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STRUCTURAL MECHANICS SOFTWARE SERIES,
Volume IV, 1982. Edited by Nicholas Perrone
and Walter D. PiIkey-480 pp., Tables, Index,
BOOK REVIEWS
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Illustrations. ISBN 0-8139-0189-X. Price:
$25.00. The University Press of Virginia, Box
3608, University Station, Charlottesville, VA
22903.
Volume IV of the Structural Mechanics Soft-
ware Series continues the basic task of reviewing
and summarizing available programs for struc-
tural mechanics engineering. The critical reviews,
written by leading authorities, cover a wide range
of engineering interests. They will assist the
reader to select the best programs for solving
particular problems.
STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS-AN INTRODUCTION TO
COMPUTER METHODS, Roy R. Craig Jr, Wiley,
New York, 1981. No. of pages: 527. Price:
f20.45.
This book is a welcome addition to the available
texts on structural dynamics. It is based on
material which the author has used for teaching
the subject at senior undergraduate and graduate
levels in the U.S.A. The major parts of the book
treat single and multi degree-of-freedom systems
with a relatively short part on the vibration of
continuous systems; the latter considers mainly
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free vibrations of uniform beams. The book
includes clear expositions of frequency domain
analysis, determination of eigenvalues and associ-
ated reduction techniques, evaluation of response
by mode superposition and by direction integra-
tion methods and an introduction to finite element
modelling and its application to vibration prob-
lems, in addition to standard introductory
material. In some of these areas current research
is extensive and cannot be reviewed in detail in
a text-book; however, with the aid of judicious
comments and the inclusion of some recent results
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the author gives his readers some appreciation of
this work. This is illustrated by his treatment of
direct integration methods where recent com-
parative results on stability and accuracy for
various methods are quoted to supplement his
description of the average acceleration and Wil-
son B methods. Analytical methods for systems
with rigid body modes (of importance in aero-
nautical engineering) are given a full treatment.
The reviews and summaries in Volume IV
cover the following areas: Plastic Analysis in Gen-
eral Purpose Programs, Fracture Mechanics,
Evaluation of NASTRAN, Analysis and Design
of Reinforced Concrete Structures, Small Com-
puters, PAFEC Compared with Other Major
Finite Element Codes, Curving Dynamics Train
Models, Lateral Stability of Trains, Programs for
Train Dynamics.
The volume includes reviews and assessments
of computational mechanics technology. Articles
discuss A Bigeneric Diagnostic Framework for
Structural Mechanics Software Evaluation,
Integration Methods for Stiff Systems, Assess-
ment of Freight Car Computer Models and Static
Reanalysis Methods.
An introduction to the earthquake response of
structures with emphasis on response spectra and
methods of component mode synthesis are
included as advanced topics. The only major
omission is the topic of random vibrations, which
in the author’s opinion required a thorough treat-
ment that would be beyond the scope of the book.
Each section includes illustrative worked
examples. Usually a computer program is not
required to solve these examples, but throughout
the text and the examples the procedures adopted
will lead to efficient computer solutions for larger
problems. In the reviewer’s opinion the sub-title
of the book, A n Introduction to Computer
Methods, implies only that the current best
methods of solving engineering problems have
been selected, as computational details for large
problems will have to be sought elsewhere.
(Similar remarks could be made with reference
to Meirovitch’s more advanced book, Cornputa -
tional Methods in Structural Dynamics.)
Nevertheless, the ISMIS program is used to solve
some small numerical problems in two chapters.
An admirable introductory section at the begin-
ning of each chapter lists the objectives and
relates the contents to previous sections. Each
chapter concludes with extensive problems;
numerical answers would have been helpful. In
conclusion, this is a well-presented book on struc-
tural dynamics, which will be of use as a teaching
text and to practising engineers.
G. B. WARBURTON
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Nottingham