Shear Flow In Open With Variable Thickness

Of Number

Presented by

Ashraqat Qassim Mutashar

Abdalla Qasim

Aircraft Engineering Branch

Mechanical Engineering Department

Introduction

For open sections, the principle of reciprocity of shear stresses, implies the vanishing
of shear flow at the end points of curve C. Indeed, if a shear flow does exist at those
points, a non-vanishing shear stress must also act along the lateral edge of the beam,
which is assumed to be stress free. For instance, the shear flow at points A and D of
the cross-section of the C-channel depicted in fig.(1) must vanish, because edges AE
and DF are stress free. If the origin of the curvilinear coordinate, s, is chosen to be
.located at such a stress free edge, the integration constant, c, in must vanish

The shear flow distribution over the open cross-section of a thin-walled beam
subjected to transverse shear forces can be determined. using the following
.procedure

Compute the location of the centroid of the cross-section and select a set of .1
,centroidal axes

Select suitable curvilinear coordinates, s, that describe the geometry of the .2

crosssection. It will often be simpler to define several curvilinear coordinates to
.describe the entire contour, C, of the cross-section

Evaluate the first stiffness moments as functions of position, s, along contour, C, .3

. of the cross-section

.The shear flow distribution .4

Fig(1) Cantilevered beam with a C-channel cross-section

SHEAR FLOW IN BEAMS WITH OPEN SECTIONS

Look at a beam with an open section, with applied shear forces

Sx and Sy about a point which produces no twisting of the tube
cross section (Shear Centre).

Fig(1) Open beam section loaded with two shear loads (Sy and Sx)

The relationship between shear flow and axial stress is given by Equation

and the equation for direct stress is given by equation

differentiating this equation gives:

substituting back into the first equation gives:

substituting for the effective shear forces gives:

Integrating this equation wrt 's' from one point to another along the beam surface
gives:

But by starting at s = 0 where q = 0 for an open beam, then:

Example 2: Determine the shear flow distribution in the thin walled channel section loaded
                    by a single vertical force applied through the shear centre.
 Channel section loaded vertically through shear centre.

Since the applied vertical load passes through the shear centre, there is no torque
applied to the
beam, so shear flow equation (4.13) applies.
Since only Sy is applied, then:

Where :

,  , 

Which gives that

, 

So equation (4.13) becomes:

On the bottom flange 12, at s1 = 0, y = -h and at s1 = h, y = -h which by using the
equation of a
line y = ms1 + b gives that: y = -h, where 0 < s1 < h so the shear flow between points
1 and 2
is:
giving:

Now at s1 = 0, q12 = 0, at s1 = h, q2 = 3Sy / 8h, and from equation (iii) it can be seen
that we have
a linear increasing shear flow.
On the web 23, at s2 = 0 , y = -h and at s2 = 2h, y = h which by using the equation of a
line y =
ms2 + b gives that y = - h + s2, where 0 < s2 < 2h , but at point 2 the shear flow is not
0
so:

giving:

Which has the form of a parabola symmetrical about the x-axis, with the maximum
value of
shear flow at s2 = h, of q23 = 9Sy / 16h, and at s2 = 2h, q3 = 3Sy / 8h.
On the top flange 34, at s3 = 0, y = h and at s3 = h, y = h which by using the equation
of a line
y = ms3 + b gives that y = h, where 0 < s3 < h so the shear flow between points 3 and
4 is:

giving:
And at s3 = h , q4 = 0, which is a linearly decreasing shear flow.
The shear flow distribution looks like this

Fig(2)Shear flow distribution on channel

section