In a global climate where engineers are increasingly under pressureto make the most of limited resources, there are huge potentialfinancial and environmental benefits to be gained by designing forminimum weight. With Mechanics of Optimal Structural Design,David Rees brings the original approach of weight optimization tothe existing structural design literature, providing a methodologyfor attaining minimum weight of a range of structures under theirworking loads. He addresses the current gap in education betweenformal structural design teaching at undergraduate level and thepractical application of this knowledge in industry, describing theanalytical techniques that students need to understand beforeapplying computational techniques that can be easy to misusewithout this grounding.
* Shows engineers how to approach structural design for minimumweight in clear, concise terms
* Contains many new least-weight design techniques, taking intoconsideration different manners of loading and including new topicsthat have not previously been considered within the least-weighttheme
* Considers the demands for least-weight road, air and spacevehicles for the future
* Enhanced by illustrative worked examples to enlighten thetheory, exercises at the end of each chapter that enableapplication of the theory covered, and an accompanying website withworked examples and solutions housed at www.wiley.com/go/rees
The least-weight analyses of basic structural elements ensure aspread of interest with many applications in mechanical, civil,aircraft and automobile engineering. Consequently, this bookfills the gap between the basic material taught at undergraduatelevel and other approaches to optimum design, for example computersimulations and the finite element method.