Mechanics of Optimal Structural Design (PDF)

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 href="http://www.wiley.com/go/rees">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.