Book Reviews 67

multimodal buckling is presented for different monodimensional and bidimensional structural

elements without imperfections; at the end of the chapter, a computational tool for bifurca-
tion problems including a dedicated computer package is presented. In Chapter 3, the theory
concerning the sensitivity analysis to imperfections and the post-buckling behavior is analyzed
for the structural elements introduced in Chapter 2. The two chapters, introducing almost all
of the buckling problems from a theoretical point of view, are partially self-contained. The
reader interested in going deeper inside the buckling phenomena should, of course, consult
complementary literature, most of which is included in the references.
Chapter 4 is entirely devoted to the prototype of buckling experiments: the column under
axial compression, starting from the description of the Von Karman experiment performed at
the beginning of the century. Different historical and well known set-up’s are described in detail
and the Southwell diagram allowing the estimation of the buckling loads of a perfect structure
from real tests (always with imperfections) is introduced.
Chapter 5 is dedicated to the problem of a correct modeling, both from the analytical and the
experimental point of view; particular attention is given to the dimensional analysis and scaling
laws, starting with the discussion of the Buckingham theorem.
Chapter 6 deals with experiments on monodimensional, rectilinear elements: beams, columns
and frames under mono and pluri-axial external forces. The realization of various experimental
set-up’s is discussed and many results on multimodal buckling are analyzed in great detail; at the
end of the chapter, several sophisticated models of multi-story frames in seismic environment
as well as space structures are discussed.
Chapter 7 deals with experiments on curved rods: arches and rings. The different behavior
exhibited by shallow arches, in which the buckling phenomenon is mainly related to the exten-
sional strain, and by high rise arches and rings, in which the loss of stability is associated with an
unextensional deformation, are discussed; at the end of the chapter, the experimental validation
of theoretical results concerning the lateral buckling of arches having high in-plane stiffness is
presented.
Eventually, Chapter 8 deals with experiments on buckling and post-buckling behavior of
differently shaped plates under mono and bi-axial loading conditions; a critical comparison of
different and commonly used calculations of buckling loads in plates is discussed, describing
with great details the various and often sophisticated experimental rigs.
The book is mainly addressed to researchers and students in civil, mechanical, aeronautical
and aerospace engineering, and it certainly represents a useful guide for the reader interested in
experiments.

Francesco Benedettini

Finite Element Analysis for Composite Structures

L.T. Tenek and J. Argyris
Kluwer Academic Publisher, Dordrecht
1998, 339 pp., ISBN 0-7923-4899-0. Dfl. 295.00

This book, by L.T. Tenek and J. Argyris from the University of Stuttgart, Germany, presents
finite element techniques for composite structures based on the concept of natural modes. The
68 Book Reviews

attention of J. Argyris, one of the fathers of the finite element method, for numerical methods
based on natural modes is testified by about thirty years of technical papers on the topic.
In the book, two finite elements are described in details, a composite laminate three-
dimensional beam element and a triangular composite plate/shell element. Computational tech-
niques for both linear and nonlinear analyses are presented. The beam element (Chapter 5) is
based on first-order shear deformation theory, with shear strains taken into account through
shear correction factors automatically computed as a function of beam lamination scheme. For
plate and shell problems (Chapter 6), the triangular element TRIC is developed, which is an
improvement of the original isotropic triangular shell element TRUMP developed in the 70’s
and applied in the past to numerous linear and nonlinear problems. The TRIC element is based
on three strains measured parallel to the edges of the triangle (the total natural strains). The
advantages of using natural modes are outlined in the book: ease in computing elastic and geo-
metrical stiffness matrices, zero strains for rigid body motions and natural forces which follow
the structure during deformation (both aspects are particularly significant for large displacement
problems), shear locking elimination through the addition of antisymmetrical natural modes,
direct computation of energies associated with different natural deformation modes (useful
to follow buckling and snap-back phenomena). The high degree of computational efficiency
(especially for nonlinear analyses), the potentialities for vectorization/parallelization and other
programming aspects are also discussed in the book.
The theory is corroborated by many application examples, concerning linear, stability, large
deformation and thermal deformation problems of composite beams, plates, cylinders, cylindri-
cal panels and shells.
The book is accompanied by a floppy disk containing a computer program (source code
and example problems) for static and buckling analyses of composite beams, frames and large
three-dimensional beam assemblies.
This book reports a comprehensive presentation of a modern finite element technique, in the
form recently developed by the authors, which can be useful for both students in computational
mechanics and F.E.M. programmers.

Marco Savoia