What is the Area Moment of Inertia?

The Area Moment of Inertia, or Second Moment of Area, is a geometric property of a cross-section. It is easily defined mathmatically, but what does it represent in an engineering sense? This video explores the meanineg of the Area Moment of Inertia for quantifying the bending stiffness of a beam.


This video is part of a series of blended learning videos for the course Engineering Mechanics: Statics with the Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering programme at TUDelft.

0:00 Introduction
0:34 Recap of beam analysis in Statics
1:53 How do beams deform?
3:40 Spring model of a beam section
5:11 Moment equilibrium of spring model
6:48 From springs to a continuum solid