Ebook: Mechanics of Optimal Structural Design: Minimum Weight Structures

In a global climate where engineers are increasingly under pressure to make the most of limited resources, there are huge potential financial and environmental benefits to be gained by designing for minimum weight. With Mechanics of Optimal Structural Design, David Rees brings the original approach of weight optimization to the existing structural design literature, providing a methodology for attaining minimum weight of a range of structures under their working loads. He addresses the current gap in education between formal structural design teaching at undergraduate level and the practical application of this knowledge in industry, describing the analytical techniques that students need to understand before applying computational techniques that can be easy to misuse without this grounding. 

• Shows engineers how to approach structural design for minimum weight in clear, concise terms
• Contains many new least-weight design techniques, taking into consideration different manners of loading and including new topics that have not previously been considered within the least-weight theme
• Considers the demands for least-weight road, air and space vehicles for the future
• Enhanced by illustrative worked examples to enlighten the theory, exercises at the end of each chapter that enable application of the theory covered, and an accompanying website with worked examples and solutions housed at www.wiley.com/go/rees 

The least-weight analyses of basic structural elements ensure a spread of interest with many applications in mechanical, civil, aircraft and automobile engineering.  Consequently, this book fills the gap between the basic material taught at undergraduate level and other approaches to optimum design, for example computer simulations and the finite element method. Content:
Chapter 1 Compression of Slender Struts (pages 1–27):
Chapter 2 Compression of Wide Struts (pages 29–63):
Chapter 3 Bending of Slender Beams (pages 65–90):
Chapter 4 Torsion of Bars and Tubes (pages 91–133):
Chapter 5 Shear of Solid Bars, Tubes and Thin Sections (pages 135–172):
Chapter 6 Combined Shear and Torsion in Thin?Walled Sections (pages 173–191):
Chapter 7 Combined Shear and Bending in Idealised Sections (pages 193–221):
Chapter 8 Shear in Stiffened Webs (pages 223–237):
Chapter 9 Frame Assemblies (pages 239–264):
Chapter 10 Simply Supported Beams and Cantilevers (pages 265–323):
Chapter 11 Optimum Cross?Sections for Beams (pages 325–356):
Chapter 12 Structures under Combined Loading (pages 357–402):
Chapter 13 Encastre Beams (pages 403–464):
Chapter 14 Plastic Collapse of Beams and Frames (pages 465–509):
Chapter 15 Dynamic Programming (pages 511–520):