Shear Force and Bending Moment Diagrams

Learning how to drawing shear force diagrams (SFDs) and bending moment diagrams (BMDs) is a necessary skill to learn for engineering students learning statics, mechanics of materials, and structural analysis.

There is a long way and a quick way to generate them. You should learn the long way first because it is more comprehensive and will actually generate an expression in terms of x for the internal shear and internal bending moment: V(x) and M(x), respectively. You first need to have a good grasp on what internal forces are, and also the positive sign convention for internal forces to use this method.

The quick way skips finding the full expressions and just identifies key points on the diagrams, and the type of curve that connects them. It’s a more visual approach but is really fast and usually acceptable to use in higher level courses when it’s assumed that you know what’s going on and why it works.

I put together some videos below that cover each method. If you watch them all then you’re pretty much guaranteed to be a SFD and BMD rockstar.

The Comprehensive Method For Generating SFDs & BMDs:

The Quick Method For Generating SFDs & BMDs:

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