Abstracts of c.a.
d, literature
Civil, structural
engineering and
architecture
Use of computers in civil engineering'. Proc.
Inst. Cir. Eng. Vol 57 (1972) Part 1, pp 9 1 - 3
Arcbitects'J., Vol 154, No 46 (1972)
pp 1135--1138
The first program in a suite, for reinforced
concrete beams, is now available commer-
cially. The program has been prepared by
a consortium o f five consultants. While a
drawing is being prepared on a digital
plotter, a bar schedule in accordance with
British Standard BS 4466 is produced on
the paper-tape punch and is then printed
on preprinted forms or on blank paper. In
the latter case a master schedule is made
by printing the computer output through a
clear plastics screen. The amount of work
in preparing the data for such a system is
equivalent to that spent by a senior detailer
or junior engineer supervising a draughts-
man, so the saving is in the detailer's time.
The good quality of the machine-produced
drawing is advantageous because:
1. Site personnel receive a document iden-
tical to the one to which they are
already accustomed.
2. It is easy to follow in the office, and as
easy to modify as any hand-produced
drawing.
3. A clear and reliable record is produced
for future reference.
The program is designed to cater for
variations in size and scale and in the size of
lettering and is capable of producing a draw-
ing of any length, with a maximum width of
750 mm. The next progran~ in the suite
will be for reinforced concrete slabs.
Ball, R. E.
'A program for the nonlinear static and
dynamic analysis of arbitrarily loaded shells
of revolution'. Comput. Struct., Vol 2
(1972), pp 1 4 1 - 1 6 2
The author presents a program for finding
the geometrically nonlinear static and
dynamic response of arbitrarily loaded
shells o f revolution, based on partial dif-
ferential equations using Sanders' nonlinear
thin shell theory. Results are compared
with data previously published and the
author intends to extend his program for
segmented shells, post-buckling behaviour,
orthotropic materials and a complete
Fourier analysis and boundary conditions.
284
Cross, N
'Impact of computers on the architectural
design process.' Arch. J. Vol 155, No 12
(1972) pp 6 2 3 - 8
Dunlutm, R. S., NickeR, IL E. and
Stickler, D. C.
'Integration operators for transient struc-
tural response', Comput. Struct., Vol 2
(1972), Nos 1 and 2, pp 1 - 1 5 .
The authors demonstrate criteria for
choosing an optimum approximate integra-
tion operator in problems of forced dynamic
structural response. They conclude that a
modally uncoupled precise integration
operator has advantages for many problems,
including nonlinear ones. Of the current
popular operators, the Newmark method
with appropriately chosen parameters is the
best.
Fenves~ J.
'A small portable flexibility analysis pro-
gram', Comput. Struct., Vol 2 (1972)
pp 4 4 1 - 4 5 8
The program analyses structures with only
a few degrees of indeterminacy (maximum
10 degrees) and the results are printed out
in a 10 x 10 grid. The program is written
for batch input but could easily be converted
to interactive use: other modifications are
also suggested. The language is Fortran 4.
Additional data can be added without modi-
fication to the original problem.
Jensen, p. S.
'Finite difference techniques for variable
grids'. Comput. Struct., Vol 2 (1972),
pp 1 7 - 2 9 .
The author presents a m e t h o d of evaluating
finite differences on an arbitrary grid using,
for example, a two-dimensional Taylor
expansion. The truncation error can be
shown to converge to zero with increasing
modal density and both the possible pitfalls
are surmountable, namely, how to select a
set of neighbouring nodes for a given node,
and how to handle the large number of dif-
ferent coefficients that can result. The
author's preliminary studies indicate that
for many shell problems this technique will
improve efficiency and provide a simpler
method of handling curved boundaries
and carrying stress patterns.
Johnson, T. E. and Weinzapfel, G.
'Computer assisted space synthesis under
geometric constraints.' lndustr. Forum,
Vol 3, No I (1971) pp 17-24.
Kjrlseth, O.
'Settlement during primary consolidation of
clay: calculation o f settlement by traditional
methods and by computer., Bygg, Vol 20,
No 1 (1972) p p . 1 3 - 1 9 (in Norwegian)
McNeice, G. M., Box, S. IL and
Sherbourne, A. N.
'Column webs in steel beam-to-column con-
nectiong Part 1 - Formulation and verifi-
cation. Part 2 - Design recommendations.'
Comput. Struct., Vol 2 (1972), pp 7 9 - 1 0 9
The authors review previous analytical and
experimental work on steel beam-to-column
connections. They draw attention to the
behaviour of the column web for connec-
tions in which only the column portion o f
the connection fails and they outline the
formulation of a finite-element analysis for
modellifig the hehaviour of the connection.
Elastic and elastic/plastic strength and
initial buckling are included in the mathe-
matical model. Numerical results are com-
pared to known analytical values. Physical
experiments on exterior and interior con-
nections performed by others have been
repeated with the computer, thus showing
how the finite element method can he
applied to the investigation o f these
connections.
In Part 2 the authors recommend changes
in the present design rules and formulae.
Their suggestions stem from the idea that
in future research the numerical experimen-
tation will be computer simulation rather
than physical tests.
Munro, J., Krishnamurthy, C S. and
Yu, C. W.
'Optimal design of reinforced concrete
frames'.
The authors have used a simplex algorithm to
solve a linear programming formulation o f
the optimal design problem of reinforced
concrete frames. Constraints are compat-
ibility, limited ductility, equilibrium and
serviceability. An analysis of the results
shows that significant savings can be made
using optimization procedure, The method
is compared with ultimate-strength design
based on elastic solutions for factored
loads. Savings of up to 17.2% have been
noted.
Ornulf, T.
'Computer program for designing water
supply and circulation systems.' I,'. V, S.
Tidsk, Vol 43, No 2 (1972) pp 8 1 - 4 (in
Swedish).
Stein, M.
'Design problems of shell structures and the
impact of the computer on shell analysis'.
COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN