Consideration of the relationships between torsion, distortion and warping of thin-walled beams

Abstract

This paper considers the relationship between torsional warping and distortional warping for the analysis of thin-walled beams. The paper explains why warping displacement can be defined by a single warping function in special cases, but in more general cases this description is insufficient. The paper also considers the relationships between warping functions and the torsional and distortional angles in thin-walled beam analysis. Finally, in order to demonstrate the essential features of the paper, a numerical example is solved for a thin-walled beam. Both open and closed cross-section profiles are investigated.