A beam is normally horizontal and the loads acting on the beams are generally vertical. The following are the important types of load acting on a beam.
Fig, Various type of load acting on beam
Concentrated or Point Load
A concentrated load is one, which is considered to act at a point, although in practical it must really be distributed over a small area.
Uniformly Distributed Load (UDL)
A UDL is one which is spread over a beam in such a manner that rate of loading 'w' is uniform along the length (i.e. each unit length is loaded to the same rate). The rate of loading is expressed as w N/m run. For solving problems, the total UDL is converted into a point load, acting at the center of UDL.
Uniformly Varying Load (UVL)
A UVL is one which is spread over a beam in such a manner that rate of loading varies from point to point along the beam, in which load is zero at one end and increase uniformly to the other end. Such load is known as triangular load. For solving problems the total load is equal to the area of the triangle and this total load is assumed to be acting at the C.G. of the triangle i.e. at a distance of 2/3rd of total length of beam from left end
