On Saint-Venant's Problem for Helicoidal Beams

This paper proposes a novel solution strategy for Saint-Venant's problem based on Hamilton's formalism. Saint-Venant's problem focuses on helicoidal beams and its solution hinges upon the determination of the subspace of the system's Hamiltonian matrix associated with its null and pure imaginary eigenvalues. A projection approach is proposed that reduces the system Hamiltonian matrix to a matrix of size 12 x 12, whose eigenvalues are identical to the null and purely imaginary eigenvalues of the original system, with the same Jordan structure. A fundamental theoretical result is established: Saint-Venant's solutions exist because rigid-body motions create no strains. Indeed, the solvability conditions for the governing equations of the problem are satisfied because a matrix identity holds, which expresses the fact that rigid- body motions create no strains. Because it avoids the identification of the Jordan structure of the original system, the implementation of the proposed projection for large, realistic problems is straightforward. Closed-form solutions of the reduced problem are found and three-dimensional stress and strain fields can be recovered from the closed-form solution. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the analysis. Predictions are compared to exact solutions of three-dimensional elasticity and three-dimensional FEM analysis.