On a geometrically exact curved/twisted beam theory under rigid cross-section assumption

 A geometrically exact curved/ twisted beam theory, that assumes that the beam cross-section remains rigid, is re-examined and extended using orthonormal frames of reference starting from a 3-D beam theory. The relevant engineering strain measures with an initial curvature correction term at any material point on the current beam cross-section, that are conjugate to the first Piola-Kirchhoff stresses, are obtained through the deformation gradient tensor of the current beam configuration relative to the initially curved beam configuration. The stress resultant and couple are defined in the classical sense and the reduced strains are obtained from the three-dimensional beam model, which are the same as obtained from the reduced differential equations of motion. The reduced differential equations of motion are also re-examined for the initially curved/twisted beams. The corresponding equations of motion include additional inertia terms as compared to previous studies. The linear and linearized nonlinear constitutive relations with couplings are considered for the engineering strain and stress conjugate pair at the three-dimensional beam level. The cross-section elasticity constants corresponding to the reduced constitutive relations are obtained with the initial curvature correction term. Along with the beam theory, some basic concepts associated with finite rotations are also summarized in a manner that is easy to understand. Received: 17 June 2002 / Accepted: 21 January 2003 The work was partly sponsored by a grant (CDAAH04-95-1-0175) from the Army Research Office with Dr. Gary Anderson as the grant monitor. We would also like to thank Prof. Raymond Plaut of Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for his technical help.