The second moment of area, or second area moment, or quadratic moment of area and also known as the area moment of inertia, is a geometrical property of an
area
Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape
A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...
which reflects how its points are distributed with regard to an arbitrary axis. The second moment of area is typically denoted with either an
(for an axis that lies in the plane of the area) or with a
(for an axis perpendicular to the plane). In both cases, it is calculated with a
multiple integral
In mathematics (specifically multivariable calculus), a multiple integral is a definite integral of a function of several real variables, for instance, or . Integrals of a function of two variables over a region in \mathbb^2 (the real-number ...
over the object in question. Its dimension is L (length) to the fourth power. Its
unit
Unit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''
* Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation
Music
* ''Unit'' (alb ...
of dimension, when working with the
International System of Units
The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. E ...
, is meters to the fourth power,
m4, or inches to the fourth power,
in4, when working in the
Imperial System of Units
The imperial system of units, imperial system or imperial units (also known as British Imperial or Exchequer Standards of 1826) is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 and continued to be developed thro ...
.
In
structural engineering
Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...
, the second moment of area of a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
is an important property used in the calculation of the beam's
deflection
Deflection or deflexion may refer to:
Board games
* Deflection (chess), a tactic that forces an opposing chess piece to leave a square
* Khet (game), formerly ''Deflexion'', an Egyptian-themed chess-like game using lasers
Mechanics
* Deflection ...
and the calculation of
stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
caused by a
moment applied to the beam. In order to maximize the second moment of area, a large fraction of the
cross-sectional area of an
I-beam
An I-beam, also known as H-beam (for universal column, UC), w-beam (for "wide flange"), universal beam (UB), rolled steel joist (RSJ), or double-T (especially in Polish language, Polish, Bulgarian language, Bulgarian, Spanish language, Spanish ...
is located at the maximum possible distance from the
centroid
In mathematics and physics, the centroid, also known as geometric center or center of figure, of a plane figure or solid figure is the arithmetic mean position of all the points in the surface of the figure. The same definition extends to any ob ...
of the I-beam's cross-section. The planar second moment of area provides insight into a beam's
resistance to bending due to an applied moment,
force
In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a p ...
, or distributed
load perpendicular to its
neutral axis
The neutral axis is an axis in the cross section of a beam (a member resisting bending) or shaft along which there are no longitudinal stresses or strains. If the section is symmetric, isotropic and is not curved before a bend occurs, then the neu ...
, as a function of its shape. The polar second moment of area provides insight into a beam's resistance to
torsional
In the field of solid mechanics, torsion is the twisting of an object due to an applied torque. Torsion is expressed in either the pascal (Pa), an SI unit for newtons per square metre, or in pounds per square inch (psi) while torque is expressed ...
deflection, due to an applied moment parallel to its cross-section, as a function of its shape.
Different disciplines use the term ''
moment of inertia
The moment of inertia, otherwise known as the mass moment of inertia, angular mass, second moment of mass, or most accurately, rotational inertia, of a rigid body is a quantity that determines the torque needed for a desired angular acceler ...
'' (MOI) to refer to
different moments. It may refer to either of the planar second moments of area (often
or
with respect to some reference plane), or the polar second moment of area (
, where r is the distance to some reference axis). In each case the integral is over all the infinitesimal elements of ''area'', ''dA'', in some two-dimensional cross-section. In
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
, ''moment of inertia'' is strictly the second moment of mass with respect to distance from an axis:
, where ''r'' is the distance to some potential rotation axis, and the integral is over all the infinitesimal elements of ''mass'', ''dm'', in a three-dimensional space occupied by an object . The MOI, in this sense, is the analog of mass for rotational problems. In engineering (especially mechanical and civil), ''moment of inertia'' commonly refers to the second moment of the area.
Definition
The second moment of area for an arbitrary shape with respect to an arbitrary axis
is defined as
where
*
is the infinitesimal area element, and
*
is the perpendicular distance from the axis
.
For example, when the desired reference axis is the x-axis, the second moment of area
(often denoted as
) can be computed in
Cartesian coordinates
A Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely by a pair of numerical coordinates, which are the signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular oriented lines, measured in t ...
as
The second moment of the area is crucial in
Euler–Bernoulli theory of slender beams.
Product moment of area
More generally, the product moment of area is defined as
Parallel axis theorem
It is sometimes necessary to calculate the second moment of area of a shape with respect to an
axis different to the
centroidal axis of the shape. However, it is often easier to derive the second moment of area with respect to its centroidal axis,
, and use the parallel axis theorem to derive the second moment of area with respect to the
axis. The parallel axis theorem states
where
*
is the area of the shape, and
*
is the perpendicular distance between the
and
axes.
A similar statement can be made about a
axis and the parallel centroidal
axis. Or, in general, any centroidal
axis and a parallel
axis.
Perpendicular axis theorem
For the simplicity of calculation, it is often desired to define the polar moment of area (with respect to a perpendicular axis) in terms of two area moments of inertia (both with respect to in-plane axes). The simplest case relates
to
and
.
This relationship relies on the
Pythagorean theorem
In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem or Pythagoras' theorem is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry between the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite t ...
which relates
and
to
and on the
linearity of integration
In mathematics, an integral assigns numbers to functions in a way that describes displacement, area, volume, and other concepts that arise by combining infinitesimal data. The process of finding integrals is called integration. Along with ...
.
