A direct method of evaluating the warping properties of thin-walled open and closed profiles

Abstract The indirect method of evaluating the warping function and warping constant of a thin-walled profile involves a large number of steps in their calculations. Separate techniques are required for open, single-celled and multi-celled profiles. Not only is the method tedious but arithmetical errors are difficult to avoid. In the method described here the warping function and location of the shear centre are obtained in one step and the warping constant is then easily evaluated. The method is independent of the choice of axes it does not require the calculation of the location of the centroid and the principal axes.