An Analytical Model for the Prediction of the Stiffness Behavior of Thin-Walled Beams

The aim of this work is to develop and test an analytical model that is deemed to be more accurate than the traditional method in the prediction of the mechanical behavior of hollow box beams. The methodology was tested with a hollow box beam of a rectangular section. To achieve the aim, a new analytical model was derived. An FEM model of a simple box beam was built, and the results of the comparison between the classical theory, the novel equation, and the l numerical method are presented. It was possible to validate the new equation with the numerical model and the classical equation. It was observed that the novel equation can predict the mechanical behavior of the studied geometries with better accuracy than the classical equation.