Torsional Analysis of Thin-Walled Open Beams Using Effective Torsional Constants

This paper presents a new, effective torsional constant for thin-waled open beams under concentrated and uniformly distributed torques. The proposed constant can be used directly, instead of the St. Venant torsional constant, for any generic comemrcial finite-element program, without modifying the algorithm. The derived torsional constant accounts for both the pure torsion and the warping torsion, and is equal to the St. Venant torsion constant times a correction factor. It is also shown, in the case of the St. Venant torsion, that the derived constant is identical to the torsional constant. The derived effective torsional constant is different from the one given by Elhelbawey et al. The pure torsional shear stress, the warping shear stress, and the warping normal stress were also determine d, using the maximum twisting angle. The accuracy of the proposed torsional constant was validated by comparing the numerical results with the closed-form solutions or other numerical results available in the literature.