BOOK REVIEWS
Computer modelling in o c e a n
engineering
8. A. Schrefler
and O. C. Zienkiewicz
8alkema, Rotterdam,
The Netherlands, 1988, 727 pages,
£47.00, ISBN 906 191 836 7
This book consists of a collection of 91
papers presented at the International
Conference on Modelling in Ocean En-
gineering. This conference was held in
Venice in September 1988. The papers
cover a broad range of topics in physical
oceanography and ocean engineering.
These topics have been classified by the
editors into the following sections: Main
lectures; Mathematical models of wind
waves; Wind wave generation and wave
climate; Sea level oscillations and as-
sociated currents; Transport phenomena;
Fluid-structure interaction; Structural
and geotechnical problems in the marinc
environment. The titles of these sections
provide a reasonably accurate descrip-
tion of the contents of this book. The
stated purpose of covering such a wide
range of subjects is to provide a forum for
continuing dialogue and exchange of
ideas between researchers working in
different areas. The common link between
all the papers is the use of numerical
methods and computers for the predictive
modelling of oceanographic phenomena
and marine structures.
The broad scope of this book invari-
ably means that it contains material that
will be of interest to a wide research
audience. The book will be a valuable
addition to libraries of research establish-
ments. On an individual basis the book is
expensive if one is interested in reading
only a few selected papers.
in my own area of research, compliant
marine structures, ! found several papers
of interest. I would recommend resear-
chers working in other areas to at least
examine the contcnts of the book. ! did
discover papers which described original
developments and ! believe that these
papers are of significant value. However, !
must confess that I did not find all the
papers that I read notable in terms of
contents, clarity and presentation. There
arc papers with weak sections in this
book. While some of the papers are
excellent in presentation, others are
atrocious. This seems to be a recurrent
problem with author prepared copy. I
also believe that several papers would
have been further enhanced by com-
parisons of the computer models with
full-scale measurements, experiments and
observations.
In conclusion, this book contains a
significant amount of new material de-
scribing the use of predictive computer
modelling in the fields of oceanography
and ocean engineering. I would, therefore,
advise researchers in these fields to fam-
iliarize themselves with the contents of
this book.
J. A. Witz
Structural steelwork design to
B S 5950
L. J. Morris and D. R. Plum
Longman Group (UK) Ltd, 1988,
280 pages, £ 13.95,
ISBN 582 02 3572
This student textbook is divided into two
parts. The first, consisting of 10 chapters,
deals with the design of structural steel
elements to BS 5950. The coverage is
extensive and includes beams, purlins,
crane girdcrs (excluding plate girders),
trusses, columns, connections and brac-
ing. A chapter is also devoted to com-
Ix)site construction. The purpose of this
section of the book is to set out in detail
the design of individual structural ele-
ments. In so doing the application of code
clauses is clearly explained but little back-
ground information on the reasons
behind the recommendations is presen-
ted. An interesting and useful feature of
this part of the book is the realistic
examples selected to illustrate the design
procedures. The examples give a com-
plete solution, including determination of
loading and selection of suitable mem-
bers. Academic examples, "Show that the
beam in figure I is capable of
supporting...", have been avoided.
The second part of the book presents
worked examples of the design of three
complete structures--a single storey
building of lattice girder and column
construction, a portal frame and an office
block featuring composite construction.
The aim of this second part is to illustrate
how individual members may be com-
bined to form a complete structure. Parti-
cular attention is paid to loading and
structural response and, importantly,
overall stability. The examples chosen are
well illustrated and fully explained. For
this reason this second part of the book
widens its appeal from its intended au-
dience to practising engineers who are
approaching the design of one of the
above structures either for the first time or
are as yet unfamiliar with their design
using the limit-state steelwork code BS
5950.
Eng. Struct. 1990, Vol. 12, January
Throughout the book the authors
explain the design procedure, from initial
client briefing to production of fabric-
ation drawings and inspection of steel-
work. This should be of particular interest
and value to students, since many fail to
appreciate the significance of decisions
made at the design stage. Example calcul-
ations are clearly presented in a logical
sequence, providing good models for stu-
dents to follow in practice.
As a student textbook, StructuralSteel-
work Design to BS 5950 has much to
commend it. I think it will be appreciated
most by students who have already
grasped the basics of elemental design
and now wish to proceed to design com-
plete strutures. Part ! of the book will
then serve as a reference text for details of
individual member design. Practising en-
gineers with little experience of design
with the new code would, I am sure, find
much useful information in the book, too.
The authors have produced a very
readable, practical and informative book.
J. B. Davison
Steel beam-column building
connections
W. F. Chen (ed)
Elsevier Appl/ed Science, Barking,
UK, 1988, 482 pages, £75.00,
ISBN 1851 66 22 51
This book contains a collection of 13
separate papers which were originally
published in the Journal of Constructional
Steel Research. The editor's objective is to
draw together the knowledge of key re-
searchers from different parts of the world
in order to provide a state-of-the-art
summary of recent experimental studies
undertaken to provide an understanding
of the behaviour, analysis and design of
steel beam to column connections and
their influence on the behaviour of frames.
After an introductory paper concerned
largely with the history of the design of
structural steelwork, the book is divided
into three sections of four papers each.
The first section is concerned with
connections as structural elements and
describes the design considerations in the
diffcrent types of beam to column connec-
tions. Thc authors of these chapters have
given detailed consideration of stiffness
and ductility as well as strength. The
second section describes various aspects
of the influence of connection behaviour
on the performance of columns and com-
plete frames. The final section is con-
ccrned with the design rules currently in
67