Engineering & mechanics
Beam deflection curves
Plot deflection along a simply supported or cantilever beam for common loading cases.
A clear answer. Here’s how.
Uses Euler–Bernoulli small-deflection formulas for a prismatic, linear-elastic beam with ideal supports and constant E and I. Point loads use N; uniform loads use N/m according to the selected mode. Samples 101 positions, reporting maximum deflection and moment. Deflection is displayed as a positive magnitude. Neglects shear deformation, self-weight unless included in load, instability and support flexibility.
See a worked example
Worked example
A fixed demonstration, separate from the values you enter above.
- Support and load
- Simply supported · centre point load
- Point load (N), or uniform load (N/m)
- 1000
- Beam length (m)
- 2
- Young modulus (GPa)
- 200
- Second moment about bending axis (cm⁴)
- 100
Example result
| Position (m) | Deflection magnitude (mm) |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0 |
| 0.02 | 0.0249966666667 |
| 0.04 | 0.0499733333333 |
| 0.06 | 0.07491 |
| 0.08 | 0.0997866666667 |
Maximum bending moment 500 N·m. Linear elastic, small-deflection model.