B o o k s & Publications

Materials Science (4th edition) terms? There is no doubt that the

J C Anderson, K D Leaver, R D Rawlings and chosen subject matter is presented
J M Alexander well and can be assimilated readily
by conscientious students. The
Chapman and Hail, 1990, route through the development is
6 0 8 pages, £ 1 7 . 9 7 the classical itinerary, with many little
ISBN: 0 412 34150 6 asides to help over difficulties.
Nevertheless, this reviewer is still
This is the fourth edition of a well 64 pages on semiconductors, 57 worried about the balance of the
known undergraduate text book; pages on dielectric and optical book. The first edition began its life
previous editions are dated 1969, materials. Hidden amongst all this at a time of rapid transition in
] 974 and ] 985. Clearly it is popular are 13 pages devoted explicitly to University d e p a r t m e n t s from
enough with students and those who steels and cast-irons, and all of 3 metallurgy to materials science. The
recommend books to them. It is pages to aluminium alloys. efforts to give plastics, ceramics,
claimed to satisfy the needs of The desirability of this book must semiconductors and others a fair
engineers, physicists, chemists, depend on who you are and what share of exposure perhaps pushed
metallurgists and materials you want to learn. If you wish a the pendulum too far from metals.
sdentists, a wide audience indeed. lengthy and detailed tour through That feeling persists about this new
The book is divided into some ] 8 the basic physics and chemistry of edition. The authors might argue
chapters. There are 56 pages materials, then this is an excellent that most of the new developments
devoted to electrons, wave- start. If you are interested in the are in the non-metal areas and they
mechanics and the hydrogen atom. production of materials, their use, or would be right. But is this an
A further 50 pages take us through in how to design them, then there argument against exposing students
the periodic table, bonding between are available more suitable to well tried and widely used
atoms and some introductory (!) alternatives. But then, the book is materials? 1 hope not.
crystallography. At various places titled "Material Science" and that,
later in the book we have 60 pages uncompromisingly, is what it is. Dr J R Moon
on ceramics, 39 pages on polymers, So, how does it work on its own University of Nottingham, UK

Software predicts thermoelastic properties of information on the theoretical

orthogonal woven fabric c o m p o s i t e s
Woven Fabric Micromechanics,
developed under the direction of the
University of Delaware's Center for
Composite Materials, allows the user
to explore the sensitivity of the
thermoelastic properties of woven
fabric composites to the almost
unlimited combinations of constit-
uents, volume fractions and fibre
architectures currently available for
composite applications.
The program can assist designers
in reducing the number of candidate
fabrics and constituent property
combinations to a finite number that
provide acceptable performance.
Analysts can use WFM to predict
the effective thermoelastic
properties required to conduct stress
analysis. The user can choose
among the mosaic, crimp and
bridging woven fabric
micromechanics models for
predicting properties.
Input includes: g e o m e t r i c
p a r a m e t e r s defining the fibre
architecture; constituent thermo-
elastic properties; and composition.
Output includes: thermoelastic
properties of the fabric; stiffness
matrices incorporating inplane,
bending and bending extensional
coupling effects; c o m p l i a n c e
matrices incorporating inplane,
bending and bending extensional
coupling effects; and influence of
constrained warpage on
thermoelastic properties.
Other features include:
continuous fibre micromechani~:s for
predicting layer properties within the
fabric; database of matrix, fibre and
layer properties that can be updated
by the user; indexing option to
facilitate sensitivity studies; and
graphics for visualizing dependence
of fabric properties on input
parameters. A user's guide contains
background of the models used in
the software installation and
execution procedure and illustrative
examples.
Technomic Publishing Company,
1991, £395.00, ISBN 0-87762-
8297. Fax: (717)295 4538.
New materials for
automotive applications
Seventeen papers were presented at
a conference on this theme held in
Paris on ] 0-11 October ] 990. The
organisers, RAPRA Technology Ltd,
have issued a 125-page, A4 book
containing all the papers and
claiming the usual "wealth of
practical information" so beloved by
advertising copywriters. The book
seems rather expensive at £70 (£60
in the UK). Copies from RAPRA
Technology Ltd. Tel: ( 0 9 3 9 )
250383. Fax: (0939) 251118.

MATERIALS & DESIGN Vol. 12 No. 3 JUNE 1991 177