General analysis of asymmetric thin-walled members

This paper presents the closed-form solution for the deflection and stresses of an asymmetric thin-walled member. The method is based on the assumption that the cross-section can deform out of plane when warping and shear-lag effects are significant. The out-of-plane deformation is represented by a linear warping function plus a truncated series of complete eigenfunctions. The differential equations are derived by using the principle of Minimum Potential Energy and solved by a symbolic manipulator. An example is used to illustrate the application of the method and the use of the closed-form solutions obtained. Results of the example are compared to the results of a finite element analysis and other approximate models. The comparison indicates that the maximum error of the proposed method is within 0·1% of the value obtained by the finite element method in lateral displacement and 0·2% in axial displacement.