Analysis of Aircraft Structures

As with the first edition, this textbook provides a clear introduction to the fundamental theory of structural analysis as applied to vehicles, aircraft, spacecraft, automobiles, and ships. The emphasis is on the application of fundamental concepts of structural analysis in everyday engineering practice. No assumptions are made with regard to the method of analysis. All approximations are accompanied by a full explanation of their validity. Repetition is an important learning tool, and so some redundancy appears to dispel misunderstanding. The number of topics covered in detail is limited to those essential for modern structural engineering practice. In this new edition, more topics, figures, examples, and exercises have been added. A primary change has been a greater emphasis on the finite element methods of analysis. Three new chapters are now included, and clarity remains the hallmark of this text.

This text introduces fundamental structural analysis theory of applied to vehicles.

Bruce K. Donaldson was first exposed to aircraft inertia loads when he was a carrier-based US Navy antisubmarine pilot. He subsequently worked in the structural dynamics area at the Boeing Company and at the Beech Aircraft Corporation in Wichita, Kansas, before returning to school and embarking on an academic career in the area of structural analysis. He became a professor of aerospace engineering and then a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Maryland. Professor Donaldson is the recipient of numerous teaching awards and has maintained industry contacts, working various summers at government agencies and for commercial enterprises, the last being Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas. He is the author of Introduction to Structural Dynamics, also published by Cambridge University Press.