Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. Softcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> Engineering natural forces: In natural struc- tures forces act directly on the form so that it is a direct response to force. In his remarkable treatise On Growth and Form published in 1917 D’Arcy Thompson explored the functional aspect of organic growth. He concluded that the growth of the skeletal form is to a very large extent brought about by the body’s mechanical forces His theory is illustrated by individual bones eg the hip joint manifesting themselves as a diagram or a reflected image of the mechanical stresses explained by an idealised finite stress analysis. Perhaps the most vivid and elementary exam- ple of forces generating form in nature occurs during the growth and movement of clouds: Clouds are ever-changing every second of the day. As thermal effects change cloud structure reforms to achieve equilibrium with the new forces. Natural structures and forms are evolved in a constant process of adaptation. Those systems which do not adapt disappear. Man- made constructive growths of form such as in structural engineering interpret the forces math- ematically the engineer must be able to assess all the forces involved many of which may not be apparent but which act upon the structure (and indeed originate from within it). Those forces not accounted for do not disappear but remain influential constantly demanding that the struc- ture should change to accommodate them. For example the penetration of solar gain and resultant overheating of a structure leads to the growth of shading in the form of overhangs and shaped columns. In the most general terms the problem facing the engineer has always been to measure these forces and establish a method by which each force is accommodated within one form as well as assessing the performance of the structure’s response to the forces Interaction between natural forces structure and materials: For a long time structural forms have been dominated by gravity in this view the art of structural engineering has appeared to be solely associaten. (SP)