Add one internal support – or more- to a simply supported beam and the resolution of forces becomes statically indeterminate. In the spans the beam becomes stiffer than its simply supported counterpart. The beam bends over the supports (hogs) in an inverted form of the simply supported moment. The chapter follows with: a brief examination of two and three equal span continuous beams; a review of continuous unequal spans; the effects of asymmetric loading and differing adjacent beam stiffness; a useful method of adding a hinge in the spans to achieve statical determinacy; redistribution of moments from support to internal spans and the elastic shear effect in frames.
Demonstration Spreadsheets
The following figures are available to download in MS Excel format.