Free torsion of thin-walled structural members of open- and closed-sections

Free torsion of thin-walled structures of open- and closed-sections is a classical elastic mechanics problem, which, in literature, is often solved by the method of membrane analogy. The method of membrane analogy, however, can be only applied to structures of a single material. If the structure consists of both open- and closed-sections, the method of membrane analogy is difficult to be applied. In this paper, a new method is presented for solving the free torsion of thin-walled structures of open- and/or closedsections with multiple materials. By utilizing a simple statically indeterminate concept, torsional equations are derived based on the equilibrium and compatibility conditions. The method presented here not only is very simple and easy to understand but also can be applied to thin-walled structures of combined open- and closed-sections with multiple materials.