This paper presents an overview of the mechanics of distortion in members which have restrained thin-walled steel sections. First, the basic features that characterize the distortion of thin-walled sections under compression and/or bending are explained and the generally adopted kinematical assumptions are presented and discussed. On the basis of these assumptions, a simple procedure to build the distortional displacement fields is proposed. Then, two illustrative examples of restrained sections are given and their distortional displacement fields are built. The I-section illustrates the case of a symmetric section having a distortional displacement field with a single d.o.f. The Z-section exemplifies the case of a non symmetric section having a distortional field with two d.o.f. Based on an energy formulation, the equilibrium equation for buckling analysis of simply supported thin-walled members is derived. For two illustrative examples, the distortional displacement field is used to obtain distortional analytical formulae. Finally, some results (buckling loads and moments) were determined and validated by means of comparison with fully numerical obtained from finite strip analysis.
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