Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

www.elsevier.com/locate/tws

Flexuraltorsional behavior of thin-walled

composite beams
Jaehong Lee
, Seung-hye Lee1
Department of Architectural Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Kunja Dong, Kwangjin Ku,
Seoul 143-747, South Korea
Received 8 November 2002; received in revised form 16 February 2004; accepted 12 March 2004

Abstract
This paper presents a exuraltorsional analysis of I-shaped laminated composite beams.
A general analytical model applicable to thin-walled I-section composite beams subjected to
vertical and torsional load is developed. This model is based on the classical lamination
theory, and accounts for the coupling of exural and torsional responses for arbitrary laminate stacking sequence conguration, i.e. unsymmetric as well as symmetric. Governing
equations are derived from the principle of the stationary value of total potential energy.
Numerical results are obtained for thin-walled composites under vertical and torsional loading, addressing the eects of ber angle, and laminate stacking sequence.
# 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Thin-walled structures; Laminated composites; Flexuraltorsional response; Finite element
method

1. Introduction
Fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) have been increasingly used over the past few
decades in a variety of structures that require high ratio of stiness and strength to
weight. In the construction industry, recent applications have shown the structural
and cost eciency of FRP structural shapes, such as thin-walled open sections
through pultrusion manufacturing process. Thin-walled open section members
made of isotropic materials have been studied by many researchers [1,2]. Bauld and

Corresponding author. Tel.: +82-2-3408-3287; fax: +82-2-3408-3331.

E-mail address: jhlee@sejong.ac.kr (J. Lee).
1
Currently at Dongyang Structural Engineers Co.

0263-8231/$ - see front matter # 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tws.2004.03.015

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J. Lee, S.-h. Lee / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

Tzeng [3] extended Vlasovs thin-walled bar theory [1] to symmetric ber-reinforced laminates to develop the linear and nonlinear theories for the bending and
twisting of thin-walled composite beams. Davalos et al. [4] studied the bending
response of various I and box sections experimentally and analytically. Ascione
et al. [5] presented the statical behavior of ber-reinforced polymer thin-walled
beams taking into account the eects of shear deformation. Shin et al. [6,7] presented analytical results for bending and torsional response of symmetrically laminated composite open section beams.
In this paper, a general analytical model applicable to the exural, torsional and
exuraltorsional behavior of an I-section composite beams subjected to vertical
and torsional load is developed. This model is based on the classical lamination
theory, and accounts for the coupling of exural and torsional responses for arbitrary laminate stacking sequence conguration, i.e. unsymmetric as well as symmetric. Governing equations are derived from the principle of the stationary value
of total potential energy. Numerical results are obtained for thin-walled composites
under vertical and torsional loading, addressing the eects of ber angle, and laminate stacking sequence.

2. Kinematics
This paper requires three sets of coordinate systems: an orthogonal Cartesian
coordinate system (x, y, z), an orthogonal coordinate system (n, s, z), and a contour coordinate s along the prole of the section with its origin at any point O on
the prole section. Three sets of coordinate systems are mutually interrelated and
shown in Fig. 1. The n axis as shown in Fig. 1 is normal to the middle surface of a
plate element, the s axis is tangent to the middle surface and is directed along the
contour line of the cross-section. The basic assumptions regarding the kinematics
of thin-walled composites are stated as follows:

Fig. 1. Denition of coordinates in thin-walled.

J. Lee, S.-h. Lee / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

1295

1. The contour of the thin wall does not deform in its own plane.
2. The shear strain csz of the middle surface is zero in each element.
3. The KirchhoLove assumption in classical plate theory remains valid for laminated composite thin-walled beams.
4. The time-dependent behavior is neglected.
 in the contour coordinate sysThe midsurface displacement components u, v, w
tem, respectively, mean perpendicular, lateral and axial displacements. Such plane
 can be expressed in terms of beam elements as these U, V,
elements as these 
u, v, w
W and U.

us; z Uzsinhs  V zcoshs  Uzqs

1a

vs; z Uzcoshs V zsinhs Uzrs

1b

 s; z W z  U zxs  V zys  U zxs

w

1c

where U means the rotation angle about the pole axis of the pole P; the prime (0 ) is
used to indicate dierentiation with respect to z; and x is the so-called sectorial
coordinate or warping function given by

xs rs ds
2
The displacement components u, v, w representing the deformation of any generic point on the prole section are given with respect to the midsurface displace by assumption 3.
ments 
u, v, w
us; z; n 
us; z

