Generalised Beam Theory (GBT) for Shear Deformable Stiffened Sections
A Generalised Beam Theory (GBT) formulation is presented to analyse the structural behaviour of shear deformable thin-walled members with partially stiffened cross-sections located at arbitrary locations along their length. The deformation modes used in the formulation are taken as the dynamic eigenmodes of a planar frame representing the unstiffened cross-section. Constraint equations are derived and implemented in the GBT member analysis to model the influence of rigid stiffeners on the member response. The accuracy of the approach is validated against a shell finite element model developed in Abaqus. A numerical example describing the linear elastic behaviour of partially stiffened thin-walled member is provided to outline the usability and flexibility of the proposed method.