The nonprismatic thin-walled beam model of the differential quadrature element method

A new numerical approach for solving nonprismatic thin-walled beams is prop osed. The approach uses the differential quadrature (DQ) technique to discr etize the equilibrium equations defined on each element, the transition con ditions defined on the inter-element boundary of two adjacent elements and the boundary conditions of thin-walled beam structures. An overall discrete equation can be obtained by assembling all discrete equations. A computer code is developed and numerical results are presented. They demonstrate the developed numerical model. This nonprismatic thin-walled beam analysis mod el can be used to efficiently and accurately solve the problems of slender structures.