Abstract:
This paper describes the simplest cases of a rectangular cantilever beam loaded by an concentrated force that is distributed by the load or dead weight. There are five geometric parameters whose optimal values can be calculated on the basis of five requirements: rigidity (or concentrated elastic energy), strength, equal strength, ratio of sectional sizes, and resistance to the shear force (strength condition in interlaminar shear). The parameter range is determined, outside of which the linear beam theory cannot be used to correctly calculate the bending of equal strength beams loaded by distributed forces or dead weight.