Modeling for Structural Analysis - Behaviour and Basic - Graham H Powell - Free Download [PDF]

ABOUT THE BOOK

Modelling for Structural Analysis - Behaviour and Basic written by Graham H Powell, Professor Emeritus of Structural Engineering, University of California at Berkeley is printed by Computers and Structures, Inc.

This book is aimed at a wide audience, and it has ambitious goals. If you are a student, the goal is to provide you with a foundation for the classes that you are taking in structural analysis and structural design. If you are a young engineer, the goal is to help you understand what you are doing when you use a computer program for structural analysis, and to help you become a better engineer. If you are an experienced structural engineer, the goal is to help you keep things in a proper perspective. If you are a university professor who teaches structural analysis, the goal is to persuade you to change the way that you teach the subject. In short, the goal of this book is to change how structural analysis is perceived and taught.

At the same time, the scope of this book is rather narrow. It covers the basics of modelling for structural analysis, but does not include many details. It covers the Direct Stiffness Method of analysis, using physical explanations rather than formal theory. It covers both material non-linearity and geometric non-linearity in considerable depth, with emphasis on physical understanding not on theory or mathematics. It also puts structural analysis in its proper place, as a tool for use in structural design, not as an end in itself. This book does not consider structural analysis theory, or how to program structural analysis for a computer. It considers linear, non-linear, static and dynamic analysis, but does not explain the analysis theories in detail. Many of the details are topics for future volumes. Throughout the book the emphasis is on physical understanding, not on formal theory or mathematics.