Beam (structure)

A beam is a structural member designed primarily to resist loads perpendicular to its length. It carries these loads mainly through bending and shear.

Bending moment: The internal moment at a cross-section that resists the bending caused by applied loads. It quantifies the bending action a beam must resist along its span.
Structural load: A force or other action that a structure must resist. Loads establish the demands that transverse beam design must address.
I-beam: A beam with two wide flanges joined by a thinner central web, forming an I-shaped cross-section. Its geometry places material efficiently to resist bending in one principal direction.
Column (structure): A structural member designed primarily to carry axial compression. Columns chiefly carry loads along their length, unlike beams’ transverse-load role.
Shear force: An internal force at a cross-section that resists sliding between adjacent parts of a structure. It captures a second major internal action produced by transverse beam loads.
Beam (mechanics): An idealized long, slender body whose response to transverse loading is studied in mechanics. Structural beams are real members modeled using this broader mechanical idealization.
Reinforced concrete beam: A concrete beam containing steel reinforcement to resist tensile forces. Steel reinforcement compensates for concrete’s low tensile strength under bending.
Truss: A framework of straight members connected at joints and arranged to carry loads through axial forces. Trusses distribute loads through member tension and compression rather than beam bending alone.
Euler–Bernoulli beam theory: A theory of slender beams that relates bending, curvature, and transverse deflection while neglecting shear deformation. It gives a standard model for predicting slender beams’ deflection and bending response.
Simply supported beam: A beam supported at two points, typically by a pin and a roller, allowing rotation at both ends. It is a basic support arrangement for analyzing span loads and reactions.

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