Deformation analysis of a non-prismatic beam with corrugated steel webs in the elastic stage

Based on the concept of isoparametric mapping, a generic approach for investigating the bending and shear deformation in a non-prismatic elastic beam with corrugated steel webs (CSWs) was presented in this study. The strain field of an actual element (namely, the non-prismatic beam segments) is expressed as a function of the local coordinates in the parent element. Continually, the solution of the bending and shear deformation of the non-prismatic beam segment can be transformed into the integration of strain in the parent element under local coordinates. Since it is usually laborious to solve the displacement field by direct integration of strain in a non-prismatic beam segment using global coordinates. In addition, this study found that shear deformation cannot be ignored in the actual design of this type of structure because the thin-walled section has a small shear stiffness. In contrast, for a composite beam with CSWs, shear deformation occurs beyond bending deformation and becomes a major contributor of total deformation in some critical sections. Finally, experimental study of the mechanical properties of a non-prismatic beam with CSWs is conducted for the first time. The experimental results further demonstrate the validity of the proposed theoretical analysis methods.