Stress Distribution Under Eccentric Loads

In an eccentrically loaded wall, there is an axial load and a bending moment. These two may be combined into a single resultant load acting at a distance. This is known as equivalent eccentricity (Fig. 17.15).

Figure 17.15 Equivalent eccentricity

The stress distribution due to axial load and the bending moment are combined to get the stress distribution due to the resultant load. The stress distributions for various eccentricities are shown in Fig. 17.16.

Figure 17.16 Variation of stress distribution (Source: IS: 1905, 1987)

It can be observed that with an increase in eccentricity, the net compressive stress in the tension face decreases. That is, the tensile stress due to bending moment decreases.