3a

@
us; z
@s
@
us; z
 s; z  n
ws; z; n w
@z

3b

vs; z; n vs; z  n

3c

3. Strains
The strains associated with the small-displacement theory of elasticity are given by
es es n
js

4a

ez ez n
jz

4b

csz n
jsz

4c

where

@v
@w
; ez
@s
@z
@2
@2
u
u
s  2 ; j
z  2 ;
j
@s
@z

5a

es

sz 2
j

@ 2 u
@s@z

5b

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J. Lee, S.-h. Lee / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

s are assumed to
All the other strains are identically zero. In Eq. (5a,b), es and j
z and j
sz are midsurface axial strain and biaxial curvatures of the
be zero, and ez , j
shell, respectively. The above shell strains can be converted to beam strain components by substituting Eqs. (1ac) and (3ac) into Eq. (5a,b)
ez eoz xjy yjx xjx

6a

z jy sinh  jx cosh  jx q
j

6b

sz jsz
j

6c

where eoz jx, jy, jx and jsz are axial strain, biaxial curvatures in the x and y direction, warping curvature with respect to the shear center, and twisting curvature in
the beam, respectively dened as
eoz W 0

7a

jx V

00

7b

jy U

00

7c

00

jx U

7d

7e

jsz 2U

The resulting strains can be obtained from Eqs. (4ac) and (6ac) as
ez eoz x nsinhjy y  ncoshjx x  nqjx

8a

csz njsz

8b

4. Variational formulation
Total potential energy of the system is calculated by sum of strain energy and
potential energy,
Puv
where u is the strain energy

1
rz ez rzs czs dv;
u
2 v

10

The strain energy is calculated by substituting Eq. (6ac) into Eq. (10)

u frz eoz x nsinhjy y  ncoshjx x  nqjx

rsz njsz g dv
The variation of strain energy, Eq. (11), can be stated as
l
du fNz deoz My djy Mx djx Mx djx Mt djsz g dz

11

12

where Nz, Mx, My, Mx and Mt are axial force, bending moments in the x and y

J. Lee, S.-h. Lee / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

1297

directions, warping moment (bimoment), and tortional moment with respect to the
centroid, respectively, dened by integrating over the cross-sectional area A as

13a
Nz rz dsdn
A

My

Mx

rz x nsinh dsdn

13b

rz y  ncosh dsdn

13c

rz x  nq dsdn

13d

rzs n dsdn

13e

Mx

Mt

The variation of the work done by external force can be stated as

l
dv  qdV tdU dz

14a

where q is transverse load and t is applied torque. Using the principle that the variation of the total potential energy is zero, the following weak statement is
obtained:
0

fNz dW 0  My dU 00  Mx dV 00  Mx dU00 2Mt dU0 qdV tdUg dz

14b

5. Constitutive equations of plate elements

The constitutive equation in an arbitrary zs coordinate system is then written
8
9k 2
3 8 9
 11 Q
 12 Q
 16 k < ez =
Q
< rz =
 12 Q
 22 Q
 26 5 es
15
r
4Q
: s ;


 66 : csz ;
rsz
Q16 Q26 Q
 ij are transformed reduced stifnesses [8] and are made up of material prowhere Q
perty with respect to each layer. The above constitutive equation can be simplied
by using free stress in contour direction (rs 0) or free strain in contour direction
(es 0) assumption as


rz
rsz



Q
11


Q
16



Q
16


Q
66

k 

ez
csz

16

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J. Lee, S.-h. Lee / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

for free stress assumption,

2
 11  Q12

Q
Q
11
 22
Q

17a

 
 16  Q12 Q26

Q
Q
16
 22
Q

17b

2
 66  Q26

Q
Q
66
 22
Q

17c

and for free strain assumption,

 11

Q
Q
11

18a


Q
 16
Q
16

18b


Q
 66
Q
66

18c

In Eq. (13a), Nz, Mx, My, Mx, Mx, and Mt can now be expressed with respect to
the generalized strains (eoz , jy, jx, jx, jsz) by combining Eqs. (13a), (16) and (8).
Consequently, the constitutive equations for a thin-walled laminated composite are
obtained as
9 2
8
38 o 9
E11
ez >
Nz >
E12 E13 E14 E15 >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 6
> My >
>
7
E
E
E
E
jy >
=
=
<
<
22
23
24
25 7
6
7
19
Mx 6
E
E
E
j
33
34
35 7
x
6
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
4
5
M
E
E
j
>
>
>
>
44
45 > x >
>
;
;
: x>
:
Mt
sym:
E55
jsz
In Eq. (19), Eij are stiness of the thin-walled composite. It appears that the laminate stinesses Eij depend on the cross-section of the composites, and the explicit
expressions for I-section (Fig. 2) are given in [9].

