TORSION

Torsional Shear Stress Distribution

Force on unit element due

Closed Section r
fi to torsional stress
CHS

r is big

fi

r
r is small
Open Section

Notes:

Closed Sections have

a) High torsional stiffness

b) High torsional capacity

Review of Torsion of CHS and Rod

For CHS and rod only, the following holds

i) Plane section remain plane i.e no warping of planes normal to the axis of the CHS or
pipe despite the development of shear stress from torsion.
ii) shearing strain (and therefore shearing stress) vary linearly from the central axis

2 3 Plane Section
Radius, r
1
A
O B
A moves to A’, B to B’,
OB’A’ is linear
Remain Plane
4 │BB’│&│AA’│ are
Section
proportionate

A’
B’
A

2 3 Point 1,2,3 and 4 moves to point 1’,2’,3’ and 4’

2’ τ Shear stress τ and shear strain γdevelop.

3’
Point 1,2 to 1’,2’ This plane remains

1 4 Point 3,4 to 3’,4’ straight

1’ ɣ
τ 4’

τmax
Shear stress proportionate to distance
from O

O τmax develop at extreme fibre and decrease

r linearly
R
R
Arm

Force

Ip
 OR

In general,

Where J = Ip for circular section only

dz

ɣmax dφ

Therefore

But,

Therefore

Angle of twist per unit length. Denote as θ

Therefore T=GJθ
 Angle of twist, for prismatic
CHS

Torsion of Non-circular cross-section (e.g Rectangular Section)

Minimum distortion
at corner

Minimum distortion Maximum distortion

at side at center
Max. Stress at Stress free at
mid-depth Note: Plane Section is distorted (Does not
corners
remain plane)
 Deformed due to
torsion

T
T

Torsion of General Cross-Section

X
x

yY
φ

T
 Z

The general solution is obtained by seeking a stress-function ϕ

YY Y

Membrane Analogy

The general torsion problem can be solved by the following physical method

a) Cut the outline of the cross-section on a rigid surface

XZ X
b) Stretch a thin membrane over the cut area and increase the pressure p, below the
membrane

Z
Thin membrane in
Rigid surface small displacement

Pressure (p)
S =Tensile force per unit
length of membrane
MembraneAnalogy Torsion Problem Notes
The displacement in the
z ϕ membrane due to
pressure
S = Tensile force per
G unit length of membrane
(Membrane Tension)
P = pressure
p 2θ θ = Angle of twist per
unit length
Torsional shear stress is
the slope of the
membrane
Torsional shear stress is
the slope of the
membrane
2 x Volume
beneath T T=torque
membrane

Torsion of Thin-wall Rectangular Section

t X Z p

Y Y
Y

Assume flat
Z
when b>>>t

X
Integrate

Therefore,

Therefore

Integrate

Therefore

Therefore
Therefore

But

Therefore,
 SUMMARY
t

t OR
b

For cross-section that are composed of thin wall rectangular section

b2 b2
t2 t2 t2

t1
b1 b1 t1

t3 t3
b3 b3

b=s
t
r
The torsional stress is then given by

Example:

At segment b1 x t1

At segment b3 x t3
 Torsion of Thin-Walled Closed Section

For thin-walled closed section of arbitrary shape and thickness, J can be determined
readily.

ds

C
BB Area, A= 0.5 r ds
D A

r q

t1 dx
C

F4 F3 t1
B
D

τB
t2
A F2
F1

t2 τA
 Shear stress x thickness at any
section is constant

Integrate over the

perimeter

A
ds

AEnclosed
r
r

Area of A
Integration gives area of A or
area bounded by centerline

But,
Where Aenc = area bounded by centerline of any arbitrary thin-walled closed section

It can be shown that the angle of twist per unit length is

OR

Engineers prefer to write

BUT

Therefore
 Multiply-Connected thin-Walled Closed section

t1 q1 B t2 q2
A C

q2
T1 qq2 3 T2
t3

D
F E
Shear flow

The shear flow distributes itself analogous to water flow. Thus

For equilibrium

Area bounded by second

Area bounded by first cell
cell

Integrate over the path A1

AND
Integrate over the path A2

Note:

 Equations θ is the same because we must have compatible twist in the two cells.
 Say t1 is constant from EFAB
t2 is constant from BCDE
 t3 is constant from BE

Torsion In Restrained Universal Beam (UB)

Recall, UB subjected to torsion

The above stresses are developed assuming the ends of the beam is free to warp. If the
end of the beam is prevented from warping (e.g fixed ended), additional stresses are developed.