Geometrically nonlinear finite element model of spatial thin-walled beams with general open cross section

ABSTRACTBased on the theory of Timoshenko and thin-walled beams, a new finite element model of spatial thin-walled beams with general open cross sections is presented in the paper, in which several factors are included such as lateral shear deformation, warp generated by nonuniform torsion and second-order shear stress, coupling of flexure and torsion, and large displacement with small strain. With an additional internal node in the element, the element stiffness matrix is deduced by incremental virtual work in updated Lagrangian (UL) formulation. Numerical examples demonstrate that the presented model well describes the geometrically nonlinear property of spatial thin-walled beams.