6. Governing equations
The governing equations of the present approach can be derived by integrating
the derivatives of the varied quantities by parts and collecting the coecients of
dU, dV, dW and dU:
Nz0 0

20a

My00 0

20b

Mx00 q 0

20c

Mx00 2Mt0 t 0

20d

J. Lee, S.-h. Lee / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

1299

Fig. 2. Geometry of a thin-walled composite open section.

By substituting Eqs. (19) and (7ae) into Eq. (20ad), the explicit form of the
governing equations yield:
E11 W 00  E12 U 000  E13 V 000 2E15 U00 0

21a

E12 W 000  E22 U iv  E24 Uiv 2E25 U000 0

21b

E13 W 000  E33 V iv  E34 Uiv 2E35 U000 q 0

21c

 E24 U iv  E34 V iv  E44 Uiv 2E15 W 00  2E25 U 000  2E35 V 000

4E35 U00 t 0

21d

Eqs. (21ad) are most general form for exuraltorsional behavior of a thin-walled
laminated composite with an I-section, and the dependent variables, U, V, W and
U are fully coupled.

7. Finite element model

The present theory for thin-walled composite beams described in the previous
section was implemented via a displacement-based nite element method. The generalized displacements are expressed over each element as a linear combination of
the one-dimensional Lagrange interpolation function Wj and Hermite-cubic interpolation function wj associated with node j and the nodal values;
W

n
X
j1

wj Wj ;

n
X
uj wj ;
j1

n
X
j1

vj w j ;

n
X
/j wj
j1

22

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J. Lee, S.-h. Lee / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

Substituting these expressions into the weak statement in Eq. (14b), the nite
element model of a typical element can be expressed as
K
fDg ff g

23

where [K] is the element stiness matrix, and {f} is the element force vector
2
3
K12 K13 K14
K11
6
K22 K23 K24 7
7
K
6
4
K33 K34 5
sym:
K44

24

The explicit form of [K] is given in [9] and {f} is given by

ff g f 0 0

f3

f 4 gT

25

where
fi3
fi4

l
qwi dz

26a

twi dz

26b

In Eq. (23), {D} is the unknown nodal displacements

fDg f W

U gT

27

8. Numerical results and discussion

For the verication purpose, the results by present approach are compared with
the previous results [6,7] and ABAQUS [10]. In ABAQUS analysis, S9R5 shell elements are used. A simply supported I-section beam under uniformly distributed
load of 1 kN/m with dimension of (50  50  2:08 mm) is considered. The following engineering constants are used.
E1 53:78 GPa;
G1 3:45 GPa;
v23 0:34;

E2 E3 17:93 GPa
G2 G3 8:96 GPa

v12 v13 0:25

28a
28b
28c

The maximum vertical deections based on two dierent assumptions (rs 0

and es 0) are compared with the previous result [6] and ABAQUS [10] in Table 1
for several stacking sequences. All the results are in good agreement. Especially,
the results by rs 0 assumption show excellent agreement with ABAQUS solution.
The next example shows the angle of twist for various stacking sequences
with the same conguration as the previous example except the concentrated torque
T 100 N cm is applied at one end of the beam. The maximum angles of twist
are given in Table 2. For strong coupling stacking sequence [h]16, the solution by

J. Lee, S.-h. Lee / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

1301

Table 1
Deections of a simply supported I-section beam under uniformly distributed load
Stacking sequence

Ref. [5]

6.103
6.611
8.282
11.343
15.124
17.641
9.153
10.130

[0]16
[15/15]4s
[30/30]4s
[45/45]4s
[60/60]4s
[75/75]4s
[0/90]4s
[0/45/90/45]4s

ABAQUS

6.340
6.989
9.360
13.479
17.023
18.490
9.400
10.851

Present
es 0

rs 0

6.103
6.610
8.281
11.340
15.119
17.643
9.153
10.130

6.233
6.899
9.290
13.421
16.962
18.411
9.299
10.777

es 0 assumption remarkably underestimates the angle of twist while the solution

by rs 0 assumption shows good agreements. From these two examples, it is
shown that the solution based on the assumption rs 0 yield more accurate
results.
In order to investigate the exuraltorsional coupling eects, dierent stacking
sequences are given for the top and bottom anges; and the web is assumed to be
unidirectional. Sectional dimension of I-beam is (100  200 mm) in 1 m length
made of 16 plies with each of them 0.05 mm in thickness. The material properties
considered in this investigation are:
E1 =E2 25

