TORSION OF THIN WALLED BEAMS

BY DR. RAEES FIDA SWATI

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SUGGESTED READINGS

Chapters 17 and 22
2
of
Aircraft Structural Analysis
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Familiarity with the source for torsional force in the wing structure
 Obtaining the shear stress as a result of torsional force in closed section beams

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HOW LOADS ARE CARRIED IN THE WING BOX

Yaw

Pitch
Pitch affected by elevators on the Horizontal
Stabilizer

Lift
Yaw input from Rudder on the Vertical Stabilizer
and by differential thrust from the engines

Roll
Roll produced by Ailerons Digital mock up of A320
4
Lift produced by aerodynamic shape of wing & NEO with sharklet
can be increased by deployment of flaps and
slats at low speeds, or by an increase of pitch
and/or speed.
TORSION ON WING COMING FROM ENGINE
-Wing location.
-Engine mounted on pylon attachment
with an offset from wing box
producing torsion in the wing
structure.

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MORE ON SOURCE OF TORSION

 In majority of practical cases, it is impossible to guarantee that the shear load would act at the
shear centre of the cross section;
 Any shear load (lift, engine, etc.) may be represented by the combination of the shear load
applied through the shear centre and a torque;
 The stresses produced by the separate actions of torsion and shear may then be added by
superposition;

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 REMINDER
We isolate this element of
the beam as of the next slide

𝑠 is distance measured around the cross 𝑞 = 𝜏𝑡

section from some convenient origin shear flow which is positive in the direction
of increasing 𝑠
An element of size 𝛿𝑠 × 𝛿𝑧 × 𝑡 is in
equilibrium by a system of stresses
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t is assumed to be constant along 𝛿𝑠

𝜏𝑧𝑠 = 𝜏𝑠𝑧 = 𝜏
REMINDER
Equilibrium of forces in 𝑧 direction

Equilibrium of forces in 𝑠 direction

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REMINDER

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TORSION OF CLOSED SECTION BEAMS

 The structure shown is under pure Torsion produces

torque loading; constant shear flow in
the section.
 In the previous lecture we derived
equations of equilibrium for an
element under arbitrary stress
system;
 See the previous two slides as a
reminder;
 Since we do not have direct stresses,
i.e. 𝜎𝑧 , the equations reduce to;

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0 0 This is not feasible unless 𝑞 is
constant
REMINDER (FROM SHEAR OF CLOSED SECTION BEAMS)
 For open section we had;

 Value of shear flow at the cut (𝑠 =

0) can be found by;
A is the area
enclosed by midline
of the beam section.

 We also know;

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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TORQUE AND SHEAR FLOW

 We balance the external torque, i.e. 𝑇, with the torque

created by constant shear flow, i.e. 𝑞;

q  const

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The theory is known as Bredt-Batho
theory
SIGN CONVENTION
 If the movement of the foot of 𝑝 along the
tangent at any point in the positive direction of
𝑠 leads to an anticlockwise rotation of 𝑝 about
the origin of axes, p is positive;
 The positive direction of 𝑠 is in the positive
direction of 𝑞, which is anticlockwise
(corresponding to a positive torque);
 Are torque and 𝑝 at A positive or negative?
 Negative (clockwise)

 How about at B?
 Positive (anticlockwise)
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EXAMPLE

 In the tube structure shown, the maximum shear 30kNm

clamped
stress is limited to 200 N/mm2 and the maximum

clamped
angle of twist is 2o. The torque is applied at the mid- 200 mm
span. What is the minimum thickness of the beam
walls?
 You may assume that the shear modulus is 25,000
2000 mm
N/mm2.

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SOLUTION

 Torsion diagram along the length of the beam; 30kNm

clamped

clamped
 Remember that we assume counter-clockwise
200 mm
torsion as positive.

+15kNm
z
-15kNm

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SOLUTION
D 2 q  t
30kNm
A

clamped

clamped
4 15kNm 200 mm 15kNm

4T
t min 
2D 2 2000 mm

z
200T T 200
C1  0    0  @ z  0   2
dz  2
z  C1
z  0 4 A Gt 4A G t
t min  max 2.7,1.2   2.7 mm
16

max  @ z  1m
EXAMPLE

 A welded steel tube is 40 in long, has a 1/8-in wall thickness, and a 2.5-in by 3.6-in
rectangular cross section as shown. Assume an allowable shear stress of 11,500 psi and a
shear modulus of 11.5x106 psi.
 Estimate the allowable torque T.
 Estimate the angle of twist due to the torque.

Note that this example is taken from the book;

Shigley’s Mechanical Engineering Design (Ninth Edition)

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SOLUTION

 The area enclosed within the median line of the section

is as follow;

 Length of the median perimeter is;

 Torsion is calculated by;

 The angle of twist is calculated by;

d T T
dz 4 A 2 Gt 
 ds  Lm 
4 A 2 Gt 18
 Pay attention to the
TORSION OF OPEN SECTION BEAMS direction of shear
flow in open section
 The solutions provided hereafter are approximate due to torsion
for open section beams (median line is not closed);
 In the opposite figure, a rectangular open section
beam is shown;

d
   Gt
dz
Tt
 max 
J
Torsion constant Torsion constant
for cross section for cross section 19
with constant wall with variable wall
thickness thickness
EXAMPLE

 Determine the maximum shear stress in the

channel section when it is subjected to an
anticlockwise torque of 10Nm. Consider the
shear modulus of material as
G=25,000N/mm2.

