Torsion of orthotropic bars with L-shaped or cruciform cross-section

For an orthotropic torsion bar with L-shaped or cruciform cross-section, th e studied torsion problem can be reduced to a boundary value problem of ell iptic partial differential equation. The studied region is separated into s everal rectangular sub-regions, and the series solution is suggested to sol ve the problem for the individual sub-region. By using the continuation con dition for the functions on the neighbouring sub-regions, the investigated solution is obtainable. Finally, numerical results for the torsion rigiditi es of bars are given to demonstrate the influence of the degree of orthotro py. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.