Buckling of short beams with warping effect included

A beam theory for the stability analysis of short beam that includes shear deformation and warping of the crosssection is developed. The warping of the cross-section is taken to be an independent kinematics quantity and corresponding force resultants are defined. For the beam subjected to the external loading only at the ends of the beam, equilibrium equations have been obtained by the principle of virtual work. The variations of lateral displacement, rotational angle of the cross-section and the multiplier of the warping shape along the beam axis are solved in closed form and expressed in terms of deformation quantities at the ends of the beam. Based on this beam theory, the lateral stiffness of the beam sustained an axial compression force and a lateral shear force at one end is explicitly derived, from which the equation of the buckling load is established and the buckling load can be solved. When the effect of cross-section warping is neglected, the derived lateral stiffness and buckling load converge to the solutions of the Haringx theory. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.