Analytical formulation for the study of the effect of shear deformations on beam-columns and piles: Engesser and Haringx theories

This paper presents a novel analytical formulation to study the impact of shear deformations on beam-columns and piles by means of the Timoshenko-Engesser’s and Timoshenko-Haringx’s theories. The proposed solution enables the analysis of lateral deformation or buckling, while considering the effect of shear deformations. It offers the flexibility to i) incorporate different boundary conditions at the ends of the element (e.g., semi-rigid connections and lateral transverse springs) and ii) consider an inhomogeneous elastic foundation. When certain variables are disregarded, the proposed GDE can capture particular cases of GDEs found in the literature for beam-columns and piles. Examples are provided to demonstrate the simplicity and practicality of the proposed method, and its accuracy is validated against available analytical or numerical methods. The influence of the shear effects, as computed from Engesser’s and Haringx’s methods, on the lateral and buckling responses of beam-column and pile elements is discussed.