Shear Flow in Thin-Walled Open Sections

Consider a beam with an open section of arbitrary shape. The wall thickness may vary but
must remain thin compared to the other dimensions (Fig. 7.1 la). Let axes x and y pass
through the centroid g and lie parallel to the directions of the transverse shear forces F, and
F,. If the section is not to twist, both shear forces must act through the shear centre E. We
shall let them act in the negative x and y directions as shown, so that positive hogging
moments M, and My appear in the first quadrant of x, y. In a beam these forces and their
accompanying bending moments will generally vary with length. Within the plane of the
cross-section there will be a component of shear stress t, parallel to the mid-section centre
line, where the material is assumed to be concentrated, and one normal to this mid-line, ru,.
Because ru, is zero at the free edges, its variation with t can be ignored. Also r,, is assumed
to be uniform between the edges of a thin section but will vary with the perimeter length s.
(In contrast, eq(5.21) shows that the shear stress due to torsion of an open tube varies linearly
through the thickness). A shear flow q = tq, will account for variations in t,, with t around the
section in the positive s direction shown.