Abstract
In this paper, the elastic-plastic collapse of thin-walled rectangle tubes subjected to torsional loading is studied by using the finite element method(FEM).It is found that there are three collapse modes. The firstmode is a collapse due to elastic buckling. The second mode is a collapse due to plastic buckling. The third mode is a collapse due to denting of the cross section. Based on these facts, approximate numerical methods to estimate the peak torsional moment are proposed, and their validity are verified by comparing with the numerical results by FEM under various conditions.
