Plastic Design of Frames 2: Applications

A good grasp of the theory of structures - the theoretical basis by which the strength, stiffness and stability of a building can be understood - is fundamental to structural engineers and architects. Yet most modern structural analysis and design is carried out by computer, with the user isolated from the processes in action. Plastic Design of Frames; Volume 1. Fundamentals provides a broad introduction to the mathematics behind a range of structural processes. The basic structural equations have been known for at least 150 years, but modern plastic theory has opened up a fundamentally new way of advancing structural theory. Paradoxically, the powerful plastic theorems can be used to examine ‘classic’ elastic design activity, and strong mathematical relationships exist between these two approaches. Some of the techniques used in this book may be familiar to the reader, and some may not, but each of the topics examined will give the structural engineer valuable insight into the basis of the subject. This companion book Plastic Design of Frames; Volume 2. Applications provides additional advanced topics and case studies. This lucid volume provides a valuable read for structural engineers and others who wish to deepen their knowledge of the structural analysis and design of buildings.

Jaques Heyman is the former Head of the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge and the author of ten books, including The Stone Skeleton, Elements of the Theory of Structures, Structural Analysis: A Historical Approach, Elements of Stress Analysis, the two-volume set Plastic Design Frames: Volume 1 Fundamentals and Volume 2 Applications, with Lord Baker, and the forthcoming Basic Structural Theory. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, the Institution of Civil Engineers, and the Royal Academy of Engineering. He acted as a consulting engineer for a number of English cathedrals and as a member of the Architectural Advisory Panel for Westminster Abbey and of the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, and he has served on many British Standards committees. The Stone Skeleton won the Choice Outstanding Academic Books Award in 1996.