A one-dimensional theory of thin-walled curved rectangular box beams under torsion and out-of-plane bending

A new ;ve degree-of-freedom one-dimensional theory is proposed for the analysis of thin-walled curved rectangular box beams subjected to torsion and out-of-plane bending. In addition to the usual three degrees of freedom used for solid curved beams, two additional degrees corresponding to warping and distortion are included in the present theory. The coupling between the deformations corresponding to ;ve degrees of freedom due to the curvature of the beam is carefully treated inthe present work. The superior behaviour of the present beam theory is veri;ed through numerical examples