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 Tt
 max 
J
SOLUTION
 Calculate torsion constant of the section;
 This section is comprised of 3 rectangular
walls, i.e. rectangles 12, 23 and 34,
respectively;

Tt
 max 
J 21
 TORSION OF MULTICELLULAR WING SECTION
The wing section Unknown
The wing torque
sectionis
is comprised of N generated
is comprised in each
of N
cells and carries a cell
cellsasand
thecarries
result of
a
torque of T. torque
T. of T

n
T   Ti
i 1

Constant shear
flow in each cell 22

All cells have the same rate of due to cellular

twist (compatibility condition). torque.
torque
TORSION OF MULTICELLULAR WING SECTION

 Let’s look at cell R and its Constant shear

neighbouring cells; flow in each wall

 By doing this for all N cells N

equation will be obtained that allows
to extract shear flow in each cell;
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 Let’s illustrate this with an example.

USEFUL TIP

 Often in practical cases, top skin, bottom skin and spar webs are made up of different
materials (particularly if they are Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer where homogenised value
of shear modulus will be taken) and thickness;
 To simplify our calculations it is best to tweak the formula in previous slides as;

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EXAMPLE

 Calculate the shear stress distribution in the walls of the three-cell wing section when it is
subjected to a counter clockwise torque of 11.3kNm.

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SOLUTION
 Choose 27,600 N/mm2 as the reference,
belonging to walls 12 and 34;

q1 q2 q3

t12  t12*  2.03 mm

t34  t34*  1.63 mm
i i

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SOLUTION
 12  1542
O

q1 q2 q3
 For cell 1;

 For cell 2;

 For cell 3; We need one more

equation to get shear
flows 27
SOLUTION

q1 q2 q3

 Shear stresses are obtained by dividing shear flow by the thickness, i.e. 𝑞 Τ𝑡 = 𝜏, giving the
shear stress distribution as;

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EXAMPLE

 The thin-wall cross section represents a highly idealised airfoil structure for which the curved
portion is the leading edge, the thicker vertical web is the spar, and the trailing straight
segments form the aft portion of the airfoil. Calculate shear flow distribution as the result of
torque.

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 ds 10 R
SOLUTION  13   * 
t12*  t12  t
O O
13 t t
R
t13  t13  t
2
*
A1 
2 ds R
3R  2 R  12 
O  
A2   3R 2 t *
t 1
2 12 O

d

1
q1  12 O   12 i   q2 12 i  
dz 2 R 2 G
2
 
Eq. 1 for
1  2 2 
     q1  q 2  Cell 1
q2 3
GtR   3 3  q1
d 1
 q1 12 i  q2  13   23   12 i  

dz 2  3 R G
2
t12  t12  3t
*
i i
t  t 23  t
*
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1  1  1  Eq. 2 for
  q1   10   q 2  2
3GtR  3  3  Cell 2
ds 2 R ds 10 R
 12 i   *   23   *  30

12 t 3ti 23 t t
 ds 10 R
SOLUTION  13   * 
t12*  t12  t
O O
13 t t
t13  t13  t
*
Eq. 3 ds R
T  R 2 q1  6 R 2 q2  12 
O  *

12 O t t 1
Simultaneous solution of Eq. 1, 2 and 3 gives

q1  1.06 q 2
T
q1  1.06 3
R 2 6  1.04  q1 q2
T
q2 
R 2 6  1.04 
t12  t12  3t
*
i i
t  t 23  t
*
23
2
ds 2 R ds 10 R
 12   *   23   * 
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12 t 3ti
23 t t
SOLUTION

 Note that shear flow in leading cell is 6% greater than the aft cell;
𝑇
 Shear flow in spar, i.e. 𝑞2 − 𝑞1 = −0.06 , almost vanishes;
6+1.04𝜋

 Torsional stiffness of a closed section is proportional to square of the enclosed area leading to
largest stiffness contribution from the outermost closed section, i.e. union of leading and aft
cells;
 This leads the spar with almost zero shear flow (almost unloaded).

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TUTORIAL 1

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 TUTORIAL 2
 A thin-walled wing box structure which has
two cells is shown along with the
dimensions. The wing box is subjected to
a torque of 𝑇 = 10 × 106 Nmm and the
length of the wingbox is 1.20 m and the
material of the wing box has a shear
modulus, 𝐺 = 28.0 GPa.

• Calculate the shear flows due to the applied torque.

• Determine the average shear stresses in all the sections, i.e. walls or skins 1 and 2 and
the webs 3 and 4.
• Calculate the twist angle of the wing box under the applied loading. 34

• Calculate the torsional rigidity GJ.

NOTE FOR TUTORIAL 2

 The solution uploaded on BB is based on a book different from Megson. In the tutorial session
we will use the sign convention based on Megson.
 Either way students must be able to obtain the same final result regardless of what sign
conventions they use.

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