CAN/CSA-S16-01

S.F.Stiemer

In addition to circular cross sections, this warping will not occur on

sections where the section is composed of plates and the centerline
of the members forming the shape meet at a common point. For
example, a structural Tee is composed of two plate elements where
their centerlines meet at a common point. A tee will not experience
the warping that the above I beam will.

Torsion
A member undergoing torsion will
rotate about its shear center through
an angle of as measured from each
end of the member. This rotational
displacement function, , and its
derivatives with respect to member
length are used to determine the
torsional stresses of the member.

The warping stresses of the member are obviously dependent upon

any restraint of the cross sections ability to deflect.
Torsional Stresses:
The stresses induced on a member as a result of torsion may be
classified into three categories. Torsional shear stress, Warping
Shear stress and Warping normal stress.

Fig. 1: Rotated Section

Warping

Pure torsional shear stress:

Torsion on a member will result

in the cross section rotating a
given amount. Non-circular
sections will also experience
warping of the cross section. In
an I-beam (W shape, etc.) this
can be seen as one corner of the
upper flange warping out of the
plane of the cross section, while
the other corner of the same flange warps into the plane of the cross
section. The top flange will warp opposite of the bottom flange (see
Figure 2 to the right).

These stresses act in a direction that is parallel to the edges of the

particular shape's elements. These stresses vary linearly across the
thickness of the element. For a given shape, the pure torsional
shear stress is greatest in the thickest element. The behavior of the
stress can be conceptualized by assuming a thin membrane is
attached to the cross section of the member. If the membrane is
attached to the edges of the cross section and pressurized between
the structural member and membrane, the membrane would bulge
outward from the cross section. The slope of the bulging
membrane at any point along the surface is proportional to the
torsional shear stress at that location. The direction of these stresses
is tangent to the shape of the bulging membrane.
The maximum torsional shear stress for the cross section can be
determined from the equation:

Torsion_of_ sections

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S.F.Stiemer

t = Gt'

second derivative of the rotational displacement function.

distribution of these stresses are shown in figure 4:

The

Where G is the shear modulus, t is the element thickness and ' is

the first derivative of the rotational displacement function. The
shear stresses will act as shown in figure 3:

Warping Shear Stresses

Warping Normal Stresses:

When the member is restrained such that the cross section cannot
warp freely, warping stresses will be induced. This includes
warping shear stresses as well as warping normal stresses. Warping
shear stresses act in a direction that is parallel to the edges of the
particular shape's elements. These stresses are constant across the
thickness of the element and vary along the length of the element.
The equation for calculating Warping Shear Stress is:

Warping Normal Stresses are direct tension and compression

stresses resulting from bending of the element due to torsion. These
stresses act perpendicular to the surface of the cross section. They
are constant across the thickness of an element of the cross section,
but vary in magnitude along the length of the element. These
stresses are determined by:

w = (-ESw'')/t
Where E is Young's modulus, Sw is the warping statical moment at
a point on the cross section, t is the element thickness and '' is the

Torsion_of_ sections

w = EWns'''
Where E is Young's Modulus, Wns is the normalized warping
constant at a point s on the cross section, and ''' is the third
derivative of the rotational displacement function. The tension and
compression warping normal stresses are depicted in figure 5.

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Torsional Constant-a common error:

J is used to describe the torsional constant. Unfortunately, this
same variable is used to describe the polar moment of inertia of a
shape. These are NOT the same thing. To add to the confusion, in
the case of a circular member they are numerically equal. With
other shapes, severe miscalculations result when the polar moment
of inertia is used as the torsional constant. The polar moment of
inertia is the sum of the X and Y moments of inertia. For an I-beam
the torsional constant is equal to:

Treatment of Torsional Stresses:

As shown in figures 3 through 5, the stresses will add directly to
the bending and shear stresses already imparted to a member. The
warping normal stresses act in the direction of bending stresses.
The maximum normal/bending stress for an I-beam will therefore
be the sum of the maximum warping normal stress and bending
stress. The shear stresses will likewise add to the existing shear
stresses of the member. Since this is a direct addition to existing
design stresses of a member, it is easy to see how an already highly
loaded member may exceed allowable stress limits when torsion is
applied.

Torsion_of_ sections

Where t is the element thickness. For a W8x24, the polar moment

of inertia is approximately 101 in4 whereas the torsional constant is
only 0.35 in4. Since is inversely proportional to J, this error could
result in grossly under-calculating the stress.

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