Allowable Bending Stresses for Overhanging Monorails

In the design of monorails for trolley hoisting devices it is often necessary to extend the monorail out beyond the last available support (as in Fig. 1), so the lifting point is clear of obstructions. Such a monorail supported vertically at two locations can be analyzed as a simple beam with overhang so the maximum bending moment is easily obtained. However, the question of the allowable bending stress immediately presents itself. The intent of this paper is to address the problem and present a simple design solution.