New Text book from CIES

Emeritus Professor Ian Gilbert, Deputy Director of the Centre for Infrastructure Engineering and Safety, has just had his latest text book published by CRC Press in the USA.

The book titled “Structural Analysis – Principles, Methods and Modelling” is co-authored with Associate Professor Gianluca Ranzi of the University of Sydney. It is intended as a text for undergraduate students of Civil or Structural Engineering about to embark on the adventure of learning how to analyse engineering structures. It provides a unique and in-depth treatment of structural analysis where fundamental aspects and derivations of the analytical and numerical formulations are outlined and illustrated by numerous worked examples.

The book is divided into four parts. The first part (Chapters 1 to 4) covers the analysis of statically determinate structures. Although it is assumed that the student has already completed courses in statics and mechanics of solids, some of the material revises concepts and procedures that have been covered previously. The second part of the book (Chapters 5 to 9) deals with the classical methods for the analysis of statically indeterminate structures. These methods are suitable for hand calculation, where the deformation characteristics and the geometry of the structure, as well as considerations of equilibrium, are used to establish the internal actions and structural deformations.

Although practising structural engineers usually use computer software packages to analyse structures, these classical methods provide the background knowledge that is essential for the preparation of appropriate input for structural analysis software and the correct interpretation of the output. The third part (Chapters 10 to 12) covers the stiffness method of analysis that underpins most computer applications and commercially available structural analysis software, while the fourth part (Chapters 13 to 15) deals with more advanced topics, including the finite element method, structural stability and problems involving material nonlinearity. Finally, three appendices are included that provide additional background material that is of use throughout the book.

Every topic is illustrated with numerous worked examples that lead the student step by step through the solution process. Sections entitled Reflection Points invite students to reflect on the material covered by questioning some of the details of the procedures or extending their applicability to a broader range of problems. The detailed sequence of steps required by different methods of analysis are described in particular sections entitled Summary of Steps. At the end of most chapters, a wide range of tutorial problems are set to assist the student to practise the various analysis techniques and to build critical thinking.

The book is complemented by a comprehensive set of educational support material for both instructors and students, including detailed solutions to every tutorial problem (available in the companion Instructor's Solution Manual). A wide range of PowerPoint presentations for face-to-face lectures on each of the topics in the book are also available for download from the publisher’s website.