Analysis of torsional-bending FGM beam by 3D Saint-Venant refined beam theory

In this article, we present torsion-bending analysis of a composite FGM beam with an open section, according to the advanced and refined theory of 1D / 3D beams based on the 3D Saint-Venant's solution and taking into account the edge effects. The (initially one-dimensional) model contains a set of three-dimensional (3D) displacement modes of the cross section, reflecting its 3D mechanical behaviour. The modes are taken into account depending on the mechanical characteristics and the geometrical form of the cross-section of the composite FGM beam. The model considered is implemented on the CSB (Cross-Section and Beam Analysis) software package. It is based on the RBT/SV theory (Refined Beam Theory on Saint-Venant principle) of FGM beams. The mechanical and physical characteristics of the FGM beam continuously vary, depending on a power-law distribution, across the thickness of the beam. We compare the numerical results obtained by the three-beam theories, namely: The Classical Beam Theory of Saint-Venant (Classical Beam Theory CBT), the theory of refined beams (Refined Beam Theory RBT), and the theory of refined beams, using the higher (high) modes of distortion of the cross-section (Refined Beam Theory using distorted modes RBTd). The results obtained confirm a clear difference between those obtained by the three models at the level of the supports. Further from the support, the results of RBT and RBTd are of the same order, whereas those of CBT remains far from those of higher-order theories. The 3D stresses, strains and displacements, obtained by the present study, reflect the 3D behaviour of FGM beams well, despite the initially 1D nature of the problem. A validation example also shows a very good agreement of the proposed models with other models (classical or higher-order beam theory) and Carrera Unified Formulation 1D-beam model with Lagrange Expansion functions (CUF-LE).