Buckling strength of metal structures

BUCKLING STRENGTH OF METAL STRUCTURES. Friedrich Bleich. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1952. 508 pp. 263 figures. £4 5s. Od. net. In the opinion of the reviewer, this book is the most important to be written about elastic stability since the publication—also as an Engineering Societies Monograph —of Timoshenko's classic work Theory of Elastic Stability. It is lucidly written, beautifully produced, and approaches the subject from the essentially practical standpoint of the practising engineer. As the work was sponsored by the Bureau of Shops of the U.S. Navy Department, it has been written with the needs of naval architects and engineers primarily in mind. But the value of the book is by no means limited to these two special groups of people, as much of the contents is relevant to nearly all branches of structural engineering, including in particular that of aircraft structures. Two features which deserve special mention are the following. First, the care with which different theories are compared and contrasted, and the thoroughness with which the basic assumptions and their range of validity are examined and explained. Second, the amount of attention paid to what happens outside the purely elastic range. From the standpoint of the aeronautical structural engineer, Buckling Strength of Metal Structures provides a comprehensive treatment of the stability problems associated with columns and flat sheets, but does not cover in sufficient detail either the stability of curved sheets (considered as isolated components), or the stability of sheetstringer combinations. It is fair to say that for the special purpose for which it was written, i.e. for designers and engineers engaged in naval construction, Dr. Bleich's book is admirable; for those whose interests lie in other branches of structural engineering it is well worth having.—D. M. A. LEGGETT.