29a

G12 =E2 0:5

29b

v12 0:25

29c

Table 2
Angle of twist of a simply supported I-section beam under concentered torque
Stacking sequence

[0]16
[15/15]4s
[30/30]4s
[45/45]4s
[60/60]4s
[75/75]4s
[0/90]4s
[0/45/90/45]4s
[45]16
[30]16
[60]16

Ref. [6]

0.2481
0.2073
0.1563
0.1396
0.1571
0.2080
0.2481
0.1891
0.1686
0.1686
0.1971

ABAQUS

0.2490
0.2100
0.1600
0.1430
0.1590
0.2080
0.2480
0.1910
0.1710
0.1720
0.1972

Present
es 0

rs 0

0.2481
0.2073
0.1599
0.1388
0.1559
0.2072
0.2481
0.1879
0.1389
0.1561
0.1561

0.2481
0.2073
0.1563
0.1396
0.1571
0.2080
0.2481
0.1891
0.1687
0.1687
0.1972

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J. Lee, S.-h. Lee / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

Fig. 3. Variation of the torsional displacements with respect to ber angle change of a cantilever beam
under torque at free end.

For convenience, the following nondimensional values of vertical displacements

and angle of twist are used:
 /pl
/
G12 bt2
v

vpl 3
E 2 b3 t

30a
30b

The beam is assumed to be under torque at free end. The ber angle is varied in
two ways; rst case, the top and bottom anges are considered as antisymmetric
angle-ply laminates [h/h/h/h], and the web laminate is assumed to be unidirectional; second case, antisymmetric angle-ply laminates [h/h/h/h] in the web,
and unidirectional ber orientation in the anges. Four layers with equal thicknesses are considered. For all the analysis, the assumption rs 0 is made. Variation of the torsional displacement of free end with respect to ber angle change in
the anges and web is shown in Fig. 3. It is found that the beam with ber angle
change in the anges is more sensitive to angle of twist than that of ber angle
change in the web. For both cases, the minimum angle of twist occurs near
v
h 45 , that is, because the torsional rigidity E55 becomes maximum value at
v
h 45 .
The last example presents a cantilever beam under point load instead of torsional load at free edge (Fig. 4.). This case is that both the anges are antisym-

J. Lee, S.-h. Lee / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

1303

Fig. 4. I-section composite cantilever beam under eccentric load at free end.

metric angle-ply stacking sequence, and the other conditions are the same as the
previous example. Stacking sequence of top and bottom anges are [h/h/h/h],
[h/h/h/h], respectively, and the web laminate is assumed to be unidirectional

Fig. 5. Variation of the vertical displacements with respect to the ber angle change of a cantilever beam
under eccentric load at free end.

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J. Lee, S.-h. Lee / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 12931305

Fig. 6. Variation of the torsional displacement with respect to the ber angle change of a cantilever
beam under eccentric at free end.

and thus exhibit exuraltorsional coupling. The vertical displacements at the free
end are shown in Fig. 5 with respect to ber angle variation. It shows that the load
eccentricity does not aect the vertical displacements. On the other hand, the
maximum torsional displacements show substantial changes for eccentricity with
respect to ber angle variation (Fig. 6). Even for no eccentricity (e=b 0), the torsional displacement becomes nonzero as ber angle goes o-axis implying that the
coupling stinesses E15 and E35 drive exuraltorsional coupling. Vice versa, for
e=b 0:05, the torsional displacement can vanish for specic value of ber angle
v
v
(near 18 and 63 ), implying that the angle of twist can be suppressed with carefully tailored stacking sequence even for applied torque.
9. Concluding remarks
An analytical model was developed to study the exuraltorsional behavior of a
laminated composite beam with an I-section. The model is capable of predicting
accurate deection as well as angle of twist shapes of various conguration including boundary conditions, laminate orientation and ratio of elastic moduli. To formulate the problem, a one-dimensional displacement-based nite element method
is employed. The assumption that normal stress in contour direction vanishes
(rs 0) seems more appropriate than the free strain assumption in contour direction. The model presented is found to be appropriate and ecient in analyzing
exuraltorsional problem of a thin-walled laminated composite beam.

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1305

Acknowledgements
The support of the research reported here by Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Evaluation and Planning through Grant 10002825 is gratefully acknowledged.
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[4] Davalos JF, Salim HA, Qiao P, Lopez-Anido R. Analysis and design of pultruded FRP shapes
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