One end of a cantilever beam is a fixed support that does not produce axial, vertical displacement or rotation, and the other end is a free end (which can produce forces parallel to and perpendicular to the axial direction). In engineering mechanics force analysis, it is a typical simplified model. In actual engineering analysis, most actual engineering force-bearing components can be simplified as cantilever beams.
(1) The protruding elongated part of a machine or mechanical device, which often moves up and down or rotates. Example: the cantilever of a windmill.
(2) One of the two beams or trusses extending from the piers, which, when connected directly or by a suspended connecting member, form a span of a cantilever bridge.