Book Reviews
MECHANICS OF MATERIALS
4TH EDITION
Arehie Higdon et al.
John Wiley
U.S.A. Mareh 85
744 pp £48.00
ISBN: 0-471-89044-8
This is the fourth edition of an under-
graduate textbook originally published
twenty-five years ago. Intended as a
first course in the mechanics of deform-
able bodies/strength of materials (the
authors assume that the student already
has a working knowledge of statics and
calculus), in includes far more mat-
erials than could be taught in a single
course. However, the method of sub-
division of the subject matter allows
flexibility in the selection of topics to
suit particular requirements. The over-
all objectives of the authors are to
develop an understanding of the relation-
ships between applied loads and the
resulting deformations, stresses and
strains, and to establish procedures for
determining the dimensions of a loaded
body required to satisfy given stress and
deflection limits.
The first two chapters introduce the
concepts of stress and strain, while
chapter three describes the relation-
ships between them with regard to
material properties. The next seven
chapters treat various static loading
cases: axial (together with pressure
vessels), torsional, flexural (with
separate chapters covering stresses,
deflections and statically indeterminate
beams), combined loads (including a
section on failure theories) and columns.
Chapters eleven and twelve deal with
repeated and dynamic loading, while
the final chapter is devoted to connec-
tions (riveted, bolted and welded).
There is a useful set of appendices,
including tables of properties of engin-
eering materials in English/U.S. and
S.I. units (which are reproduced on the
front and back inside covers), stress:
strain diagrams for half a dozen metals,
properties of selected areas and rolled
steel shapes, and a table of beam
deflections and slopes. There are over
one thousand set problems throughout
the text, and there is a section listing
answers to approximately half of these.
MATERIALS & DESIGN Vol. 8 No. 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1987
A comprehensive thirteen-page com- able potential for fibre-optic appli-
bined author/subject matter index cations, and glassy selenium alloys
completes the volume. have been used as the photoreceptor in
This American book (Rankine is xerox machines for many years. These
referred to as a 'Scotch engineer') is materials, and many more, form the
published in a wide-page format with subject of this very interesting and
two-colour printing. The basic prin- useful boolc
ciples are illustrated by numerous In any standard texts on solid-state
worked examples throughout the text, physics, the starting point is inevitably
with an overall approach emphasising the theoretically satisfying, but phy-
the use of freebody diagrams in analy- sically but almost unrealisable, state of
sing the loadings on a body. Here, the the perfect crystal. R e a l crystals, how-
numerous illustrations are considerably ever, are seldom perfect, but contain
enhanced by use of the second colour. numerous imperfections or impurities,
There is a mixture of units in the book, which, for the most part, determine and
with approximately half of the exam- control many of their physical prop-
ples and the set problems using S.I. erties, whether they be electronic,
units, and the rest English/U.S. units. optical or mechanical. Exactly the
Overall, the book is well presented and same situation holds for the case of
deals comprehensively with the subject glasses too, and so a knowledge of the
matter. However, the adoption of two properties of the structural defects
sets of units may be a disadvantage is a which can exist in them is a prerequisite
teaching text for use on this side of the to an understanding of the behaviour of
Atlantic. the glassy state as a whole. This
subject, however, is woefully lacking in
B Moxley current solid-state physics and mat-
erials texts, and so the appearance of
this book is most welcome.
DEFECTS IN GLASSES The notion of detect in a glass
Frank L. Galeener, appears to be a contradiction in terms at
David L. Grlseom, first sight, since the extent of structural
Marvin J. Weber disorder in such materials is so large
Materials Research Society that it might be thought that the entire
USA 1986 structure was permeated by defects. A
493 pp ISBN: 0 931837-26-X defect needs to be defined in terms of a
US $41.00 Outside US $46.00 reference structure, which for the case
of crystalline materials is the perfect
Glass is a very widely used material crystal lattice, but for the case of
with many applications, and has been amorphous materials, the choice of a
fabricated for thousands of years, yet it reference structure is more problem-
is only within the last twenty years or so atical. The equivalent to the ideal
that a significant understanding of the crystal lattice for the case ofcovalently-
physical and chemical properties of the bonded, inorganic glasses is the so-
material has been gained. For the called "continuous random network",
layman of course, the word glass in which short-range (chemical) order
signifies only one material, namely is often preserved in terns of co-
vitreous silica containing various alkali ordination polyhedra, which are con-
and alkaline earth oxide additives to nected together in a random fashion to
improve its workability (viscosity) ensure that no long-range order (period-
characteristics. However, very many icity) exists.
other materials can be made in a glassy The volume Defects in Glasses
(non-crystalline) state, and the actual contains the proceeding of a sym-
and potential technological appli- posium of the same name held in
cations of these materials have added December 1985 under the auspices of
great impetus to the scientific study of the Materials Research Society. Forty
the glassy state. Thus, for example, papers are included, and these are
fluoride-based glasses have consider- divided into seven sections, dealing
63