Beam deflection refers to displacements perpendicular to the beam axis. These are caused by bending and shear.
Deflection analysis can be performed using many analytical and numerical methods such as
- the differential equation of the elastic curve,
- the Clebsch method,
- the Maxwell–Wereszczagin–Mohr method,
- Castigliano’s method or
- the finite element method.
In energy methods, deflection can be determined by applying a unit force at the point of interest and evaluating appropriate integrals of internal forces between the real system and the unit-load system.
You can learn more about beam deflection in our article on calculating displacements in beams.
