Author(s): Henriques, David ; Peres, Nuno ; Gonçalves, Rodrigo
Date: 2025
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/187125
Origin: Repositório Institucional da UNL
Project/scholarship: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F04625%2F2020/PT;
Subject(s): Cross-section deformation; Generalized Beam Theory; Influence lines; Influence surfaces; Thin-walled structures; Civil and Structural Engineering; Architecture; Building and Construction; Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
Funding Information: The second and third authors are grateful for the Foundation for Science and Technology's support through funding UIDB/04625/2020 from the research unit CERIS (DOI: 10.54499/UIDB/04625/2020). Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors
In structural analysis and design, influence functions (lines and surfaces) are extremely valuable for identifying the most unfavorable positions of live loads. This paper introduces a computationally efficient method for calculating non-standard influence functions using Generalized Beam Theory (GBT), a thin-walled beam theory that allows cross-section deformation by means of hierarchical and structurally meaningful “cross-section deformation modes”. Consequently, the proposed method enables not only the calculation standard influence functions (for displacements, support reactions and stress resultants), but also those pertaining to higher-order cross-section deformation (torsion, distortion, plate bending, etc.), their strains, stress resultants and mode amplitudes. The computational cost of the procedure is equivalent to that of a single linear analysis of the structure and its implementation is straightforward. Several illustrative examples are presented to show the capabilities of the proposed method.
