Who developed the so-called Timoshenko beam theory?

Abstract

The use of the Google Scholar produces about 78,000 hits on the term “Timoshenko beam.” The question of priority is of great importance for this celebrated theory. For the first time in the world literature, this study is devoted to the question of priority. It is that Stephen Prokofievich Timoshenko had a co-author, Paul Ehrenfest. It so happened that the scientific work of Timoshenko dealing with the effect of rotary inertia and shear deformation does not carry the name of Ehrenfest as the co-author. In his 2002 book, Grigolyuk concluded that the theory belonged to both Timoshenko and Ehrenfest. This work confirms Grigolyuk’s discovery, in his little known biographic book about Timoshenko, and provides details, including the newly discovered letter of Timoshenko to Ehrenfest, which is published here for the first time over a century after it was sent. This paper establishes that the beam theory that incorporates both the rotary inertia and shear deformation as is known presently, with shear correction factor included, should be referred to as the Timoshenko-Ehrenfest beam theory.