On the mechanics of distortion in thin-walled open sections

This paper addresses the distortional kinematics and mechanics of thin-walled sections and provides clear definitions of cross-section properties that characterise the distortional deformation, as it is usually done for conventional modes (axial, bending and torsion). In particular, a procedure to build the distortional displacement field of a given thin-walled section is described. The first part of the paper describes the essentials of distortion in comparison with the conventional modes of classical beam theories. It is shown that primary warping is the key factor that controls the distortion of thin-walled sections. Then, an analytical procedure to determine the distortional warping displacement distribution of a given cross-section is described, on the basis of orthogonality conditions existing between the distortional and conventional modes. Next, an overview of the kinematical assumptions underlying the distortional deformation is presented and a simple procedure to build distortional displacement fields of thin-walled sections is provided. This procedure is then applied to obtain the distortional displacement field of C-sections and general expressions of distortional cross-section properties are given. Finally, a simple example is presented to illustrate how the distortional displacement field of a C-section is built, on the basis of simple kinematics principles. The distortional critical stress and half wavelength are determined and good agreement with exact numerical estimates is found.