculate the twist of a beam subjected to torque
  • "Moment of Inertia" is a measure of an object's resistance to change in rotation direction.

Section Modulus

  • the "Section Modulus" is defined as W = I / y, where I is Area Moment of Inertia and y is the distance from the neutral axis to any given fiber
Sponsored Links

Related Topics

Beams and Columns

Deflection and stress in beams and columns, moment of inertia, section modulus and technical information.

Mechanics

The relationships between forces, acceleration, displacement, vectors, motion, momentum, energy of objects and more.

Related Documents

American Standard Beams - S Beam

American Standard Beams ASTM A6 - Imperial units.

American Standard Steel C Channels

Dimensions and static parameters of American Standard Steel C Channels

American Wide Flange Beams

American Wide Flange Beams ASTM A6 in metric units.

Area Moment of Inertia - Typical Cross Sections II

Area Moment of Inertia, Moment of Inertia for an Area or Second Moment of Area for typical cross section profiles.

Area Moment of Inertia Converter

Convert between Area Moment of Inertia units.

Beams - Fixed at Both Ends - Continuous and Point Loads

Stress, deflections and supporting loads.

Beams - Fixed at One End and Supported at the Other - Continuous and Point Loads

Supporting loads, moments and deflections.

Beams - Supported at Both Ends - Continuous and Point Loads

Supporting loads, stress and deflections.

British Universal Columns and Beams

Properties of British Universal Steel Columns and Beams.

Cantilever Beams - Moments and Deflections

Maximum reaction forces, deflections and moments - single and uniform loads.

Center Mass

Calculate position of center mass.

Center of Gravity

A body and the center of gravity.

Euler's Column Formula

Calculate buckling of columns.

HE-A Steel Beams

Properties of HE-A profiled steel beams.

HE-B Steel Beams

Properties of HE-B profiled steel beams.

HE-M Steel Beams

Properties of HE-M profile steel beams.

Mass Moment of Inertia

The Mass Moment of Inertia vs. mass of object, it's shape and relative point of rotation - the Radius of Gyration.

Mild Steel - Square Bars Weight

Typical weights of mild steel square bars.

Normal Flange I-Beams

Properties of normal flange I profile steel beams.

Pipe and Tubing Formulas

Pipe and Tube Equations - moment of inertia, section modulus, traverse metal area, external pipe surface and traverse internal area - imperial units

Radius of Gyration in Structural Engineering

Radius of gyration describes the distribution of cross sectional area in columns around their centroidal axis.

Section Modulus - Unit Converter

Convert between Elastic Section Modulus units.

Steel Angles - Equal Legs

Dimensions and static parameters of steel angles with equal legs - metric units.

Steel Angles - Unequal Legs

Dimensions and static parameters of steel angles with unequal legs - imperial units.

Steel Angles - Unequal Legs

Dimensions and static parameters of steel angles with unequal legs - metric units.

Structural Lumber - Section Sizes

Basic size, area, moments of inertia and section modulus for timber - metric units.

Structural Lumber - Properties

Properties of structural lumber.

Three-Hinged Arches - Continuous and Point Loads

Support reactions and bending moments.

W-Beams - American Wide Flange Beams

Dimensions of American Wide Flange Beams ASTM A6 (or W-Beams) - Imperial units.

Weight of Beams - Stress and Strain

Stress and deformation of vertical beams due to own weight.

Sponsored Links

Search Engineering ToolBox

  • the most efficient way to navigate the Engineering ToolBox!

SketchUp Extension - Online 3D modeling!

Add standard and customized parametric components - like flange beams, lumbers, piping, stairs and more - to your Sketchup model with the Engineering ToolBox - SketchUp Extension - enabled for use with the amazing, fun and free SketchUp Make and SketchUp Pro . Add the Engineering ToolBox extension to your SketchUp from the Sketchup Extension Warehouse!

Privacy

We don't collect information from our users. Only emails and answers are saved in our archive. Cookies are only used in the browser to improve user experience.

Some of our calculators and applications let you save application data to your local computer. These applications will - due to browser restrictions - send data between your browser and our server. We don't save this data.

Google use cookies for serving our ads and handling visitor statistics. Please read Google Privacy & Terms for more information about how you can control adserving and the information collected.

AddThis use cookies for handling links to social media. Please read AddThis Privacy for more information.