Composite shapes
For more complex areas, it is often easier to divide the area into a series of "simpler" shapes. The second moment of area for the entire shape is the sum of the second moment of areas of all of its parts about a common axis. This can include shapes that are "missing" (i.e. holes, hollow shapes, etc.), in which case the second moment of area of the "missing" areas are subtracted, rather than added. In other words, the second moment of area of "missing" parts are considered negative for the method of composite shapes.
Examples
See
list of second moments of area
The following is a list of second moments of area of some shapes. The second moment of area, also known as area moment of inertia, is a geometrical property of an area which reflects how its points are distributed with respect to an arbitrary axis ...
for other shapes.
Rectangle with centroid at the origin
Consider a rectangle with base
and height
whose
centroid
In mathematics and physics, the centroid, also known as geometric center or center of figure, of a plane figure or solid figure is the arithmetic mean position of all the points in the surface of the figure. The same definition extends to any ob ...
is located at the origin.
represents the second moment of area with respect to the x-axis;
represents the second moment of area with respect to the y-axis;
represents the polar moment of inertia with respect to the z-axis.
Using the
perpendicular axis theorem The perpendicular axis theorem (or plane figure theorem) states that the moment of inertia of a planar lamina (i.e. 2-D body) about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the lamina is equal to the sum of the moments of inertia of the lamina about t ...
we get the value of
.
Annulus centered at origin
Consider an
annulus
Annulus (or anulus) or annular indicates a ring- or donut-shaped area or structure. It may refer to:
Human anatomy
* ''Anulus fibrosus disci intervertebralis'', spinal structure
* Annulus of Zinn, a.k.a. annular tendon or ''anulus tendineus com ...
whose center is at the origin, outside radius is
, and inside radius is
. Because of the symmetry of the annulus, the
centroid
In mathematics and physics, the centroid, also known as geometric center or center of figure, of a plane figure or solid figure is the arithmetic mean position of all the points in the surface of the figure. The same definition extends to any ob ...
also lies at the origin. We can determine the polar moment of inertia,
, about the
axis by the method of composite shapes. This polar moment of inertia is equivalent to the polar moment of inertia of a circle with radius
minus the polar moment of inertia of a circle with radius
, both centered at the origin. First, let us derive the polar moment of inertia of a circle with radius
with respect to the origin. In this case, it is easier to directly calculate
as we already have
, which has both an
and
component. Instead of obtaining the second moment of area from
Cartesian coordinates
A Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely by a pair of numerical coordinates, which are the signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular oriented lines, measured in t ...
as done in the previous section, we shall calculate
and
directly using
polar coordinates
In mathematics, the polar coordinate system is a two-dimensional coordinate system in which each point on a plane is determined by a distance from a reference point and an angle from a reference direction. The reference point (analogous to the or ...
.
Now, the polar moment of inertia about the
axis for an annulus is simply, as stated above, the difference of the second moments of area of a circle with radius
and a circle with radius
.
Alternatively, we could change the limits on the
integral the first time around to reflect the fact that there is a hole. This would be done like this.
Any polygon
The second moment of area about the origin for any
simple polygon
In geometry, a simple polygon is a polygon that does not intersect itself and has no holes. That is, it is a flat shape consisting of straight, non-intersecting line segments or "sides" that are joined pairwise to form a single closed path. If ...
on the XY-plane can be computed in general by summing contributions from each segment of the polygon after dividing the area into a set of triangles. This formula is related to the
shoelace formula
The shoelace formula, shoelace algorithm, or shoelace method (also known as Gauss's area formula and the surveyor's formula) is a mathematical algorithm to determine the area of a simple polygon whose vertices are described by their Cartesian c ...
and can be considered a special case of
Green's theorem
In vector calculus, Green's theorem relates a line integral around a simple closed curve to a double integral over the plane region bounded by . It is the two-dimensional special case of Stokes' theorem.
Theorem
Let be a positively orient ...
.
A polygon is assumed to have
vertices, numbered in counter-clockwise fashion. If polygon vertices are numbered clockwise, returned values will be negative, but absolute values will be correct.
where
are the coordinates of the
-th polygon vertex, for
. Also,
are assumed to be equal to the coordinates of the first vertex, i.e.,
and
.
See also
*
List of second moments of area
The following is a list of second moments of area of some shapes. The second moment of area, also known as area moment of inertia, is a geometrical property of an area which reflects how its points are distributed with respect to an arbitrary axis ...
*
List of moments of inertia
Moment of inertia, denoted by , measures the extent to which an object resists rotational acceleration about a particular axis, it is the rotational analogue to mass (which determines an object's resistance to ''linear'' acceleration). The momen ...
*
Moment of inertia
The moment of inertia, otherwise known as the mass moment of inertia, angular mass, second moment of mass, or most accurately, rotational inertia, of a rigid body is a quantity that determines the torque needed for a desired angular acceler ...
*
Parallel axis theorem
The parallel axis theorem, also known as Huygens–Steiner theorem, or just as Steiner's theorem, named after Christiaan Huygens and Jakob Steiner, can be used to determine the moment of inertia or the second moment of area of a rigid body abo ...
*
Perpendicular axis theorem The perpendicular axis theorem (or plane figure theorem) states that the moment of inertia of a planar lamina (i.e. 2-D body) about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the lamina is equal to the sum of the moments of inertia of the lamina about t ...
*
Radius of gyration ''Radius of gyration'' or gyradius of a body about the axis of rotation is defined as the radial distance to a point which would have a moment of inertia the same as the body's actual distribution of mass, if the total mass of the body were concentr ...
References
{{Commons category, Second moments of area
Geometry
Structural analysis
Physical quantities
Moment (physics)