Shear Center of an Open Section Beams

When the shear load pass through the shear center of an open section beam, there are no

hoop stresses nor twisting of the beam cross-section and the relation between in the shear

ows and direct stresses acting on an element of the beam wall is expressed by the equation

(1).
@q @z
+t =0 (1)
@s @z

The shear ow can be expressed as (2)

!Z !Z
Sx Ixx Sy Ixy S
Sy Iyy Sx Ixy s

qs = 2
tx ds 2
ty ds (2)
Ixx Iyy Ixy 0 Ixx Iyy Ixy 0

When there is one x axis as an axis of symmetry and only one vertical shear load S so that y

Ixy = 0 and S = 0, (2) reduces to

x

Sy
Z s

qs = ty ds (3)
Ixx 0

Where a cross-section has an axis of symmetry the shear center must lie on this axis. In

the Figure 1., the shear center S lies on the horizontal axis of symmetry at some distance

x from the web. If we apply an arbitrary shear load Sy through the shear center then the

shear ow distribution is given by Eq. (3) and the moment about any arbitrary point in the

cross-section produced by these shear ow is equivalent to the moment of the applied shear

load.
I
Sy s = qs hn ds
s

where hn is the normal distance between the arbitrary point and the shear ow.

1
Shear Center of a Closed Section Beams
Assuming the hoop stresses and body forces are absent, Eq.(1) is valid for closed section

as well. When we choose an origin for s where the shear ow has the unknown value qs;0 ,

integration equation can be expressed as

!Z !Z
Sx Ixx Sy Ixy s
Sy Iyy Sx Ixy s

qb =q s qs;0 = 2
tx ds 2
ty ds (4)
Ixx Iyy Ixy 0 Ixx Iyy Ixy 0

where qb is basic or open section shear ow. In case shear loads act though shear center of

the a cross section which has horizontal axis as an axis of symmetry, the equation is as below

I qb +q 0
0= s;
ds (5)
s Gt
H q bd
which gives q 0 = Hs Gt1 d The shear ow in the closed sectin is simplies to
s
s;
s Gt s

Sy
Z s

qs = ty ds + qs;0 (6)
Ixx 0

The shear center lies on the horizontal axis of symmetry and the location of shear center

can be calculated by equating the moment about any arbitrary point in the cross-section

produced by these shear ow with the moment of the applied shear load.

Reference
Megson, T.H.G., Aircraft Structures for Engineering Students , Edward Arnold, London, 1990.