 Beam flexural rigidity

Beam flexural rigidity is the coefficient relating a slender beam's bending moment to its curvature in linear bending. For a homogeneous material with uniform Young's modulus $E$ over the material area,where $z$ is distance from the appropriate neutral axis. The magnitude relation is $|M|=B|\kappa |$; signs depend on the chosen moment and curvature conventions. Integrating the linear bending stress over the section gives this coefficient.^[ref]

For an original rectangular example, choose width $b=10\mathrm{mm}$, bending thickness $h=2\mathrm{mm}$ and $E=70\mathrm{GPa}$. The second moment of area is $I=b{h}^3/12=6.667\times 10^{-12}{\mathrm{m}}^4$, giving $B\approx 0.4667\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{m}}^2$. Doubling only the thickness multiplies $B$ by eight. Rotating the original rectangle by ninety degrees about its length instead exchanges width and thickness: $I$ increases by $(b/h{)}^2=25$ even though material area and modulus are unchanged.

Thus a bending experiment measures a combination of material response and geometry. Extracting $E$ requires the correct bending axis and second moment of area; the three-point flexural test is one route. This beam coefficient has units $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{m}}^2$, distinct from the plate coefficient called bending stiffness. If modulus varies across a section, the relevant stiffness requires a material-weighted area integral and the appropriate neutral axis, rather than an arbitrary average modulus multiplied by $I$.